The 10 best fishing apps in 2022

It’s almost summer, prime fishing season, and so Android Police has compiled a list of the best Android apps centered around the sport of fishing, whether you’re into fly fishing or something a little more involved like deep-sea fishing. So if you’re on the hunt to real in a worthy app to catalog your catches or dig up worthy fishing spots, you’ve come to the right place. Enjoy!

Fishbrain

Crowdsourcing is an extremely useful tool for something like reporting awesome fishing spots, which is why Fishbrain is one of the most popular fishing apps on Android. Not only can you utilize the community’s reporting to find quality places to fish, but you can also deep dive into what sort of bait works well in those spots and at what times of the day. Heck, you can even chat with other anglers to pick up a few tips, and if you’re short on equipment, there’s a store built in that carries over 350 fishing brands (an app has to make money somehow, amirite) that you can order directly through the app.

Essentially, Fishbrain is a one-stop shop for all of your fishing needs, whether that’s general information, community discussion, or equipment purchases. The app is available for free, though you can pick up a few perks if you choose to subscribe to Pro for $10 a month.

Anglers’ Log – Fishing Journal

If you find many of the apps on today’s list too complicated or simply too stuffed with features, then maybe Anglers’ Log is more your speed. This is a simple yet useful journaling app to catalog your catches while also keeping track of the location, bait, and size of the fish. This information can then be shared with friends in the app, and you can even store photos of your catches to show off.

Anglers’ Log is free to use, and it’s open-source, which means you can even contribute to its development. While the Play Store does state there are Pro features, there no longer appears to be any way to pay, so it would seem the app has gone free in the buildup to its 2.0 release, which means it’s a perfect time to check it out.

Fish Angler

Fish Angler is a crowdsourced tracking app where users can report their catches while marking them on the map to ensure other anglers can profit from this shared info. Simply open the GPS map, and dive into the catches logged to get an idea of the better spots to go fishing for your next outing. Fishing forecasts are also part of this info, to get a better read on the best spots and times to fish, which is handy for planning a weekend trip.

The app acts as a personal log of your best catches and spots, and like social media apps, you can share your logs with your followers, or follow others you admire. Of course, the most impressive bit is that this app is totally free; if you’re looking for something comparable to Fishbrain but don’t want to pay for a subscription, Fish Angler will float your boat.

BassForecast

This app is for all of you bass fanatics out there. Powered by AccuWeather, BassForecast combines weather and bass data—such as the times fish feed—and suggests the best times to fish. You can easily plan out your bass fishing trips to increase your odds of catches, and plan extended trips with the app’s 10-day forecast.

Much like a weather app, a subscription is required if you want to unlock 10-day forecasts, the cover selector, and other premium features. A monthly sub is $2.99, and you can snag a yearly sub for $9.99.

Fish Deeper

Now that we’ve covered a few crowdsourced apps and a forecast app, it’s time to check out one of the better depth map apps. Not only does Fish Deeper offer detailed weather forecasts, but it also offers over 50,000 global lake depth maps. The combination of depth maps and weather patterns can help you uncover the best spots to plan fishing trips.

What’s great is the app isn’t limited to people with boats. If you utilize a Deeper castable sonar with the app, you’re covered on the shore, on the ice, or in the middle of your favorite lake. The Fish Deeper app, combined with sonar, lets you uncover what’s going on in the water. Heck, you can use a castable sonar to build your own depth/fishing maps, which is about as hands-on as it gets. So whether you simply require forecasts and depth maps or are looking to create your own with a third-party castable sonar, Fish Deeper will indeed get your where you need to go.

Fish Rules

Those of you interested in saltwater fishing will want to check out Fish Rules. The app lists each state’s regulations, ensuring you stay on the law’s good side by understanding which fish are in season and how many you’re allowed to keep. Of course, this wouldn’t be a fishing app if it didn’t also offer data on thousands of fishing posts so you can perfectly plan out your next seaworthy outing.

The app is free to use, though there’s a yearly Pro subscription that’s $29.99. This sub unlocks many features, like the ability to save location spots while removing the app’s advertisements. You can trial the Pro plan for seven days to make sure you enjoy what’s available before committing to the full price.

RiverFlows

Sure, lakes and oceans are properly covered with the above apps, but you may be wondering about rivers. Well, RiverFlows is a simple app that reports river and lake levels, which is handy for fishing as well as a slew of other sports. So, while this isn’t a dedicated fishing app, per se, it’s a handy tool to have at your disposal if you often wonder what the local levels are around your favorite fishing spots.

What’s great is that this app is open source, and it’s free, utilizing data from USGS, NOAA, and the US Army Corps of Engineers. Plus, the app includes a handy widget, so you can easily view your local water levels without even dipping into the app.

ANGLR

ANGLR is another all-in-one app, like Fishbrain and Fish Angler, and it can hold its own thanks to a wide selection of features. The app was recently overhauled with a fresh UI, so it is actively developed, alleviating any worries any money spent won’t be worth it. Of course, all the tools you need to plan and research are included, with tons of maps to explore with GPS route planning. You can record all of your catches while sharing your tips with users, and just about every style of fishing is covered, from fly to deep sea.

You can use the app for free, but a monthly or yearly subscription is required if you’d like to unlock the complete feature set, like 14 premium map layers. Luckily the monthly sub is only $2.50 a month, with the annual rate clocking in at $29.99. More or less, you can use the app as much as you want, and if you like what you see or simply require a few extra features, then the subscription will come in handy.

Fishing Knots

There’s an art to tying knots, and with so many different options out there that are bait and hook dependent, carrying a helpful guide to tying knots might be the cheat sheet you need for your next fishing trip. Heck, the app even offers tips that cover how to tie knots with different types of line, whether it’s a braided line or heavy-duty offshore line. Best of all, the app scales well on tablets and phones alike, which means you can pull it up on your boat’s tablet display (if it’s running Android) or your phone.

The app is free to use with advertisements, and if you’d like to remove the ads, you can pay $3.49 through an in-app purchase. So whether you need a premium app, or something free, both options are available.

FishTrack

Jumping back to saltwater fishing, FishTrack exclusively offers the data a deep-sea fisherman would need. You can view up-to-date ocean currents and marine weather forecasts and view your location both online and off (perfect for when you lose your signal). You can save waypoints for easy returns and plan out your routes before an outing to ensure you get to where you need to go. It’s the perfect app to plan any seafaring fishing trip.

Of course, like many of today’s apps, a subscription is available, not that the pricing is actively advertised, and that’s because a yearly Pro sub is $95.99. Even the monthly sub is $14.99, which isn’t cheap. Luckily you don’t need a subscription to use the app, so this is one I’d recommend using for free unless you absolutely require premium map overlays.

This concludes AP’s fishing app roundup, with some fresh additions included in our latest update to keep the list informative and timely for the summer fishing months; and don’t forget, if you’d like to track your outdoor activities, perhaps a fitness tracker would be a welcome addition for your next fishing trip. Hopefully, everyone was able to find a quality app that fits their needs, whether that’s Fishbrain for its in-app store or Fish Rules for all of your saltwater needs. And if there’s an app you’d like to see added to today’s roundup, feel free to sound off in the comments with your recommendations.

Image credit: Robson Hatsukami Morgan

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