ALEXANDRIA, Va., June 5 -- United States Patent no. 12,274,253, issued on April 15.
"Tip-up apparatus for ice fishing" was invented by Harold Swanto (Muskego, Wis.) and Tami Swanto (Muskego, Wis.).
According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "A tip-up apparatus for indicating when a fish has been caught on a fishing line during ice fishing includes a base and an indicator coupled to the base which moves from a retracted position to an extended position with respect to the base when a tripper assembly is actuated. The tripper assembly is actuatable by the fish pulling on the fishing line attached to the tripper assembly. A circuit is coupled to the indicator and is configured to activate a light emitter and t...