Troutline

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Frequently asked questions

What's behind the ratings, how current the data is, what we cover, and what the numbers do — and don't — promise.

The fishing rating

How do you rate fishing conditions?
Every river page leads with a single read — "Fishing right now" — that boils the live conditions down to one word: Poor, Slow, Fair, Good, or Prime. Under the hood we weigh the things that actually move the fishing: how the current flow suits that particular river (some fish best waded, some floated, some either), water temperature, whether flows are rising or dropping, water clarity, the weather and cloud cover, barometric pressure, and the moon. The chips beside the word are the "why" — the signals doing the most to push the rating up or down that day. It's a read on right now from live data, not a forecast, and not a guarantee.
What do the ratings — Poor, Slow, Fair, Good, and Prime — mean?
Think of it as a quick gut-check, best to worst. Prime is everything lining up — go. Good is a solid day. Fair is fishable but working for it. Slow and Poor mean the conditions are fighting you: too high, too warm, too off-color, or a safety concern. The colored word and the little meter under it place the river on that scale at a glance.
How current is the rating?
It refreshes through the day as new gauge readings and forecasts land — the "as of" time in the corner of the rating is the timestamp of the data behind it. Conditions move, so a river can shift bands over the course of a day (a tailwater warming into the afternoon is the classic case).
Why does warm water pull the rating down so hard?
That's on purpose. When a trout stream warms to the point where fish can't recover well from a fight, we hold the rating down no matter how good everything else looks — and we tell you to fish at dawn or give them a rest. Cooking a fishery for one more grip-and-grin isn't worth it. Active safety warnings — flooding, storms — do the same, because the rating should never smile at you over dangerous water.
Should I trust the rating over my own eyes?
No — treat it as a planning aid, not gospel. It's a good answer to "is it worth the drive today?" and "which river's fishing best right now?", but fish don't read dashboards. Local knowledge, a recent shop report, and what you see when you get there always win.

Data & coverage

Why do some rivers say "Limited data" or show no rating at all?
Not every reach has a live streamflow gauge or a water-temperature sensor. When the data behind a rating is thin, we say so rather than dress up a guess as certainty — and where there's no live gauge on the reach, we flag that instead of inventing a number. We'd rather admit what we can't see than mislead you onto the water.
How often is the data updated?
Live conditions — streamflow, weather, air quality — refresh through the day as the agencies publish new readings. Slower-moving data (snowpack, reservoir levels, stocking schedules) updates on its own natural cadence, daily or weekly. Nothing on the site is hand-entered; it all flows from the source.
Which rivers and states does Troutline cover?
We cover a growing set of US fly-fishing destinations, organized by state. Coverage expands regularly as we add new waters. Browse every state and river we cover.
Where does the data come from?
Every number traces to a public source you can check yourself — federal and state streamflow gauges, the National Weather Service, air-quality and snowpack networks, and more. We don't make up readings; when a source goes quiet, we show nothing rather than guess. See all our data sources.
Can you add a river you don't cover yet?
We're steadily expanding across US fly-fishing destinations, and new states and rivers land regularly. If a water you fish isn't here yet, it's likely on the way — the long-term goal is every major fishery worth driving to.

Fishing reports

Are the fishing reports yours?
No. The report we surface beside the rating is written and published by a local fly shop, guide, or lodge that actually fishes the river. It's their words and their read — always attributed, always linking back to them. Troutline is a distribution channel for shops, never a republisher, so a shop's take and our conditions read are two honest perspectives on the same water.

About Troutline

What is Troutline?
A fly-fishing conditions dashboard. Pick a water and you get live gauge readings, the weather and air-quality forecast, hatch charts, lunar and solunar timing, and a single read on how it should be fishing right now — everything you need to decide where and when to go, in one place.
Is Troutline free?
Yes. Every river page, forecast, and rating is free to use.
Do you have a mobile app?
Not yet — but the site is built to work on your phone's browser, so you can check conditions from the truck or the trailhead just as easily as at your desk.