Getting started

DontDieFishing is built around launch sites and boat planning. Follow this sequence: create an account, configure the vessel profile that sets your safety thresholds, save a launch site, evaluate its risk score, plan a trip, and verify the latest conditions before launch.

1. Create your account

Open DontDieFishing and choose Sign up. You can use an email and password, or continue with Google or Apple. Sign in to an existing account when you return.

After authentication, complete onboarding. The final step saves your vessel type and scoring profile to your account and takes you to the Dashboard.

2. Configure your vessel and safety profile

Onboarding asks two questions:

• Vessel type — choose Power, Sail, Kayak, or Paddle. This creates the starting thresholds used to evaluate conditions.
• Experience — choose Cautious, Moderate, or Experienced. This controls how aggressively conditions are scored; you can fine-tune the thresholds later.

To add or refine a profile after onboarding, open Settings and add a Vessel Profile. Give it a name, choose its type, optionally enter its length, and select a scoring profile. Mark one vessel as the default when you keep more than one profile.

3. Save a launch site

1. Open Launch Sites.
2. Choose a region and browse the available launch sites.
3. Select the bookmark control on a site to save it to your account.

Saved sites appear on Dashboard, where the app loads their current conditions. If you have not saved a site yet, Dashboard shows a curated list until you add one.

4. Evaluate the risk score

Use Dashboard to compare your saved sites. Each site card can show a composite risk score, a status, current conditions, and an hour-by-hour risk proxy. The status uses three outcomes:

• GO — the current score is inside the selected vessel's thresholds.
• CAUTION — conditions are approaching those thresholds.
• NO-GO — conditions are outside the thresholds.

Lower scores represent lower risk in the planning model. Open a site to inspect the signal breakdown and the measurements behind the score. If the score is missing, check that a vessel profile exists and retry the conditions request.

5. Plan the trip

Open Trip Plans and choose Plan a Trip. Select:

• a saved launch site,
• the vessel profile for this trip,
• a date, and
• an optional departure time.

The trip appears in your trip list and in the Dashboard's next-trip panel. Dashboard compares the planned trip with the vessel limits and keeps the trip available for a fresh check as the departure approaches.

6. Verify before launch

Before leaving, open the planned trip and re-check the current risk score, conditions, and the change against your vessel limits. Review the site detail for the available signal breakdown, community observations, and fishing regulations. Forecast-based results are not a substitute for a final in-person check or for the applicable official rules.

App navigation

The web app sidebar uses these product labels:

1. 1

   Create an account

   Sign up with email, Google, or Apple, then complete onboarding.

2. 2

   Configure your profile

   Choose a vessel type and scoring profile; manage additional vessels in Settings.

3. 3

   Save a launch site

   Browse Launch Sites by region and bookmark the sites you use.

4. 4

   Evaluate the risk score

   Compare GO, CAUTION, and NO-GO status against your vessel thresholds.

5. 5

   Plan the trip

   Choose a launch site, vessel, date, and optional departure time in Trip Plans.

6. 6

   Verify before launch

   Re-check current conditions, reports, regulations, and the latest score.