Dave Olson built an XBee-equipped ice fishing rod that shoots him a text if he gets a nibble.

The tip up alerts the fisherman when they have a fish in real time via text message. The tip up uses electric current switch magnets attached to an XBee DIO Adapter, which reads when a fish is caught. Sending this information through a cellular gateway, your phone receives a “fish on!” text message. The solution can be used with multiple tip ups and/or a ZigBee mesh network.

(For those who don’t know, ice fishing is often accomplished remotely by setting a small fishing pole — a tip up — with a flag on it, so when the fish pulls down on the line, the flag pops up. Meanwhile, you and Vern sit in the ice shanty drinking coffee, talking about fishing, and waiting for a flag to pop. This is for those harsh Minnesota winters you’ve heard so much about, oh ya!)