Bite Score.
Every species and fishing-type score is a weighted sum of the eleven factors below. Each returns a 0..1 reading from the live data; the sliders on Plan or Species set how heavily that reading counts. The final score caps at 100.
How it's calculated
Measures the rising-tide rate in feet per hour at the selected hour, derived from NOAA's hourly tide predictions. Scores 0 when the tide is slack or falling, scales linearly up to 1.0 by ~0.6 ft/h (a fast incoming tide).
Hours with a fast incoming tide score much higher. Permit, bonefish, redfish, and anyone fishing the flood onto a flat want this loaded up.
Direction-of-rise doesn't shape the score. Pair with Outgoing for any-moving-water style or Slack for the opposite preference.
How it's calculated
Same calculation as Incoming but for the falling tide. Scores 0 when slack or rising, scales up to 1.0 by ~0.6 ft/h of fall.
Falling-tide hours dominate. Classic snook ambush conditions, mangrove cuts emptying, channel funnels stacking bait.
Falling tides aren't weighted; you don't care which way the water's going.
How it's calculated
Inverse of tide-rate magnitude. Scores 1.0 at exact slack water (high or low) and falls to 0 by ~0.6 ft/h either direction.
Hours nearest the high or low tide score best. Wreck snapper that won't bite a ripping current, sight fishing in glass-calm water, anchor work in heavy current zones.
Slack windows are neutral. Tide motion in either direction is fine.
How it's calculated
Daily tidal range (high minus low) over a 24-hour window centered on the moment, plus a moon-driven spring-tide proximity boost. Higher daily range and full/new moon proximity push the factor toward 1.0; small neap-tide ranges sit closer to 0.
Spring-tide days (big daily range, near full or new moon) heavily favored. Reef bottom fishing, AJs on wrecks, anything where moving water carries bait or chum to fish.
The moon-and-range proxy is muted; treat every day's tidal range about the same.
How it's calculated
Peaks exactly at sunrise and sunset (Open-Meteo gives us the actual times for the station's lat/lng), falls off linearly to 0 by ±2 hours from each peak. Midday and middle-of-the-night sit at 0.
Crepuscular fishing windows dominate. Snook, tarpon, kingfish, blackfin, cero, black grouper — the classic first-and-last-light bite.
Time of day stops mattering. Midday, midnight, and dawn are weighted the same.
How it's calculated
Six-hour slope of mean-sea-level pressure (mb/h) from Open-Meteo. Falling pressure ≥1.0 mb/h scores 1.0 (a strong pre-front signature); slow-fall ~0.85; stable ~0.5; rising lowers the score; fast-rise hits 0.15. The Pre-Front banner triggers when slope ≤ -0.5 mb/h.
Pre-front feeding windows lit up. Greater amberjack on wrecks, sailfish on a cold-front, kingfish ahead of the change.
Pressure trend ignored; bites scored as if the barometer were always neutral.
How it's calculated
Two-mode calculation. By default the factor is the spring-tide proximity (closeness to full or new moon, which drives bigger tides) at ~70%. For species with documented spawning aggregations, the factor switches to a spawn-window boost during the right month plus the right lunar phase (full or new) within ~4-5 days.
Lunar cycles drive the score. Mutton on Riley's Hump full moon May–June, mangrove on the late-July full moon, black grouper Dec–Mar spawn, wahoo full-moon trolling.
Moon phase rolls off; the score behaves the same on a full moon as on a half moon.
How it's calculated
Trapezoidal curve against the species' (or fishing type's) wind cap. Below 40% of the cap the factor is 1.0; from 40% to 100% it falls linearly to 0.05; at or above the cap it collapses to ~0. Hourly Open-Meteo wind speed.
Calm matters — this is a fishability constraint, not a fish-behavior signal. Sight fishing, mahi runs, anything that needs to read the water or run safely.
Wind tolerated. The score doesn't punish you for grinding through a 20-mph day.
How it's calculated
Same trapezoidal curve as Wind, but against the wave cap (in feet) using Open-Meteo's marine wave-height forecast.
Sea state critical. Spear fishing, sight fishing offshore, running the Stream — boats and visibility don't tolerate slop.
Wave height ignored; you're staying inside or you're tough.
How it's calculated
Not a multiplier — a curve. Scores 1.0 inside the species' preferred temp band (e.g. 75–82°F for bonefish), falls linearly over a 6°F shoulder either side, and hits 0 at the lethal threshold. SST comes from Open-Meteo's marine forecast.
Temp band rules. Mahi (77–84°F PSAT data), sailfish (75–82°F), blackfin (mean 75°F) — if SST is outside the band the score drops fast.
The temp curve is flattened; cold or hot days score similarly to in-the-band days.
How it's calculated
Compares wind direction against the Florida Current's northbound heading. Score reflects how much the wind opposes ("against") or aligns with ("with") the current. Sailfish and a few offshore species prefer "against" — the iconic Keys winter sail bite is N/NE wind shoving south against the northbound Stream.
Wind-against-Stream conditions weighted heavily. Sailfish on a cold front, edge bite when N wind builds.
Wind direction relative to current ignored.