Every number on a BassHawk lake page comes from a public agency or an established data provider, refreshed on a schedule, and checked before it is shown. Here is where each one comes from and how often it moves.
Each kind of data, who publishes it, and how often BassHawk refreshes it:
| DATA | WHERE IT COMES FROM | REFRESHED |
|---|---|---|
| Water temperature | U.S. Geological Survey gauges, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers reservoir sensors, and satellite thermal imagery where no gauge reads the lake | Every morning |
| Lake level | U.S. Geological Survey, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Tennessee Valley Authority, Texas Water Development Board, and lake operators | Every morning |
| Weather and forecast | NOAA National Weather Service and Open-Meteo forecast models | Through the day |
| Depth contours | Published reservoir surveys from state and federal agencies, and pre-impoundment U.S. Geological Survey topographic maps | When a new survey is published |
| Aerial and satellite imagery | USDA National Agriculture Imagery Program and Copernicus Sentinel-2 | As new passes are released |
| Fish attractors and habitat | State wildlife and fisheries agencies | When agencies publish new placements |
| Boat ramps and marinas | Public access listings from state and federal agencies and OpenStreetMap | Periodically |
Each lake page names the agency behind its water temperature and lake level next to the reading.
Sensors fail in ways that can look like real data. Every reading is quality-checked before it is published, and one that does not hold up is set aside rather than shown.
When a lake has no level gauge of its own, its level is estimated from nearby gauged lakes and labeled as an estimate on the page. When a reading is missing for a day, the last good reading is carried forward for a short time rather than replaced with a guess.
Water temperature and lake level are measurements. The bite score is a model: it reads those measurements, plus the forecast, against published bass-behavior research. Lake pages style the two differently so a modeled number is never mistaken for a reading.
Daily guide reports are written from the same conditions, grounded in years of fishing reports for each lake and in first-hand updates from local anglers, which are reviewed before they are used.
Find more fish. Every lake we cover publishes today's score free · the daily guide report is in the app