Conservation
An app that finds fish owes the fish something.
RiseCast makes trout easier to find. That is the point, and it is also the problem. These guardrails are built into the product, not printed on a page and forgotten.
Score caps in warm water
Above the thermal stress threshold the Fishability Score is capped and a warm-water warning sits above it. A great August hatch does not get to read as a great day.
Windows shift to cool hours
As water warms, best-hours guidance moves toward early morning rather than pointing you at the warmest, most lethal part of the day.
Closures, shown
Live closures from Colorado Parks and Wildlife and Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks, such as drought closures and hoot-owl restrictions, appear on the stream they apply to, credited to the agency.
Location private by default
Nothing about your water is public unless you deliberately make it so, and aggregate views are snapped to a coarse grid.
The full stance
RiseCast Conservation Stance
Last updated 2026-08-03
RiseCast makes it easier to find fish. That carries responsibility, and these are the guardrails built into the product, not just words on a page.
Temperature stress
Trout caught in warm water often die after release even when handled well. RiseCast:
- Shows a prominent warning on any stream where water temperature is at or above stress thresholds for the resident species (starting around 65 F for most trout, hard warning at 68 F).
- Caps the Fishability Score during thermal stress. A warm afternoon in August will not score as "great fishing" no matter how good the hatch looks, and the app says why.
- Best-hours guidance shifts toward cooler windows (early morning) as temperatures climb.
Sensitive water guard
RiseCast shows the fishing closures and restrictions state agencies publish (for example Colorado Parks and Wildlife drought closures), refreshed every few hours, on the waters they apply to. Staff can also flag specific reaches as sensitive (spawning areas, recovering populations, tribal or protected waters); today that flag blocked only the spot marketplace, which is switched off. Private spots stay private by default, and we never sell spots.
Location fuzzing by default
Exact coordinates are private by default everywhere in the product. Shared and aggregate views (heat maps, circle sharing) use coordinates snapped to a coarse grid. Publishing exact locations is always an explicit, deliberate act by the person who owns them.
We do not sell spot access
RiseCast has no marketplace for spot access, and selling spots is not part of the product. We considered building one, on the reasoning that spot information already changes hands in guide fees, books, forums, and bar conversations, and that a market with rules is more accountable than a whisper network with none.
We decided against it. Putting a price on water applies exactly the kind of pressure this page exists to limit, and it sits badly next to a promise that your spots are yours. Sharing in RiseCast happens one way: you choose specific people, in a private circle, and nothing moves beyond them.
Catch and release norms
The journal and community features encourage, without policing: barbless hooks where appropriate, keeping fish wet, quick releases, and respecting harvest regulations where anglers choose to keep fish legally. Verified catch flows are designed to work with in-water measurement.
Questions or proposals for sensitive-water flags: support@risecast.fish
Know a reach that should be flagged? Write to support@risecast.fish.