Legal
Advertising Disclosure
If you're reading facts about size limits and seasons, you should know how this site makes its money. So here it is, in the open.
How howsthebite is funded
The site is free to use, with no account required. It's funded — where these programs are active — through affiliate commissions on gear and trip bookings, and eventually through display advertising. If a purchase or booking happens through one of our links, we may earn a commission. That commission comes from the retailer or platform, not from you — the price you pay doesn't change because you came through our link.
Where we stand today
We work with, or are in the process of setting up, the Amazon Associates program (gear), FishingBooker (guided trips and charter bookings), and partner programs reached through the Impact affiliate network. As of this writing, not every one of these is fully active — where a program isn't live yet, the links tied to it are hidden automatically rather than shown as if they worked. We'll update this page as that changes, not the other way around.
We don't yet run cookie-based display advertising (e.g. Google AdSense). When we do, it will be disclosed here and in the privacy policy before it goes live.
How affiliate links are marked
Every affiliate link is labeled where it appears — typically "Ad" or
"Sponsored" next to the link — and carries rel="sponsored nofollow" in
the page's code, per Google's and the FTC's guidance on disclosed
commercial links. Affiliate links live only in gear and trip-booking
content, never in the regulation or condition data itself.
What advertising never touches
Size limits, bag limits, license requirements, and the bite index are independent of any advertising partner. They come from published state agency regulations or from a disclosed, public calculation model. A regulation doesn't read differently because someone paid us, and an affiliate relationship never makes us describe a rule as looser than it actually is. The YMYL fact pages — size limits, license pages, the keep-it checker — carry no advertising at all, by design.
Data sources
| Source | Used for | License |
|---|---|---|
| State wildlife agency regulations | Size limits, bag limits, seasons, license rules | Government works, generally public domain in the US |
| USGS | Water level and stream gauge readings | Public domain, U.S. federal government work |
| NOAA / National Weather Service | Pressure, wind, cloud cover, temperature, forecasts | Public domain, U.S. federal government work |
| howsthebite | Solunar and bite-index calculation | Our own calculation, disclosed on request |
Corrections
Found a figure that's wrong or out of date? Tell us with the source you checked against, and we'll look at it — corrected figures get a new "as of" date. Email info@howsthebite.com.
Last updated 2026-08-11.