Fish Rules: Fishing App Reviews

by X-Gladius

This is a For-Profit App that can get you in trouble in more than one way.
Best way to ensure that you are legally fishing, and that your catch is legal, is to download the official rules from the governing authority, and either print or store in your device.
The recreational fishing community should oppose this “Outsourcing”. We need the law!
For a while, the Gulf of Mexico fisheries management council provided a great app we can rely on. Fish Rules has been a step back.

by Tommy Trller

Watched a video about FishRules, stating it will cover any area I fish. Downloaded and of course to my disappointment just like most “great” apps that are advertised they cover maybe 10 states. Recommend getting some coverage in MT,WY,CO,SD,ND,ID. FishRules could be the next onX if ran properly, or it’ll get passed up sooner or later by a better competitor. Would be more than happy to give a 5 star rating for functionality and ease of use but just can’t with lack of customer coverage. Maybe I’ll check back in a year, or I’ll just download a better competitor when one arises…

by LOLGEVOS

FishRules mixes freshwater and saltwater regulations so some are incorrect. The fresh/salt buttons only sort the species, but does not show the correct regulations especially if the fish are migratory between fresh and salt. There are additional regulations that are in my state’s book of laws that aren’t readily disclosed on the fishing regulations charts so although I don’t expect FishRules to know them, everyone be careful out there and do your homework! FishRules will only get you most of the way there!

by Elcastillian

While fishing out of town, in an unfamiliar area, we pulled up to a great looking spot and landed / released a fish within minutes. I launched FishRules to look up the species and noticed we were fishing in a restricted area (Red Warning message across the top of the screen) not indicated on GPS as such. We quickly pulled up our gear and moved on, passing Law Enforcement just moments later.

I absolutely love FishRules. Great, location based, fishing regulations reference, on or off the water.

This is a must have app for ALL fisherman, novice and expert alike.

by Jon Duelz

If u are an avid fisher of even just a weekend worrier FishRules makes knowing rules and regulations easier then ever with size and bag limits seasons and even pictures to identify your fish 10/10 recommend to any1 who likes to fish

by Dendz

I love FishRules! FWC really out did themselves. We fishermen go to quite a variation of places. It’s almost impossible to keep up with seasons, type of fish, certain lakes or saltwater regions. But FishRules makes it very simple! It knows where your at and it knows the date and therefore it’s like having a FWC Lawman in your boat telling you if you can keep it or not. I like playing by the rules! And I want everyone to do the same! FishRules allows you to play by the rules. It’s good for fishermen...as well as our sensitive fishery! Great job FWC!!!!

by G3Outfitters

This is by far the best App I have on my phone. As much as I fish all over Florida I still can’t keep up with the regulations and all there changes. It’s so easy to click on the species in question and and all the regulations pop right up immediately. Thanks for such a great product.

by Egoistic Stub

I didn’t realize FishRules had the option to set a manual location (not using gps) which allows you to pull info even with no cell coverage. I’ve updated my review to reflect that this is a great app all around. Thanks to the dev’s for the support. Highly recommend!

by Vinny D.

I cannot tell you how many times FishRules has saved me while I’ve been fishing. I part time mate on a charter and I can always count on FishRules to be up to date and let me know what’s in season and what’s not. If I’m in the gulf or Atlantic waters I know I can open up FishRules and know I’m good to go!

by Ahdhjdjebhejshcdrjekowjfjd

The Fish Rules App is very easy to use and reliable. With a simple search you can find out all the critical information you need to know about a particular fish. I highly recommend FishRules as a resource to anyone fishing, diving or participating in any activity on the water.

by Weston McNew

FishRules helps me all the time for when I catch a fish and I don’t know if it’s in season or not so I will quickly pull out fish rules and it tells me everything I need to know, from the size limits to when it’s season for that species of fish best app I have ever had on my phone!

by Blind Date Charters

When it comes to ensuring I am legally harvesting fish only my charter fishing trip, I can always count on fish rules app to be accurate and up to date. The clarity on regulations, along with the photos, allows for quick easy and confident decision making out on the water.

Capt. Tom
Blind Date Charters

by Hunter H (mort)

I love fish rules and I use it all the time even though I am a very advanced fisherman I don’t know all the regulations with all the fish out there and I can easily access FishRules to see what type of fish I caught and if I can keep it and how many I can keep I highly recommend fish rules it’s easy to use and it’s very helpful because you won’t get a ticket

by Pancake128

I love FishRules. Albrey and Rick did an amazing job designing FishRules. They made it so simple and clear. If you have questions about anything you can email them and they will get back to you very quickly. It also tells you open or closed season and all the prohibited ways of catching these species. It’ll save you a lot of headache. Good luck !

by J-Shizzel

After being the army for 6 1/2 years, I moved back home and FishRules has helped me not catch any fines. I would have the other state regs in my head and something in my head said “maybe you should check that” and sure enough every time it helped me out. If you aren’t on the water everyday but consider yourself an avid fisherman/woman then I HIGHLY recommend FishRules.

by JS MLO

I’ve been watching DMFD for years and obviously had to download it after all of those shameless plugs haha. I’m in Louisiana and they have all the regulations for here which is awesome. The pictures are great and navigating FishRules is easy. I love being able to favorite all my fish and thinking about upgrading to pro to see if I can utilize some new spots.

Y’all bring me fishing! I’m doing Mr. Askeland’s refinance on his house in Jupiter haha.

by Yskfnl

FishRules provides the confidence I need to identify my catches. I know that I am in compliance with local laws because FishRules is constantly updated with regulation changes. In the rare case that I still can’t identify my catch, I have the ability to send a picture and have my catch professionally identified. Each time I have used this feature, I received an answer within a couple of hours.

by Birdbuyer

Using the Fish Rules App helps me take the confusion out of the size limits and in season and out of season rules. With the GPS location in FishRules I always know that I’m seeing the rules that apply to the area that I’m fishing in. With both the Northern Gulf of Mexico showing both the State Waters and Federal Waters seasons, sizes and limits, I alway know where to fish to make the time and money spent on fuel, bait and ice worth the trip.
Fish Rules, Thanks for the help.

by Qbanito_1

FishRules has everything, pictures, sizes, seasons and even locations among a lot of other things! What I mostly love about FishRules is the the developers work very hard to improve FishRules daily! If you have any questions or comments you can check out their Instagram, they will appreciate any comment you have! If you’re a fisherman or starting to learn how to fish, I highly recommend FishRules! 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻

by Kitegerm

With the ever changing regulations we have had in Florida for the last couple of years regarding seasons, sizes, new species that have seasons this is the one app I trust to make sure I am always certain that I am harvesting legally. Not only is it a great reference tool for out on the water on species that we are familiar with and not so familiar with, it is also a great distraction for my kid as he loves to scroll through the pictures and learn about our local fisheries.

by JeeperSSS

FishRules was my go to app for fishing and spearfishing in Florida State and Federal waters. Prior to the update, I could set the map on my normal home area, Panama City Beach and FishRules would always open to that location and load species and rules for that region. After update, it automatically sets my location to Ga State Waters because that is where I live. I have to reset the map and when I go into a fish and look at regulations, it defaults back to Ga State waters (my home location) This has almost rendered FishRules more frustrating than useful now. Previously it was the best rules and regulations app I’d ever used. Now it is just a frustration having to reset the map location after each regulation view. Please fix this so you can set a map location and it will stay. Let me choose when to move the map. Since I fish and dive 95% of time in PCB, I’d like for it to stay there rather than reverting back to Ga State waters where I permanently live. So sad to see this happen to an amazing app!

by This Nickname Cant Be Taken

It could possibly be awesome if more effort was put into it. I saw an episode of DMFD where the creator had it advertised on the side of his boat... in florida, and the florida rules seem kind of undone. A few pictures missing. Its quite easy to get a picture of any fish anywhere.

Also, since its a fishing rules app, i dont understand the need for things to have to scroll through like manatees, coral, whales, sea turtles. Im pretty sure no one needs to look up if they can keep that humpback whale they foul hooked :-/ . it seems like a waste of space as there is already tons of species of fish here in florida to have to identify, why clutter it more with unnecessary pointless info to have to navigate through..... ive seem the creator on DMFD ( thats how i found it) he seems like a logical guy. not understanding the whale/turtle/manatee thing. Im glad it was free.

by Porizo

This used to be my favorite fishing rules app. I loved its simplicity and ease of use. I believe that it will be that again but it still ends work. One of my favorites functions was the ability to see favorites and actually have the pictures of those favorites at the top of the listing. The new version only allows you to see the favorites as a list not as pictures. Yes you can filter on favorites but you get a list of names which you then have to select to see the pictures. It was a lot easier to be able to see favorites via pictures. Hope you bring this feature back.

by BrianLatch

FishRules has potential of being great. I do have a couple issues/recommendations to make it better.

1) we create a user profile. Why doesn’t my favorites on my iPhone populate to my iPad if both are logged into the same account?

2) The search feature seems buggy. There are times I search for “drum” and nothing comes back. Other times red drum will show as a result but black drum will not. This search feature would work great if all results came back that had that word in it. Example: if I knew I just caught some sort of “grouper”, I’d like to search for “grouper” and see all results, not have to keep scrolling down.

by Edie Uujdj

I absolutely love FishRules but I think that they should add some more fish for example they are missing the look down fish Aka moon fish! But other than that I’m a beginner in ocean fishing and FishRules really helps me out knowing what I can keep and the regulations on these fish!

by Roger1700

Very nice to have current regs(updated when you open app) for your location at the tip of your fingers. Even if you’re going to be out of cell service range, like on an offshore trip, just open app before you leave cell range to get latest updates then you’re set for the day. If you want to know regs for where you’re going just click on location bar at bottom, manually set location on map, then look up fish. Easy app to use and is always up to date, very glad to have found FishRules.

by Jweech

FishRules makes life easy when trying to figure out what’s in season, size, and bag limits. Always updated so you don’t have to be. I fish all over Florida and the rules change by location. FishRules knows where u are and what rules apply to that location. If I’m going off shore and won’t have signal I screen shot the fish I will be targeting so I have the info when needed. I’ve turned on many friends to the Fish Rules app and recommend to any fishing persons.

by Jojojib

We use Fish Rules very often because we often fish. There are no better app for fishing regulations. No matter where you are, you can open FishRules and be confident that you'll be in compliance. The photos are great and search options are super helpful. For users who don't like that the location is always on, simply select 'never' when you're. It fishing and switch to 'always' before you leave the dock. Simple as that.

by Sicksecbeamer

I had a old version of FishRules which would update but not use the correct firmware i contacted FishRules creator and they answered super fast and was very helpful. I had to delete FishRules and reinstall to get the latest firmware. And they helped me troubleshoot the other issue. From start to finish it was less then a day and we had everything resolved!! Great group of guy and gals and a good app.

by Brito_34

I love FishRules. Make sure you have the latest update. If you fish, you need FishRules.

Definitely enable location services so FishRules can show the correct regulations for your actual location.

You can use the map feature or enter GPS coordinates to manually set your location if you want to see what regulations apply to other areas.

by Spear_fish

I’ve been using FishRules now for at least three years and love it. Was a bit frustrated by the location resetting each time but that is being addressed already.

FishRules did have the functionality of storing licenses in prior versions which I found useful for keeping all of my fishing related information in one place (HMS permits, shrimp lic, fishing lic, boat registration, proof of insurance...basically everything I need if I get checked). This functionality went away (or I can’t find it) but is easy to replicate by taking photos of the same documents on my phone.

The identification tips on various species is very helpful.

Keep up the great work, this is my go to app when I’m fishing.

by Ferglaw

As a recreational fishermen I find FishRules to be by far the best app For information and guidance on different types of fish species and rules and regulations. FishRules even comes with color photographs of different fish which helps assist you in identifying the correct species which is very helpful. All of the recreational fishermen that I know have FishRules and we all swear by it extremely helpful and informative.

by Bianca Pardo

FishRules is a lifesaver out there when your fishing just a quick search of the name of the species and you will find the regulations for it and if you don’t know what species it is you could scroll through all of its pictures of native and migratory fish in your gps or manually marked location.

by Adrian Fajardo

Hey guys FishRules is great but I can’t seem to help that some of the lesser knows fish with regulations aren’t there but are on your guys site. For example I’ll search up puddingwife wrasse (a fish we can catch down in Florida) and I won’t find it on your app but I will on your sit. Just the little things you know but thanks for the great app 😁

by TravelingDiver

FishRules makes staying legal very easy. Simple to see what is in season. Great pictures and photos to help you identify your catch when you are unsure. Most of all, friendly and outstanding tech service when I had an issue with FishRules (it was user error), FishRules works great. Thanks!