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Get more from every session

For a fuller setup before your first trip, read Setting up CatchMate before your first session. It covers the settings, venue and tackle libraries, and practice sessions available to experienced users.

Want to start fishing now?

Before your first session, open Venues and create a saved venue for the lake or water you plan to fish, or use one that is already saved. Selecting the saved venue when you start the session links your fishing to reliable venue history and analytics.

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Start a new session from Home, choose the pursuit, and add the session details before creating it.

Minimum path to your first live session

Use this recommended path to link your first session to the right water. Peg, tackle, bait, weather, and the other setup details remain optional.

1. From Home, tap Start new session.
2. Choose Specimen if necessary.
3. Leave Logging a past session? turned off. This creates a live session rather than a historical record.
4. Search for the venue and select the existing saved venue record. If it is not listed, go back to Venues and add it first.
5. Enter a session name.
6. Optionally add a peg, tackle, bait, groundbait, weather, keepnets, duration, or rods.
7. Press Create Session. This creates and opens the new session.
8. Once the live session opens, press Start Session if the Cast timer setting is off, or press Cast Out if Cast timer is on. This starts the fishing activity.
9. Use Add Catch, select the species, enter the catch weight, and save.

For the most useful records, enter the real weight of the fish. The app accepts a weight of zero, but an accurate weight is important for meaningful records, personal-best tracking, and analytics.

Fastest possible route

Venues → create or select a saved venue → Home → Start new session → select the saved venue → enter a session name → Create Session → Start Session or Cast Out → Add Catch → choose a species and record the weight.

Recommended setup before you fish

For the best CatchMate experience and the richest, most useful fishing statistics, we recommend adding as much of this detail as suits your fishing. These are recommended features rather than requirements, and none is required to start a live session.

Tackle profile

A tackle profile stores a reusable setup such as a rod, rig, line, hook, hook length, and bait information. It is useful for saving specimen setups, including rods, bait boat or spod/spomb details, PVA, boilies, and hook bait, so you can load them into a session instead of entering them repeatedly.

You can create and start a session without a tackle profile.

Venue

A saved venue is useful for regular lakes and waters. It can include a name, postcode, and other location details. Selecting a venue can auto-fill session information and enable live weather when a postcode is available.

When starting a session, search for and select the saved venue record whenever possible. If the water is not listed, add it in Venues first rather than relying on a similar name typed into the session. This keeps the session connected to reliable venue history and analytics.

Bait presets

Bait presets allow you to record hook bait and loose offerings used during the session. They are optional and only appear when the relevant feature is enabled and presets are available. Depending on the app configuration, specimen bait and feed options may be shown under Feed & Mixes.

Groundbait presets

Groundbait presets allow you to record mixes planned for the session. They are optional and only appear when groundbaiting is enabled and presets are available.

Rod setup

Rod Roost and multi-rod setup are optional. They are useful when you want separate catch buttons or catch attribution for individual rods, particularly when fishing several carp rods.

A rod setup is not required. A single catch action remains available without pre-configured rods.

Other optional settings

You can also add:

• Peg number
• Postcode and weather
• Keepnet count
• Session duration and countdown timer
• Notes
• Competition or league information, where available

These settings improve the quality of the session record but do not prevent you from starting a live session.

During a live session

The session is created as live when Logging a past session? is left off. You can log catches as you fish.

Cast tracking is optional. You do not need to create a cast before recording a catch unless you specifically want cast tracking. Historical-session date and time rules do not apply to a normal live session.

For more advanced setup

If you would like to configure CatchMate in more detail before your first trip, read Setting up CatchMate before your first session. It covers the settings, venue and tackle libraries, and practice sessions available to experienced users.

You can start simply and add more detail as you become familiar with CatchMate. A session name and your first catch are enough to begin; profiles and presets help you save time and build a richer fishing record.