Methodology
Where our stocking data comes from, how often it updates, and why some pages are not indexed yet.
Where the data comes from
Every stocking event on this site is pulled from a state wildlife agency's own public report, not a third party or a forum. Right now that's:
Each stocking table on the site links back to the agency report it came from, so you can always check the source yourself.
How lake and species facts are added
Lake facts (surface acres, elevation, access) and species tactics come from agency species profiles, federal geodata, and other public research, then get double-checked before publishing. A fact with no source we're confident in isn't published as a guess. We leave it out rather than print something that might be wrong. That's why some lake pages show fewer facts than others: it means we don't have a verified answer yet, not that the fact doesn't exist.
How often this updates
Right now, stocking data is refreshed by hand when we re-pull the agency reports above, not on a fixed public schedule. Every stocking table links to the agency's own report for that event, so you can always check the agency directly for anything more recent than what's shown here. We're building toward a daily automated check in season; until then, don't assume a lake's most recent listed stocking is necessarily its most recent real one.
Why some pages aren't indexed in search
We only ask Google to index a lake or species-at-lake page once it has enough real, checkable data on it: at least one real stocking record, plus a basic fact like size, elevation, or access. Pages below that bar still exist on the site (you can browse them, and sign up for alerts once that's live), but we mark them so they don't show up in search until they've earned it. It's the same idea as a species page: it goes live for browsing right away, but doesn't get indexed until a person has actually reviewed it.
This is deliberate. A site with thousands of thin, near-identical pages is bad for readers and gets penalized by search engines. We'd rather grow slower and stay useful.
Regulations
We don't restate fishing regulations, bag limits, or license rules anywhere on this site. Those change and carry real consequences if we get them wrong. Every lake page links to the agency's own report as the source of truth; check your state agency directly for current regulations.
Full source log
We keep an internal log of every data source we use, its terms of reuse, and the date we last checked it, alongside the specific adapter or record it feeds. It's part of our build process rather than a page on the site, but the short version above covers what matters for readers.