The Fish Score is a 0 to 100 rating of how favorable conditions are for the fish you are after, at one spot, in one hour. It is built from 28 live signals, led by water temperature and its trend, barometric pressure, wind, light and the species' feeding rhythm, plus tide, sea temperature and waves on the coast. 68 and up is good, 34 to 67 is fair, under 34 is slow, and every score lists the factors that raised or lowered it.
What the Fish Score is
The Fish Score is a single number from 0 to 100 that answers one question: how good are conditions right now, at this spot, for this fish? BiteCast works it out for every hour of the next eight days, so you can see the day's peak, compare tomorrow with Saturday, and plan around the window rather than the whole day.
Three things make it different from a generic "fishing index":
- It is per spot. A sheltered bay and the open lake next to it can score very differently on the same windy afternoon.
- It is per species. Water at 84°F is prime for largemouth bass and far too warm for trout, so the score follows the fish you target.
- It shows its working. Under today's score, hour by hour, BiteCast lists the factors that pushed it up and the ones that dragged it down.
How to read the number
| Score | Band | What it means on the water |
|---|---|---|
| 68 to 100 | Good | Conditions line up for this species. Worth rearranging your day for. |
| 34 to 67 | Fair | Fishable. Some factors help, some hurt; timing and location matter more. |
| 0 to 33 | Slow | Something important is working against you: cold water, a bright post-front sky, or a stalled tide. |
The daily figure BiteCast shows for each of the eight days is that day's best hour, because the swing inside one day is usually bigger than the gap between two days.
What goes into it
The Fish Score is built from 28 live signals. The 14 below are the ones every angler knows. The other 14 are proprietary factors we developed ourselves, and how much each signal counts for each species is proprietary too.
In freshwater
- Water temperature and its trend. The biggest single input. Every species has a band it feeds best in, and a few days of warming or cooling matters as much as the reading itself. See the species guide for every band.
- Barometric pressure trend. Steady and slowly falling pressure helps; the sharp rise behind a cold front hurts. More in barometric pressure and fishing.
- Light. Sun height and cloud cover. Low light favors most predators; a bright bluebird sky pushes them deep or tight to cover.
- Wind. A light to moderate chop breaks up the surface and stacks bait; a gale makes most water unfishable. See wind and fishing.
- The species' feeding rhythm. Walleye and crappie peak at dusk, catfish after dark, bluegill through the day.
- Season, rain and sudden temperature shocks, which can suppress an otherwise good day.
In saltwater
- Tide. Moving water is the engine of the inshore bite, so tide stage and flow carry the most weight. See how to read a tide chart.
- Sea temperature, against the target species' band.
- Wind and waves, which set both the bite and whether you can fish the spot at all.
- Pressure trend, as in freshwater.
Proprietary factors
Fourteen more signals feed the score in both fresh and salt water. They are our own work and we do not publish them.
What about the moon?
BiteCast shows solunar major and minor periods and the moon phase, because many anglers plan around them. They do not move the score, because the evidence that they predict catches is weak next to water temperature, pressure, light and tide. The moon phase guide covers why.
Why the reasons matter
A number on its own gives you no way to tell when to ignore it. If the score is low because of a stiff east wind, and you know a bank that is sheltered from the east, you go anyway. If it is low because the water dropped eight degrees overnight, you slow down and fish deeper. Listing the reasons turns the score from a verdict into a starting point, which is why BiteCast shows them for every hour of today.
How it compares with other fishing forecasts
Most fishing forecast apps give one daily rating, a bite-time chart built from solunar periods, or a percentage with no explanation. The fishing forecast apps comparison sets out what each one actually scores, side by side.
Common questions
Is a Fish Score of 50 good?
A Fish Score of 50 is fair: fishable, with some conditions helping and some hurting. Look at the reasons to see which, and check the hours either side, because a 50 at noon often sits between a 70 at dawn and a 70 at dusk.
Why is the Fish Score low on a beautiful day?
Clear blue skies usually follow a cold front: high pressure, bright light and cooler water, which is one of the slowest combinations for most gamefish. The weather feels perfect to people and reads badly to fish.
Does the Fish Score work for saltwater?
Yes. Coastal spots use a separate saltwater model built around tide movement, sea temperature, wind and waves. BiteCast picks the right model for each spot automatically.
How far ahead does the Fish Score go?
Eight days, scored hour by hour. The nearest days are the most reliable because the weather forecast behind them is.