ast
A bite forecast should be something you can understand.
Understandable bite forecast — every factor visible.
A Telegram bot. Open the chat — see what's driving the score.
To go or stay home? See what's actually driving the forecast today.
Built in Ukraine. Calibrated for our waters. Works on any lake or river in the world.
🌊 The only Ukrainian bite forecast that reads the river. River flow is its own factor in the score, explained in plain language.
What you see in the chat
Four things. No app, no signup, no fluff.
Is it worth the drive
One glance — how active fish will be today at your spot. No tables, no math.
Pressure, wind, temperature
In numbers you can question. Not "moderate SW breeze" — 14 km/h from the west. Values, not labels.
Not "average for the region"
Forecast for the exact point on the water — lake, river, reservoir, pond. Save your spots, get the forecast for them.
No app
The chat you already have. No new login, no push notifications you didn't ask for.
How the forecast works
The score isn't one number out of nowhere. It's several factors, each one visible separately.
Not the number — the movement
Dropping fast before a front? Fish know before we do. We show the 6-hour trend — rising, stable, dropping slow, or crashing.
Each species has a limit
8 m/s might be perfect for pike and brutal for carp. So we don't write "moderate" — we show m/s, km/h, and whether it's past your species' limit.
Not air — water
What fish actually live in. We model water temp from a 5-day air average and ground-warming depth. Air swings ±10°C a day — water doesn't.
Sun affects fish differently
An overcast day for carp is a different story than for pike. We show sky coverage and the next few hours of precipitation — you decide how it changes your plan.
The only one that reads the river
Live hydrology discharge data for river spots: falling water — predators come out to feed. For lakes and ponds this factor stays out of the score entirely.
Shows up only when it matters
The NOAA Kp index. On calm days — no effect on the score, no line on the card. When the field is unsettled or storming — the score is honestly lower, and you see why.
The bot also accounts for: weather change (fronts, pre-storm pressure drops), time of day (major/minor solunar periods — the best window is computed in your spot's timezone), and seasonality (active feeding windows for each species).
visible
window moon
phase
Five always-on factors — solunar, pressure, wind, modeled water temperature, cloud cover — multiply into one integer score from 1 to 10. River discharge joins in on river spots, geomagnetics during magnetic storms. A forecast where you can see the reason behind each number.
What the score means
10 isn't the average case. Over 30 days across four representative UA waters:
-
8–10
🔥 Excellent
Every factor lines up at once.
~3% of days -
6–7
🎣 Good
Worth the trip — most factors on your side.
~23% of days -
4–5
🌤 Fair
Moderate chance. Check which factor's pulling the score down.
~39% of days -
1–3
😴 Slow
A better day is coming. Don't waste the drive.
~35% of days
Most days are 4–6, not 9–10. That's normal. That's honest. A forecast that hits "9 out of 10" every day isn't a forecast — it's marketing.
I didn't want to build yet another forecast. I wanted to understand for myself why fish bite today and not tomorrow.
That's why BiteCast shows not a "score," but every factor separately.
— Mr. Drozd
When the factors are visible — the forecast makes sense.
Seven factors. Not a crystal ball.
Pressure dropping?
Check if it helps your target species.
Water temperature off?
See exactly how much it's pulling the score down.
Wind picking up?
See if it's cutting into the score.
Score low?
You see why — and you decide whether to go.
How we do it differently
Most anglers open a weather app, check the pressure, and go by feel. Here's what having a formula actually changes.
| How anglers do it today | What you get here | |
|---|---|---|
| Bite-score formula | —None — weather app + moon phase + gut feel | ✓Every factor visible in the reply |
| Per-species calibration | —"Fish are biting" — no species distinction | ✓9 freshwater species tuned |
| Temperature the fish actually feels | —Air temperature from the weather app | ✓We model water temperature |
| Calibration for your spots | —Personal experience — in your head, not in a system | ✓Learns from your catches |
| Accuracy you can check | —"It was biting last time" — from memory | ✓/stats — your personal forecast hit-rate |
| River flow in the score | —Check water levels on the hydromet site yourself | ✓The only Ukrainian bite forecast that reads the river |
| Ukrainian water catalog | —Google Maps, forums, ask the group | ✓Over 1,000 waters & fishing spots in /find |
| Directions to the bank | —Find coordinates yourself | ✓🗺 button → Google Maps |
| Pressure-drop alerts | —Check it yourself before the drive | ✓DM to your Telegram |
| Group chats | —"Worth going this weekend?" in the group chat | ✓Shared spot, shared card |
| Free tier | —Weather is free — no dedicated tool exists | ✓Forecast + 1 spot, forever |
| Install | —A weather app | ✓Telegram only |
Fishing with a crew? One bot for the whole chat.
The admin sets it up once — and the bot posts a shared forecast to the whole group every morning. Any member can run /forecast and get a bite card right there in the chat. No separate setup for each person.
One spot, everyone sees it
No more «hey guys, anyone going tomorrow?». The forecast lives in the chat — one card, same conditions for the whole crew.
At the time you actually wake up
Set the hour with /brief_time. In the morning today's score is already waiting in the chat — no one has to remember to run anything.
Only when asked
The bot doesn't chatter. Nothing lands in the chat on its own — except the morning brief, if you turned it on.
Same spot, each in their own maps
The admin sets one shared spot for the whole group. The 🗺 button on each forecast opens directions in each member's own maps app — Apple Maps, Google Maps, whatever. No screenshots, no «forward me the pin».
Add to a group chat — free · no ads · responds to commands only
Your reports — better forecast for your spots
Every water is different — depth, bottom, flow. A generic model can't know that until you tell it. Every forecast comes with two buttons under the card.
[📍 Get directions] [🐟 Caught fish] [🚫 No bite]
One tap stores the report alongside the full snapshot of conditions — water temperature, pressure, river flow, moon phase, every factor the bot used to score the day. The more you log, the better your algorithm understands your specific spots.
Why this matters: most fishing apps are read-only — you check the forecast and that's the end of the loop. We store both the catches and the "no bite" reports, plus the exact conditions you actually fished in. That's what lets us calibrate coefficients on what really bites at your water — not on guesses.
How to use the bot
Four steps from opening the chat to a forecast you can question. Each step is paired with the actual exchange you'll see in the bot.
Open the chat and add a spot
Go to @bitecast_bot, tap /start, and share your location via 📎 or send a city or water name. Your first spot becomes the default. Or use /find to search the catalog of over 1,000 waters and fishing spots in Ukraine.
/start
Bite🪝ast — bite forecasts for
freshwater spots.
Pick one:
[tap Add a spot] 📍 Share your location or type a city name: Kaniv Reservoir ✅ Spot Kaniv Reservoir saved.
Pick your target species
/species — carp, pike, perch, bream, zander, crucian, catfish, brown trout, or rainbow trout. Each species has its own calibrated temperature range, pressure sensitivity, and wind tolerance.
/species
🎣 What are you targeting at
My Kaniv spot?
[tap Pike]
✅ Target species set to Pike.
Get a forecast
/forecast — a bite card with a 1–10 score, the factor breakdown, and the best window of the day in your spot's local time. Pro ⭐ — /forecast 7d for a 7-day table and species comparison.
/forecast
Bite🪝ast — My Kaniv spot
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
🎣 GOOD — 7/10
📊 Score breakdown:
Solunar: 0.85
Pressure: 0.85
Wind: 1.00
Temperature: 1.00
Cloud cover: 1.00
⏰ Best window: 06:42
(Major period)
🌡 12.4°C 💨 3.5 km/h
↗️ 1018.4 hPa (rising)
🌗 Last Quarter
🟢 Active feeding season — Pike
Watch the alerts
When pressure starts crashing or a storm is closing in, the bot DMs you. Set the morning-brief time and toggle alerts under /settings. Pro ⭐ — heads-up on upcoming peak days, 3 days ahead.
⚡️ Bite🪝ast Alert Pressure is dropping fast at My Kaniv spot! Current: 1008.2 hPa (Δ -3.5 hPa/6h) Pre-front feeding window — fish are likely active.
In group chats: the admin sets a shared spot with /spot and the daily auto-post time with /brief_time. Any member runs /forecast and the bot posts one shared bite card for everyone. Full command list lives in /help inside the bot.
Over 1,000 waters in Ukraine.
Find a spot and check the forecast straight away. Directions button on every card. Forecasts are currently served for spots in government-controlled oblasts.
By water name, village, or oblast
/find searches by water name, village, or oblast. The bot auto-picks the species that best matches today's conditions and returns a forecast straight away. Pro ⭐ filters appear under the result — species, water type, paid/free, rated, stocked.
/find Kaniv
Found 4 spots matching Kaniv:
📍 Kaniv Reservoir
Reservoir · Kaniv ·
Cherkasy oblast
species: pike, perch, zander, bream
· 🆓 free
📍 Hora pond
Pond · Reshitky village ·
Cherkasy oblast
species: carp, crucian
· 💰 paid
One tap and you're on the road
The 🗺 Get directions button sits on the forecast card and beside every spot in /spot. It opens Google Maps with the destination already set — native app on Android, Google Maps or Apple Maps via the system share on iOS. No coordinates to copy.
Bite🪝ast — Kaniv Reservoir ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ 🎣 GOOD — 7/10 📊 Score breakdown: Solunar: 0.85 Pressure: 0.85 Wind: 1.00 Temperature: 1.00 Cloud cover: 1.00 🌡 12.4°C 💨 3.5 km/h ↗️ 1018.4 hPa (rising) 🟢 Active feeding season — Pike
Same on your saved spots: the /spot menu shows a 🗺 button next to every entry. In group chats, directions go to the group's shared spot.
| Free | Pro | |
|---|---|---|
| Fishing spots | ✓1 spot | ✓Multiple spots |
| Forecast | ✓Today | ✓Today + 7-day outlook |
| Pressure alerts | ✓On default spot | ✓On every saved spot |
| Hazard alerts | ✓On default spot | ✓On every saved spot |
Ukrainian spot catalog /find |
✓Search and one forecast | ✓Filters, 7-day outlook, species comparison |
| Catalog watches | — | ✓🔔 Watch — alerts without saving |
| "Upcoming peak days" alert | — | ✓Daily, 3 days ahead |
| Scheduled forecasts | — | ✓Morning brief + weekly digest |
| Catch log | —Logging | ✓Logging + analytics |
| Threshold alerts | — | ✓Yes |
| Annual plan | — | ✓1800 ⭐ / year — one-time payment, no auto-renewal |
| Start free | Try Pro ⭐ |
We ship in public
New species, new features, seasonal reminders — every release is posted to @BiteCastNews. Announcements only, no chat, no noise.
📣 Subscribe to @BiteCastNewsWhat is the bite score?
The bite score is a 1–10 index of fish activity for a specific spot, target species, and current conditions. The higher the score, the more likely fish are actively feeding. It's calculated from pressure, wind, water temperature (modeled), cloud cover, and solunar periods; river discharge joins in on river spots, the geomagnetic Kp index during magnetic storms. Every factor is shown separately in the bot's reply.
Why are the forecast factors shown separately?
A forecast is useful when you can see why the score is what it is. If pressure is dropping but cloud cover is 100%, you want to see which factor is pulling the score down — not just get a number. That's why every factor appears as a separate value.
Which weather factors are considered?
The bite forecast accounts for atmospheric pressure (and the 6-hour change), wind speed, air temperature, cloud cover, and precipitation. On top of that — moon phases (major and minor periods), time of day, and seasonal activity for your target species. River spots get live discharge from a hydrology model, and the NOAA geomagnetic Kp index appears on the card only when the field is unsettled.
How scientifically rigorous is the formula?
Water temperature affects fish activity.
Pressure is a debated factor.
Solunar timing has been used by anglers for generations.
We show everything separately — you decide.
We openly show the forecast factors and honestly separate what's well-researched from what's still being debated.
The formula is calibrated per species. Each species has its own temperature range, pressure sensitivity, solunar weighting, wind tolerance, and active season — based on documented fisheries observation. Pike are cold-water predators that respond to pressure shifts. Zander hunt in low light (high solunar weight). Carp avoid chop (low wind tolerance). These per-species patterns are well-grounded.
What's debated is each factor's underlying mechanism.
What's well-researched
Temperature affecting fish metabolism is well-researched and widely supported in the fisheries literature.
What's still debated
Pressure as a direct trigger is likely just a marker of broader weather change — the evidence is mixed. Solunar timing is anglers' wisdom that some studies support and others don't.
Why we show it anyway
We show every factor as a separate number — solunar, pressure, wind, water temperature, cloud cover (plus river discharge for river spots and the geomagnetic Kp index during storms) — so you can see what's driving the score for your species, your spot, your conditions, and apply your own judgment.
Does the forecast work on different waters?
Yes. The bite forecast works for any freshwater body — lakes, rivers, reservoirs, ponds. The /find catalog lists over 1,000 waters and fishing spots across Ukraine; forecasts are currently served for 942 spots in the 20 government-controlled oblasts. You can also add your own spot by sharing a location or typing a name.
How do I get a forecast?
Open @bitecast_bot in Telegram, tap /start, and add a spot — share a location or type a water name. /forecast returns today's bite score with the full factor breakdown.
Do I need to install an app?
No. You just need Telegram. Bite🪝ast is a regular bot — open a chat and use it.
Where does the weather data come from?
Leading European weather models for forecasts and pressure, plus a separate hydrology source for river level. Refreshed hourly.
Which species are calibrated?
Freshwater species — each with its own optimal temperature range, pressure sensitivity, solunar weighting, and wind tolerance:
Engravings from 1886–1924 natural-history publications, public domain.
Are my catch records private?
Yes. Your catch log is stored only in your account. Delete everything permanently with /forget_me (GDPR).