Should you fish today? Get the read before you spend the fuel, the fare, or the early alarm.
A good captain reads a handful of signs. Fish or Pass reads all of them: decades of ocean science, the fishery’s history, live conditions, and how every species actually behaves, and folds more of the water than any one person could hold into a single honest verdict: Catching · Fishing · Pass. So you know whether the day’s worth the fuel, the fare, or the early alarm before you go.
One honest verdict a day for SoCal water, Catching · Fishing · Pass, before you go.
7 days free, then $149/yr. Cancel in the trial, pay nothing.
Start with the fish you’re after
Tap a species to load it into your read: each one’s tuned to its own temperature band, depth and structure.
These seven are the ones the chart grades. Twenty more Southern California fish have a written profile, from white seabass to swordfish.
Now pick your home harbor
Tap your harbor on the chart, your read is built for the water you can actually reach from there.
Nine home ports, and the banks between them: 9 Mile · Cortes · Tanner · Catalina · the Coronados.
A report card for the water
One score per area, updated daily from six signals a captain reads. Green means the water and the conditions line up, not that you're guaranteed a fish.
Built for your boat
Save your vessel and range. The map only counts water you can actually reach and safely fish in today's sea state.
Every bank & break
The 9 Mile, the Coronados, Cortes, Tanner, Catalina, the Channel Islands: real structure, real depths, real place names.
Honest about the miss
We show confidence and say what the score can't know. Owning the misses is why captains trust the number.
Six signals a good captain reads, folded into one honest number
These are the six signals a Bite Score weighs, tap any cell in the demo to see which are driving today’s read. But the six are just the surface. The score is drawn from the whole of what’s known about this ocean and these fish: decades of records, the fishery’s history, the marine science and oceanography, live satellite and buoy readings, and how each species actually behaves, not one person’s gut guess. It weighs all of that the way no person could; hand someone the same six numbers and they still couldn’t build this score.
The six signals a Bite Score weighs, out in the open. But they’re just the surface: the score draws on the whole of what’s known about this ocean and these fish: decades of records, the history, the science, live conditions, and each species’ behavior, not one person’s guess. The same six numbers in anyone’s hands still wouldn’t make this score.
Recent activity
How the fishing's been going lately in water you can reach: one signal of six, a nudge on the score, never the whole story.
Water temp & breaks
Ocean temperature against each species' comfort zone, plus the sharp temperature edges pelagics stack on.
Structure & depth
The seafloor a species lives on: banks, canyon edges, and the depth band it holds in.
Kelp & bait
Standing kelp, paddies and bait marks, where calico and yellowtail set up.
Sea conditions
Swell and wind at every cell, scored as the water and never as your boat. One ocean, one score, the same for every hull.
Tide & current
The day's tidal exchange and the current running over the piece: how much water is moving, and whether that suits the fish you are after.
What the score can’t know, and we’ll tell you
A satellite pass can be cloudy, reports lag, and fish move: so Fish or Pass is a conditions report card, not a guarantee, and not a safety or navigation tool. Every read carries a confidence indicator; always check official NOAA marine forecasts and your own judgment before you head out.
Conditions shift and fish move: so this is a report card, not a guarantee or a nav tool. Every read shows its confidence. Always check NOAA and your own judgment before you head out.
Try it free for 7 days. Keep it when the read pays for the fuel.
Angler is $149 a year, billed once, with a 7-day free trial. Card up front, cancel in the trial and you pay nothing. Captain is where this is going and is not on sale yet.
$149 a year with a 7-day free trial. Cancel in the trial and you pay nothing.
- Daily Bite Score, verdict & full "why" breakdown
- All seven species · your ports & boats
- Today + 1-day & 3-day forecast
- Chart views: water temp, chlorophyll, temp breaks, depth & kelp
- Full SoCal Bight + all banks · 5 nm map detail
- Daily report-card emailSOON
- MPA + regulation overlay
- Everything in Angler, plus:
- Custom threshold alerts, push/SMS the morning it firesSOON
- 5–7 day + hourly best-bite windowsSOON
- Waypoints & custom routingSOON
- Weather overlays, wind & swell on the chartSOON
- 3 nm map detailSOON
Coming soon: not for sale yet
- Everything in Captain
- Multiple captain seats & roles
- Fleet-wide boat data & analytics
- Onboarding & priority support
- Volume pricing
Cancel from your account any time in the trial and you pay nothing.
The demo above is open to anyone, no account and no card. Everything else, including the MPA and regulation overlay and the go/no-go sea-state call, is inside the plan.
We got tired of guessing.
Fish or Pass started with a simple, expensive question every SoCal angler asks at 3 a.m.: is it even worth going? A tank of fuel, a lost morning, a bluebird ocean, the misses add up. So we built the tool we wanted: a daily, honest read on the water, encoded from the same things a good captain reads: temperature, structure, the reports, the sea. Not odds. Not a promise. A grade you can interrogate.
Fish or Pass started with the 3 a.m. question every SoCal angler asks: is it even worth going? Fuel, a lost morning, a flat ocean, the misses add up. So we built a daily, honest read on the water, from the same things a good captain reads. Not odds. A grade you can question.
Vessel data is powered by Set Sale Marine, so your boat’s real range and sea-handling shape the map. Different brand, same people who actually fish this coast. More about who builds this →
Our one rule
Never spend the reader’s trust. We don’t invent a bite report, a catch count, or a data reading, ever. If we don’t have the number, we describe the pattern. A conditions product lives or dies on honesty, so we’d rather tell you to Pass than sell you a day that isn’t there.
The honest FAQ
Is this "odds" of catching fish?
What area and which fish does it cover?
How does it know what my boat can do?
Where does the data come from?
Can I try it before I pay?
Can I trust it for safety?
Stop guessing. Get today’s read on the water.
Seven days free. Real score, your boat, your ports, keep it the day the forecast saves you a trip.