Does the WDFW mobile app just kinda suck?

Josh

Josh

Dead in the water
Staff member
Admin
Am I the only one who thinks the WDFW mobile app sucks? Looked up lower Whatcom creek:

BCFD788D-5E4D-4580-865C-6A695802D763.png

Must not be any salmon specific regs, right? Oh wait, here's what the actual pamphlet says:

Screen Shot 2022-09-20 at 4.21.17 PM.png

Well then there must not be any emergency rule changes right? Oh wait:

wdfw.wa.gov

Whatcom Creek to open for Chinook Saturdays through Mondays only

Action: Opens hatchery Chinook salmon retention Effective dates: Sept. 17 through September 26, 2022 Species affected: Chinook salmon Location
wdfw.wa.gov wdfw.wa.gov

The whole point of digital regs is that they could be updated instantly with any changes. Why in the world are emergency rule changes still hidden separately? Why isn't there at least a "check for emergency changes" link somewhere?

And don't forget the advertising on every page!

The WA regs are complicated enough, but now people have to deal with this junk? Is Whatcom Creek just unlucky and innaccurate? Or is the app this crappy all around? I've given up and deleted it twice now. I'll stick to the paper regs or a PDF of the same.
 
It has sucked since it came out.
I deleted it off my phone shortly after adding it.
SF
 
I like the Oregon app, but it's only for licensing/tagging. Be really nice if they expanded it to regs, too.
 
It's not just you, @Josh. It seems to work for me about half the time. But I don't really trust it so I tend to always back it up by checking to make sure, which makes it pretty pointless. Given the competition for talent, I imagine that anywhere within 150 miles of Olympia (WDFW HQ) that it is difficult to find talented developers willing to work for a WDFW salary.
 
Yes this app sucks because it doesn’t do the main thing it should which is act as a license and a tagging system in the field like in Oregon. This app is a glorified regs pamphlet.

I would love to not have a catch card that is illegible after a season and instead just send my data to WDFW in real time. No more 10$ crab catch card fines! But they probably love those fines…
 
HauntedByWaters said:
Yes this app sucks because it doesn’t do the main thing it should which is act as a license and a tagging system in the field like in Oregon. This app is a glorified regs pamphlet.
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Yeah, I didn't even get into that aspect of it. The fact that it can't even function as a glorified regs pamphlet is bad enough. But you are exactly right, it should be a license purchasing portal and a catch card as well.
 
HauntedByWaters said:
I would love to not have a catch card that is illegible after a season and instead just send my data to WDFW in real time. No more 10$ crab catch card fines! But they probably love those fines…
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I missed sending in a crab catch card once because I was out of town for an extended period dealing with the health and passing of my mother. I corresponded with WDFW about it. They told me more or less tough luck, I had to pay up, and they weren't particularly kind about it.
 
yep, your WA app just all around sucks.

I do like the OR app with for my license. But that's all it does.
 
I saw people repeatedly poaching Lake Whatcom from the Blodel Swim dock a couple years ago and on about the fourth time decided to call wdfw and let them know. They said that there was a reg error with the WDFW App, and since it mistakenly listed the lake as open they had to let people fish there in the winter.

Kind of a joke to me.
 
WDFW spent money contacting something that doesn't work.. Seems par for the course.
 
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I like the way it's set up. hate the way it works. The times I've actually wanted it, it says your regulations are out of date or something else doesn't work. Even if I fire it up at home and let it sit a bit and update it seems to not work so well in the field.
 
I've loaded the app and tried getting the danged thing to work several times with minimal success and maximal frustration. Gone from my phone! A paper copy of the regs lives in my car's glove box.
 
I did find the app useful on a very foggy morning on Lake Washington last year. The gps software in the app led me to where i wanted to go as i couldnt see a 100 yards.
 
Rvrfisher360 said:
I saw people repeatedly poaching Lake Whatcom from the Blodel Swim dock a couple years ago and on about the fourth time decided to call wdfw and let them know. They said that there was a reg error with the WDFW App, and since it mistakenly listed the lake as open they had to let people fish there in the winter.

Kind of a joke to me.
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Hmmmm, I haven't experienced open fisheries when the app says or implies closed. I too wish the app would act as a catch card, and at least a license record which is app design-function. The open-closed errors mentioned are likely due to poor WDFW management and process-workflow that impact the app.
DoesItFloat said:
I wonder if "Well, your honor, I was just following the regs on the app" will hold up.
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I always thought that if a WDFW LE said I was in violation of the regs when Fish WA said a fishery was open I'd show the LE what the app said. It appears that @Rvrfisher360 has found that an error in the app could excuse a violation of the online & printed regs.
 
Matt B said:
It's not just you, @Josh. It seems to work for me about half the time. But I don't really trust it so I tend to always back it up by checking to make sure, which makes it pretty pointless. Given the competition for talent, I imagine that anywhere within 150 miles of Olympia (WDFW HQ) that it is difficult to find talented developers willing to work for a WDFW salary.
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I doubt they have software engineers on staff. They're probably contracting this out to the lowest bidder.
 
Brian Miller said:
Hmmmm, I haven't experienced open fisheries when the app says or implies closed. I too wish the app would act as a catch card, and at least a license record which is app design-function. The open-closed errors mentioned are likely due to poor WDFW management and process-workflow that impact the app.

I always thought that if a WDFW LE said I was in violation of the regs when Fish WA said a fishery was open I'd show the LE what the app said. It appears that @Rvrfisher360 has found that an error in the app could excuse a violation of the online & printed regs.
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Heck, I just wish I could just catch something to enter on the catch card. :cry:
 
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