El Dorado man earns fishing yo-yo patent

A client of mine from El Dorado recently earned a patent on an improvement he invented for fishing yo-yos. (For those of you unfamiliar with yo-yos, check out this ESPN article, which was cited in the patent application to educate the patent examiner).

The new yo-yo adds a battery and a switch on the back of the yo-yo. The front part of the yo-yo is a spool that has an integrated trigger. The yo-yo and switch are baited and set. When a fish strikes, the spool begins turning to reel in the fish. The turning action of the spool also turns the trigger, which trips the switch and signals the fisherman that he has caught a fish. The switch is most often a light, but can also be a radio signal.

An optional feature is to have a light shining down on the water when the yo-yo is set. This has two advantages: (1) the light attracts bugs, which attract small fish, which attract bigger fish; and (2) the fisherman can see where his yo-yos are at night. When a fish strikes, the switch turns out the light shining on the water and activates another, different-colored light to alert the fisherman.

Congratulations to Mr. Carelock on his new patent!