Hi wicked,
I have a little experience doing my own patent searches so I thought I'd share a few tips.
The most comprehensive online search database I am aware of is
http://patft.uspto.gov/netahtml/PTO/search-adv.htm but it is anything but user friendly.
Google has a patent search which is not as comprehensive but much more user friendly:
http://www.google.com/patentsWhen searching be sure to try all the possible synonyms for the words that describe the seemingly unique aspects of your idea and don't assume it will necessarily have any particular word like fishing or lure, etc... in the text. Finally, to really be confident about whether an idea is unique you probably need to have a professional do a patent search which seems to run somewhere in the neighborhood of $800 and $1200, but you can rule allot out on your own and in some cases you may be able to confirm that something was patented but the patent protection period has expired. You also may be able to save some money by bringing the research you have done to a professional so that they have a head start.
Just to be clear I am not an attorney, this is not legal advice and I am not an expert in these matters; I'm just sharing my experiences.