OLPNW-FIE™

The Fishability
Index Engine

One score, 0 to 100, that answers a single question: is this trip worth taking? Built on the factors that actually decide a day on the water — and honest about the ones it can't see.

0–40Waitdo not launch, or do not bother

40–55Watchnot yet — watch it

55–70Preparego if you want to, eyes open

70–85Goworth the tripWorked example · 82

85–100Outside Edgea rare day — go now

A worked example — Potholes Reservoir · walleye · calm morning. Every score breaks down into the factors behind it, so you can see why before you load the truck.

See how it scores

Move something and watch the verdict change.

You set the conditions. The engine shows every step — seven modules, two class subtotals, and any override that fires, with the reasoning behind each one.

This is the machinery. Real trip sheets are scored against live weather, tide and regulations, and go out one at a time.

Start from a real trip

How you're fishing

Is the trip worth taking?Fish availabilityAre they there right now?17/20Catch historyDoes this water produce?17/20Run timingRight time of year?8/10Weather outlookWhat's it about to do?7/10

Can you actually fish it?Elbow roomHow crowded will it be?7/10Launch conditionsCan you get on the water?8/10Ease of the dayHow hard on you and the boat?4/5

Conditions & confidenceForecast confidenceHow much do you trust it?85%Don't-miss factorA window that won't come again soon4/10Air qualityWildfire smoke pushes this up35 AQIConditions are genuinely dangerousAdvisory, high wind on open water, lightning

The verdictscoring…

0/100

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About the score

WHAT THIS IS. A score ranks how far the conditions it was given favour the fishing you asked about, 0-100. On a sheet those conditions are read by a person from published forecasts, gauges, tide and passage data and the regulations on file, each line saying where it came from; in the explorer they are the ones you set. No feed scores a day on its own yet. It is a planning aid. It is NOT a prediction of what you will catch, NOT a safety determination, and NOT advice to go: a GO means the conditions favour fishing, not that the water is safe or that fish will bite, and a WAIT is a refusal to score the day, not a forecast of a blank. Where a line is a guess the sheet says so; where the engine cannot see, it says UNKNOWN rather than CLEAR. Regulations are yours to verify with WDFW before you go. Deciding whether to go out, and getting home, is yours alone.

Trip request

Want a sheet for your next trip?

I score trips by hand — any water in Washington State, one at a time. Tell me where and when, and you’ll get back conditions, timing, technique, and the regulations that actually apply to that trip.

Free while I’m testing this. I’ll reply within a couple of days, and I’ll say so plainly if it’s water I can’t do justice to.

How a score is built

Four passes, in order.

Pass 01

Score the opportunity

Fish availability, catch history, run timing, and the weather outlook are weighed together — 60 of the 100 points.

Pass 02

Check you can execute

Crowding, launch conditions, and how hard the retrieve will be. Worth 25 points, because a bite you can't reach isn't a bite.

Pass 03

Fit to what you asked for

When the engine proposes trips, how well each one matches the water, species, time and platform you asked for: the last 15 points. When you name the trip yourself, it fits by definition, and the score is scaled over the first two.

Pass 04

Apply the overrides

Hazardous air quality or genuinely dangerous conditions force a Wait, regardless of the score. Safety is never a tiebreaker — it's a veto.

What it doesn't know yet

The engine is honest about its blind spots. It doesn't currently model river flow, water temperature, or dam generation schedules — all of which can make or break a day. Where those matter, the score says so rather than pretending otherwise.

See it used on real trips