Data & sharing FAQ

Yes. When your journal syncs or is opened online, reports with a usable location are checked for missing science. Historical weather, matching river readings and calculated sun and moon information are attached when available. If a source is incomplete, the trip is kept and checked again on a later online visit after a six-hour retry interval. The app does not perform these lookups while it is closed.

The earliest valid capture timestamp across the trip photo and fish photos is the science reference. Weather and river lookups use its hour; the exact photo timestamp is retained. This does not replace your actual fishing start or finish time. If a photo belongs to a different date, the report is flagged for review instead of silently changing the trip.

Adding an earlier photo or changing the reference location queues another check. Previous science readings are retained in the report’s conditions history. Missing values remain unavailable. Later personal AI evaluations receive matching science with its sources and reference time; outdated readings are excluded.

Your private journal stores the trip answers you enter, recorded conditions, equipment, notes, optional GPS points, recorded routes, imported watch information and submitted photos. Photos may include capture-time and location metadata. These details support your saved report, maps, science sections, personal comparisons and trip posters.

ChatGPT sign-in supplies an account identifier and email for access and cross-device synchronization. Optional public profiles, community updates, feedback and usage counting have their own choices. A private journal is not automatically a public report or research contribution.

Each contribution adds context about the fishing: the water, season, techniques, effort, catches and conditions. Together, those observations help us explore what anglers reported under similar circumstances and build useful learning material.

Slow days and zero-catch trips matter too. Recording fishing time helps us compare catch rates fairly instead of judging trips by catch totals alone.

The current contribution includes recorded trip answers, fishing observations, catches and measurements, bait and technique details, equipment, water and reach, conditions, and exact GPS and photo location/timestamps where recorded. It uses the information available in that trip; missing values stay missing.

Account/profile details, companion names, the personal written recap and photo image files are excluded from the research payload. Fishing observations can contain free text, so avoid including anyone’s personal information there.

You can inspect the data before contributing, including the full research preview with locations and notes.

The operator can access exact locations in the research record you choose to contribute. Those source records are not published as individual research reports. Public learning summaries omit names, account references, individual records, notes and exact coordinates.

Publishing a Community Report is a separate choice. Review its story and photo backgrounds before sharing publicly; they may reveal a location even when GPS metadata is absent.

Yes. Research contributions and Community Reports have separate previews and permissions. You may contribute a trip while keeping its journal story private. Publishing a story also does not automatically contribute its underlying trip to research.

Only a report you separately preview and submit can become public, after administrator approval. Here is how the current public copy works:

Read the story and inspect the photos before submitting. The story can mention companions, baits, equipment, a river reach or details from your notes. Anything included in the reviewed story becomes public, even if that information is not copied as a separate data field. Photo backgrounds may reveal a fishing location.

To change story details, edit the saved journal, then preview and update the public report. Each update needs review again. Use Unpublish report to remove its public copy.

Open a saved trip in My journal and choose its WVKA data set contribution option. Review the preview, select the research agreement, then choose Contribute this data.

An already contributed outing can be amended using Update existing contribution. Under the current ongoing-update agreement, future saved corrections to that trip update the same research record. Older snapshot-only contributions keep their original permission until you explicitly update them.

The original survey preserves 80 anglers’ 240 bait selections. Those are recommendations and preferences. Contributed trip records add reported catches, effort and conditions. The learning section distinguishes these two sources so a recommended bait is not presented as a proven result on a particular water.

Public trip comparisons require at least five eligible trips from three linked contributing accounts. Every published subgroup must meet that minimum independently. This minimum protects against exposing small groups; it does not establish scientific certainty.

Available comparisons show the contributing trip and account counts, fishing hours and catch rates. Measured-size summaries identify the selected measured fish behind them. Account counts are not independently verified unique people.

Best Five measurements describe selected fish, not the average size of all fish caught. Trips using a Ned rig describe whole-trip results unless catches and effort can be attributed to that method. Angler skill, reach, other techniques and changing conditions can affect the comparison.

Calculations establish the available facts first. When the owner connects AI writing, only anonymous aggregate evidence is sent to OpenAI to help draft a learning summary, with storage disabled in that request. Individual research records, exact coordinates, private notes and photos are not part of that writing input.

AI writing is not currently connected. Calculated drafts are available. Learning summaries require administrator review before publication; changed evidence hides an old approved summary until it is reviewed again.

They can identify patterns in submitted observations. They cannot by themselves prove that a bait, pressure change or moon window caused the result, or guarantee catches. Missing historical rainfall, gauge coverage or fishing effort remains unavailable instead of being filled with guesses.

The useful question is: “What did these anglers report, how much evidence supports it, and what could we test on the next trip?”

Contact wvkayakanglers@gmail.com to stop future research processing or request deletion. Deleting an individual trip retains its previously contributed research under the current policy. Account deletion removes linked research source records and retains combined seasonal counts without identifiers, exact dates, GPS or free text.

Read the research retention explanation and account deletion page for the full details. There is currently no separate Withdraw button in the trip form.

No. Optional anonymous activity counting measures feature use and approximate city/state totals when available. A separate optional signed-in activity choice supports returning-member counts. Browser privacy signals suppress optional counting. These counts help the owner understand use of the app and share non-identifying program totals with potential partners.

An Anglers Directory listing is also separate. If you choose to list your profile, its public copy includes your saved name, About me, hometown where supplied, photo, team/sponsor information and profile statistics, plus links to separately approved Community Reports. Review your directory listing choice on the profile page. Partners do not receive private journals, contact lists or exact locations through the aggregate partnership reports.

See public profile information and optional partnership metrics.