Getting started
Install it (or don't — it runs in your browser)
- Android: Bass Field Book is coming to Google Play. Until then, open
bassfieldbook.com in Chrome and choose Add to Home screen — you get the
full app, alerts included.
- iPhone: coming to the App Store via TestFlight beta now. In the meantime, open
bassfieldbook.com in Safari, tap Share, then Add to Home Screen
(iOS 16.4 or later gets push alerts too).
- Any computer: just open bassfieldbook.com. Your data lives on the
device you use, so pick your phone for the boat.
First launch: allow location (powers the map, weather, and lightning
alerts) and notifications (how the app buzzes you). Skip either and the rest still works.
The log
Log a catch in ten seconds
- On the Map tab, tap the + button the moment the fish hits the net.
- Pick species, weight, and lure. Tap a spot chip (ledge, grass, dock…) or add your own.
- Hit save. The app stamps the catch with the exact conditions — current, pressure, weather,
sun, and moon — automatically. That stamp is what builds your bite patterns later.
Where patterns live: the Log tab shows insights — best bag, career
top 5, and bite patterns by time of day, pressure trend, and top lures. The more you log, the
smarter it reads.
Generation alerts
Get buzzed before the dam pulls
- On the Conditions tab, pick your lake. Today's generation schedule loads from the
operator (TVA, Corps, or Alabama Power).
- Tap Alert me before generation. Choose your lead time.
- Fish. When the schedule says water's about to move, your phone buzzes first.
Safety
Arm Lightning Watch
- On the Trip tab, tap Lightning Watch and arm it.
- That's it. A server now watches the sky around your position — with the app closed, screen
off, phone in the rod locker. Strikes approaching your area escalate from a heads-up to a
get-off-the-water alert on your phone and watch.
- The watch expires on its own and your position is deleted from the server when it does.
Bank, kayak, deer stand: Lightning Watch doesn't care if you're in a boat.
Arm it anywhere you can't hear thunder over the wind.
Competition
Run tournament day
- Add your event on the Trip tab's tournament calendar — you'll get week-of and
day-before reminders.
- Tournament morning, open Tournament Mode: check-in countdown (reminders at 1 hour and
30 minutes), generation alerts for your lake, emergency card, and a game plan built from
public data. Deterministic, no AI — legal in competition.
- Use Practice Mode on scouting days: it saves prep notes and arms your alerts
automatically at 6 AM on trip day.
- After weigh-in, jot the recap in Trip Notes — next year's you will thank you.
Sharing
Build a trip report PDF
- On the Log tab, tap Trip Report — share a day.
- Pick the day. The app lays out your catches, conditions, and patterns as a clean one-page PDF.
- Share it anywhere — texts, email, the group chat. Reports never include GPS coordinates,
so your spots stay yours.
Your data
Back up and export
- Automatic: connect Google Drive once on the Setup → Data page and the app
backs itself up weekly to your Drive. We never see it.
- Manual: export catches and waypoints as GPX or KMZ any time — they open in Google
Earth, Garmin, Humminbird, and Lowrance ecosystems.
- Restore: new phone? Connect the same Drive and pull your backup down.
Support
Stuck? Want a lake added? Got an idea?
Email:
bassfieldbook@gmail.com — a real angler reads
every message, usually same day.
In the app: Setup tab → Request a new lake or
Request a feature. Both go straight to us.
Privacy questions: the short version is
your data stays on your device — the long version is at
bassfieldbook.com/privacy.html.