Using the Sessions workspace

Sessions is more than a list of completed fishing trips. It is a workspace for keeping your specimen-angling history intact while turning good preparation into a saved plan or a reusable setup.

For the full article index, visit CatchMate Specimen Help . For navigation options, see Customise the navigation bar .

The three parts of Sessions

Sessions brings together three related but different types of information:

• History records what happened on previous specimen sessions: the venue, swim or peg, catches, casts, weights and results.

• Plans describe what you intend to do on a future session. A plan can preserve an Intelligence recommendation and the supporting context visible when it was saved, and it may later support a Plan versus Actual comparison.

• Presets store reusable preparation defaults for future sessions. A preset is a starting point, not a record of a fishing trip.

Keep the distinction clear:

• History is the record of results.

• A Plan is contextual and may be linked to a planned trip or historical Plan versus Actual information.

• A Preset is a reusable setup and does not become a historical session just because you use it.

Open Sessions

• Tap Sessions from the home screen or your customised navigation bar.

• The Sessions workspace opens with History , Plans and Presets .

• Choose the tab for the task you want to complete.

The workspace landing page also provides links to Session Plans, Session Presets, recent history and full history, plus New session . If Sessions is not in the position you expect, it may have been reordered in your navigation settings; it remains available from the home screen and the customised navigation bar.

History: find previous sessions

History is for reviewing recorded sessions and their results. It is not where reusable plans or presets are edited.

• Open Sessions and choose History .

• Use the available filter to show All , Coarse or Specimen where the current screen offers those choices.

• Group the list by Month , Venue or Type .

• Tap a group to expand or collapse it.

• Tap a session row to open its details.

• Use New session when you want to create another fishing session.

Where the screen provides it, tap Best sessions to move from the full history to the sessions that stand out in your recorded results.

A history row can show the session name, date, venue, recorded swim or peg, catch count, catch rate when available and total weight. Open the session for the complete record, including the catch timeline, rod and rig context, notes and debrief where available. Its Session Photos section holds multiple private pictures for that trip; see Session Photos.

Plans: saved preparation

A Session Plan is a saved, named preparation list. It can come from:

• Today's Fishing Plan or another Intelligence planning flow;

• a reusable Session Preset; or

• a new plan created directly from the Plans tab where the current screen offers that route.

A plan can contain practical preparation such as:

• a saved venue and optional peg or swim;

• a planned date and start time where available;

• planned duration;

• target species;

• an objective;

• ordered tackle profiles;

• planned bait and hookbait;

• planned groundbait; and

• contingency or approach notes where shown.

The detailed plan workflow is covered in Creating and using a session plan . A plan is preparation guidance, not a guaranteed prediction or fishing outcome.

Create a plan from a preset

Use this route when you want a reusable setup to seed a dated or named plan:

• Open Sessions and choose Plans .

• Tap New plan from preset .

• Select a saved preset.

• Enter or edit the Plan name .

• Optionally set the Planned date and Start time .

• Review the copied preparation and edit Notes if needed.

• Tap Create saved plan .

Where the current form shows these values, the plan can copy the preset's venue, peg or swim, duration, target species, objective, ordered tackle profiles, free offerings or bait and groundbait. Review the form before saving because optional fields may depend on the features enabled in your app.

This creates an independent saved plan. Later edits to the preset do not change the plan, and edits to the plan do not rewrite the preset.

Create a plan from Intelligence

Today's Fishing Plan can be reviewed before it is saved. Give the plan a meaningful name, then save it when the proposed preparation is useful for a future trip. CatchMate preserves the recommendation and evidence context visible when it was approved or saved.

The practical preparation can be reviewed and adjusted without pretending that the original Intelligence evidence has changed. Keep the evidence types distinct:

• weather can inform which conditions are being compared;

• venue history comes from your recorded fishing at a saved venue;

• solunar information is another planning input when enabled; and

• direct saved-venue or peg evidence is not manufactured by generic weather or a solunar window.

After saving, find the plan under Sessions → Plans . See Weather Intelligence and Understanding Solunar Intelligence in CatchMate for the relevant recommendation context.

Edit a saved plan

Open a saved plan from Plans and use the current editor to adjust preparation. Depending on the features available, this can include:

• selecting an owned saved venue;

• choosing an optional peg or swim;

• setting the session duration;

• ordering planned tackle profiles;

• selecting a primary and alternative setup;

• choosing planned bait and hookbait;

• choosing planned groundbait; and

• adding notes.

Changing the venue, peg or planned tackle can change the plan's draft identity. If CatchMate asks you to save a new plan, follow that prompt so the earlier plan and its evidence remain clear.

The plan's pursuit is part of its saved recommendation context. Do not describe it as freely switchable between Coarse and Specimen after saving. A venue change may also clear or invalidate a planned peg or swim when the current editor does so.

When the app requires saved library choices, select bait and groundbait from the available libraries rather than entering arbitrary free text that would lose attribution.

Rod Roost and planned tackle order

The first planned tackle profile is the primary starting setup. Additional profiles are planned alternatives in the saved order.

• Add, remove and reorder saved profiles as your preparation changes.

• The user's configured Rod Roost maximum still applies.

• When the limit is reached, remove a planned profile before adding another.

• A planned profile may use a different hookbait from the selected planned bait as an intentional override where the editor allows it.

CatchMate does not silently exceed the configured Rod Roost maximum. For creating and maintaining the saved profiles themselves, see Tackle profiles overview .

Use a plan to create a session

• Open Sessions → Plans .

• Open the saved plan and tap Use plan .

• Review the session form.

• Confirm the venue, peg or swim, tackle, bait, groundbait, duration, notes and any other details carried over.

• Create or start the session using the current session flow.

See Starting a session for the session form and saved-venue guidance. Creating or opening the session is distinct from starting the fishing activity. Using a plan does not automatically start a timer or cast out. The current Cast timer setting determines whether the next activity action is Start Session or Cast Out .

Reuse an existing plan

An unlinked saved plan can be used for a live session as that same plan.

A plan already connected to historical Plan versus Actual information must be reused as a new independent copy when CatchMate offers that protection. Use the current reuse or copy action, then rename and adjust the new plan without rewriting the earlier comparison.

Plan versus Actual

When a plan is linked to a completed session, CatchMate can show what was planned alongside what happened. Depending on the current view, this can include:

• planned versus actual venue;

• planned versus actual peg or swim;

• whether the starting tackle was used;

• planned and actual bait;

• which setups were used;

• catch count, weight and species;

• whether the plan was followed; and

• whether the approach worked, was mixed or had no clear result.

Plan versus Actual is a learning and review tool. It does not promise that the plan will produce a particular result.

Plans: archive, restore and remove

Use the plan controls in the Sessions workspace:

• Archive removes a plan from the active list without losing the saved plan.

• Restore returns an archived plan to the active list.

• Remove uses a confirmation step.

• Removing a linked plan preserves the historical comparison by archiving it where the current screen says this will happen.

• Removing an unlinked plan permanently removes that saved plan where the current screen says this will happen.

• Removing a plan does not delete the fishing session created from it.

An accidental tap should not be described as immediately deleting a persisted plan. If an archived plan is missing from the active list, look in the archived-plan view and tap Restore .

Presets: reusable preparation defaults

A Session Preset is a reusable starting point for specimen preparation. It can contain:

• a preset name;

• the Specimen pursuit;

• a saved venue and optional peg or swim;

• planned duration;

• target species;

• objective;

• ordered saved tackle profiles;

• bait or free offerings;

• groundbait; and

• notes.

A preset does not copy or store:

• catches;

• casts;

• timestamps;

• completed-session results;

• weather evidence; or

• Intelligence recommendation snapshots.

Presets are preparation defaults, not historical sessions and not venue-specific results.

Create and use a preset

From Sessions → Presets , use the current option that matches the preparation you want:

• create a preset from a blank setup;

• create a reusable preset from a saved plan;

• start from a recent session to carry over recorded preparation details without copying catches or outcomes;

• start a new session from a preset; or

• create a new plan from a preset.

Preset-to-plan and plan-to-preset conversion are directional but independent. A preset can seed a new plan, and a saved plan can create a reusable preset. A plan's date, Intelligence evidence, weather and outcomes are not copied into a reusable preset. Creating either does not silently overwrite the source.

Edit, duplicate or delete a preset

• Edit changes the reusable defaults.

• Duplicate creates another reusable setup.

• Delete requires confirmation.

• Deleting a preset does not affect sessions that were created from it.

If the current form warns that a saved tackle profile is unavailable or has been deleted, replace or remove the stale profile before saving the preset.

Keep Coarse and Specimen separate

Where the Sessions workspace provides them, All , Coarse and Specimen filters help you find the right history. A plan or preset retains the pursuit it was created for. Its venues, tackle profiles, bait libraries, recommendations and historical attribution should be read in that pursuit's context.

Changing the currently selected global pursuit does not rewrite an existing saved plan or preset.

Troubleshooting

Why do I see History, Plans and Presets as separate tabs?

They have different purposes. History records results, Plans hold contextual preparation and Presets hold reusable defaults.

Why is my saved plan not the same as my preset?

A plan is a named, contextual preparation record that can carry a date or Intelligence evidence. A preset is an independent reusable starting point. Editing one does not edit the other.

Why did creating a plan from a preset make a separate copy?

That separation prevents later preset edits from changing a plan prepared for a specific trip.

Why did changing my venue or tackle ask me to save a new plan?

Those practical changes can change the plan's draft identity. Saving a new plan protects the earlier preparation and recommendation context.

Why can I not add another planned rod?

The configured Rod Roost maximum may have been reached. Remove a planned profile before adding another.

Why is a saved profile unavailable?

The profile may be unavailable or may belong to another pursuit. Replace or remove it in the plan or preset, then save again.

Why did reusing a used plan create a new plan?

A plan already linked to historical Plan versus Actual information is protected by creating an independent copy.

Where did my archived plan go?

Open the archived-plan view and tap Restore .

Why does deleting a preset not remove my previous sessions?

Presets are preparation defaults. Sessions created from them are separate history and remain in History .

Why are catches and results not copied into a preset?

A preset is deliberately reusable preparation, not a historical fishing record.

Why does Plan versus Actual show that my approach changed?

It compares the saved preparation with the completed session. Differences help you learn what changed on the bank; they do not mean the original plan was silently rewritten.