BOISE, Idaho — Many people grew up casting a line in many of Idaho’s rivers, lakes and streams, most of which have a year-round fishing season. One such man, Jason Hansen has been fly fishing since he was a kid.
Perhaps it is this life-long affiliation with the great outdoors, wading knee to waist deep in rushing ice-cold waters, that inspired Jason to take his favorite sport to the next level. Jason combined his love of fishing with his career in software developing and started a fishing website called ‘Fish Swami.’
“Fish Swami is a fishing log. It is basically a journal where you can record all your fishing trips in a website,” explains Hansen.
The website also notifies circle of friends when you are out fishing. It can run analytics on fishing trips, records catch totals and lure choices along with weather conditions and even bug hatchings. (Bug hatchings are important, because it allows anglers to decide the proper and most effective bait.)
Recently Hansen took his creation further by launching a smartphone app, also called Fish Swami.
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“It is an app that interfaces with the website,” says Hansen. The app can also track an angler’s location.
“In Idaho, most places (in remote areas) don’t have cellphone service, but you can use the app which interfaces with the website and allows you to fish somewhere remote and you can still have access to your fishing logs," says Hansen.
Hansen said he created both the Fish Swami website and app so anglers can make better choices and decisions while fishing and overall have better performance and, hopefully, better experiences.
“Yeah, they call it ‘fishing’ because you are not always catching. Otherwise, it would be called ‘catching.’ So in the end, you better enjoy the experience," jokes Hansen.
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