Mixed pursuit sessions — using a Coarse tackle profile in a Specimen session

The scenario

You're on a Specimen session at your lake — carp rods out, waiting for a run. You've also got a float rod in the water to pick off silvers, and it's carrying a Coarse tackle profile. You want those silvers to count toward your Coarse records, not muddle in with your Specimen stats.

Here's the key: it's not the type of rod that matters. It's the tackle profile's pursuit. The moment you assign a Coarse tackle profile to that rod on the Rod Roost, every catch logged against it goes to your Coarse stats — even though the session itself is a Specimen session.

CatchMate reads the pursuit from the tackle profile, not from the session type. Your Specimen stats stay completely clean.

How CatchMate separates pursuits automatically

When you assign a tackle profile to a rod on the Rod Roost, that profile carries a pursuit label — Specimen, Coarse, Fly, or Sea — set when you saved it in Tackle Profiles. That label is what CatchMate uses to route every catch and cast:

• Rod with a Specimen tackle profile → catches go to your Specimen stats
• Rod with a Coarse tackle profile → catches go to your Coarse stats

The session's primary pursuit — Specimen in this case — sets the overall context and how the session appears in your history. But it doesn't override the attribution. Each rod is tracked independently, based solely on the pursuit of its tackle profile.

What this looks like in your stats — a worked example

Session: Saturday at Bluebell Lake (Specimen session)

Rod	Tackle Profile	Profile Pursuit	Result
Carp rod	Specimen rod	Specimen	2 common carp, 14lb total
Float rod	Waggler rig	Coarse	8 roach and bream, 3lb total

After the session:

• In your Specimen stats: 1 session, 2 catches, 14lb. The carp sit cleanly in your Specimen records, PBs, and weight totals — exactly where they belong.
• In your Coarse stats: 1 session, 8 catches, 3lb. The float rod fish appear in your Coarse catch history and species records — even though the session was created as a Specimen session.

The session counts once in each pursuit's session total — 1 added to Specimen, 1 added to Coarse. That's correct: you genuinely fished both pursuits that day.

Cast Stats follow the same logic. Your Specimen Cast Stats reflect the carp rods only. Your Coarse Cast Stats reflect the float rod only. No blended averages.

How to set it up — step by step

Step 1: Create the session

Tap + to start a new session. Set the primary pursuit to Specimen — this is your main objective for the day. Choose your venue and confirm.

Step 2: Set up your rods on the Rod Roost

On the session setup screen, open the Rod Roost.

• Add your carp rod(s) and select your Specimen tackle profile (e.g. your carp rig or ledger setup). Catches on these rods record as Specimen.
• Add your float rod and select your Coarse tackle profile (e.g. your waggler or float setup). Because this profile is set to the Coarse pursuit, catches on this rod record as Coarse — regardless of the session being Specimen.

Step 3: Fish as normal

Start your cast timers per rod. When you get a bite, log the catch against the rod it came from. CatchMate reads the tackle profile's pursuit and files the catch to the right place automatically — no extra steps needed.

Step 4: Review your stats

After the session, switch between Specimen and Coarse pursuits in the app. Your Specimen stats show the carp rod catches only. Your Coarse stats show the float rod catches only. Clean and separate.

Why it matters

Your Specimen stats stay accurate — Fish caught on a Coarse tackle profile rod never inflate your Specimen weight totals, PBs, or catch counts. Your Specimen records only reflect genuine specimen fishing.

Your Coarse records stay honest — Those silvers go into your Coarse history properly, even though the session was Specimen. They won't be lost or misattributed.

No double-entry, no guesswork — You don't need to run two separate sessions or manually reassign fish afterwards. The tackle profile does the work at the point of logging.

Cast Stats stay clean — Cast timing data is tracked per rod, per pursuit. Your Specimen Cast Stats reflect your Specimen rods only. Your Coarse Cast Stats reflect your Coarse rod only.

Fits how you actually fish — Most specimen anglers don't fish in complete isolation. Picking off silvers while waiting for a carp run is as old as the sport. CatchMate is built around that reality, not against it.

Which pursuit should I set as primary?

Set the primary pursuit to whichever discipline best represents your main objective for the day. If you're there primarily targeting specimen fish and the float rod is secondary — choose Specimen.

The primary pursuit affects how the session is labelled in your history. It does not affect where catches are filed. That is determined entirely by the tackle profile on each rod. There is no wrong answer — just pick whichever feels most honest about what the day was really about.

Make sure your tackle profiles are set up correctly

This all relies on each tackle profile having the correct pursuit set. To check:

1. Go to Tackle Profiles in Settings
2. Open any profile and look at the Fishing Type field
3. Make sure your carp and ledger rigs show Specimen, and your float and waggler setups show Coarse

Once your profiles are correctly labelled, you never need to think about it again — just assign the right profile to each rod and CatchMate handles the rest automatically.

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Ready to give it a go? Set up your Rod Roost with the right tackle profiles and let CatchMate track both pursuits accurately from a single session.