CatchableCan I fish here, right now, for what, and how many?
Tap any tidal water in BC. Catchable gives one answer for each fish, with the limit, the size and the gear rule, and shows how old its source is.
No account needed. Works with no signal after the first load. Your spots never leave your phone. A reading, not a ruling: the official source wins.
- Read from
- DFO fishery notices and area pages.
- Checked
- About once an hour through the day, Pacific time, plus one safety run each day. Each card shows how old its source is.
- Counted
- 610 tidal subareas and 135 salt water fish and shellfish listings, as of .
The colours
Colour on this site means a rule. If something is coloured, its word is beside it.
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Yes, you can keep it
The card shows how many, how big and with what gear. Green is never a guess.
Common mistake: reading the limit for a different water. Check the place line at the top of the card.
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Ask first
Catch and release, a gear or bait rule, or a rule we could not confirm. When we are not sure, it lands here, never on green. On a card it may read NON-RETENTION, DFO's word for catch and release.
Common mistake: reading it as a soft yes. It is not.
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Seasonal
Open now, inside a date window that will end. The card shows the window.
Common mistake: planning next month's trip on today's answer.
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No fishing here right now
Closed. The card gives the reason, the date it opens again if there is one, and a link to the notice.
Common mistake: assuming the water next door is closed too. Tap it and see.
Nothing on this site is coloured for decoration. Water is not blue here, because blue means Seasonal.
Subarea 29-3
Chinook salmon Yes, keep it
DFO splits the coast into numbered areas and subareas. The card always says which one it read.
Captured in Catchable on . Map: Esri, USGS, NOAA, and OpenStreetMap contributors.
How to read a card
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Tap the water you are on.
Because rules belong to a place, and two spots a short paddle apart can have different rules.
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Pick the fish.
Because one water can be open for one fish and closed for another.
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Read the word, then the source.
Because if the app and an official source ever disagree, the official source wins, every time.
When it is not sure
When Catchable cannot confirm a rule, the card says Ask first and points you to the official notice. It never turns green on a guess.
We have shipped false opens before. This rule is what we learned.
Catchable checks DFO notices every hour through the day, plus one safety run each day. A refresh that fails its checks is rolled back. If no check has succeeded in 24 hours, the app warns you.
When a beach is closed, take no shellfish.
Where a beach is closed for a toxin or sewage, Catchable says:
Shellfish here can make you sick. Do not eat them.
Red tide toxins and sewage can make clams, oysters and mussels unsafe to eat. You cannot see red tide toxins, and cooking does not make the shellfish safe.
Crab and clams have their own rules. Check before you dig or set a trap.
Subarea 29-3
Manila clam No fishing
The card says CLOSED, with a daily limit of 0.
Captured in Catchable on . Map: Esri, USGS, NOAA, and OpenStreetMap contributors.
Language: English.
Rivers and lakes are coming later.
Catchable covers BC tidal waters today. For lakes and rivers, check the BC Freshwater Fishing Synopsis 2025 to 2027 before you fish.
Tap a lake or a river and the app tells you freshwater rules are coming, never that the water is open.
Works without signal
After the first load, answers work with no signal. The first load is about 102 MB, so do it on wifi. Tides, weather and satellite pictures still need signal.
Your spots stay on your phone.
Your saved spots, your catch log and the photo of your licence stay on your phone. No account needed. There is no backup either, so clearing the app's data clears them.
Usage events go to PostHog with a random ID. They carry no name, no coordinates and no spots. PostHog sees the IP address of each request. For usage events, no cookies are set.
When you tap for weather, the coordinates of the point you tapped, rounded to about 1 km, go to the weather service. Tides send only which station you picked. Map pictures come from Esri, which sees your IP address and the map area you look at.
There is no ad network and no data broker, and we do not follow you across other apps.
What it does not do.
- It is not for navigation. Depth, tide, wind and the shelter estimate are approximate.
- It does not identify a fish from a photo.
- It does not sell licences. The licence lesson shows where to buy them.
- It is not run by DFO or the Province of BC, and it is not affiliated with any government body.
- Some waters are not mapped yet. Where a boundary is unclear, it leans cautious.
Six short lessons.
Plain words, a few minutes each, with the official words at the bottom.
- Do I need a fishing licence in BC?
Salt water and fresh water each need their own.
- Hatchery or wild? Check the fin first
One small fin can change what you do with a salmon.
- Closed means do not eat: red tide, crab and clams
Why a closed beach means take none.
- Let it go the right way
Wet hands, keep the fish in the water, take the hook out gently.
- Cold water and your lifejacket
Wear it, do not just carry it.
- Is salmon fishing open in BC today? How to read the answer
Place, fish, day, then the date on the source.
Check before you fish.
Catchable is not a substitute for the official regulations. It is a reading of DFO and Province of BC regulatory sources. If this app and an official source ever disagree, the official source wins, every time.
Always verify against the official DFO Fishery Notices and the current BC Freshwater Fishing Regulations Synopsis before you fish or keep a catch, and when the app says verify, verify.