Submit a Catch

Complete guide to photographing, verifying, and submitting your catch in Open Fishing Cup

Submit a Catch

Open Fishing Cup uses a 3-step wizard to submit your catch. Each step includes AI-powered checks to ensure fair play and accurate rankings.

Mobile App Required — Catch submissions are only available in the native mobile app (iOS & Android). The web version will prompt you to download the app if you try to submit from a browser.

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Before You Start

Make sure you have:

• ✅ An Open Fishing Cup account (sign up for free)
• ✅ The mobile app installed (App Store / Google Play)
• ✅ GPS/Location Services enabled on your phone
• ✅ A measuring scale or ruler ready for your catch

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Step 1: Take Your Photo

The first step is capturing a photo of your catch with the measuring scale visible.

How to Take the Photo

1. Tap the camera area to open your device camera
2. Place your fish on a measuring scale (ruler, bump board, or measuring mat)
3. Make sure the entire fish and scale markings are clearly visible
4. Take the photo — GPS coordinates and timestamp are automatically recorded

The photo must be taken directly with your phone camera through the app. Screenshots, photos of screens, and photos downloaded from the internet will be rejected.

What the AI Checks

Once you take your photo, the app runs several automated checks simultaneously:

Check	What It Does	Result
Species Detection	Identifies the fish species using AI	Species name + confidence level
Scale Detection	Verifies a measuring scale is visible	Scale visible / not visible
Authenticity Check	Detects AI-generated or manipulated images	Authentic / Suspicious
Recapture Detection	Detects if the photo is a photo-of-a-photo or screen capture	Original / Recapture detected
Duplicate Check	Checks if this exact photo was already submitted	Unique / Duplicate
GPS & Date Extraction	Reads location and timestamp from photo metadata (EXIF)	Coordinates + date
Image Age	Verifies the photo was taken recently (within the configured time window)	Within limit / Too old

Status Indicators

After the checks complete, you’ll see status cards with color-coded results:

• 🟢 Green — All checks passed with high confidence. Your catch will be approved automatically.
• 🟡 Gold/Yellow — Some checks passed with medium or low confidence. Your catch will be submitted as pending for manual review.
• 🔴 Red — One or more critical checks failed. The photo is rejected and you’ll need to take a new one.

Common Rejection Reasons (Step 1)

If your photo is rejected, a dialog will explain why. Common reasons include:

Rejection	What It Means	How to Fix
No GPS data	Photo doesn’t contain location metadata	Enable GPS on your phone and take a new photo through the app
No date information	Photo is missing EXIF timestamp	Use the original photo from your camera, don’t use edited or transferred images
Image too old	Photo was taken more than the allowed number of hours ago	Take a fresh photo of your current catch
No species detected	AI couldn’t identify a fish in the photo	Make sure the fish is clearly visible and well-lit
No scale visible	AI couldn’t detect a measuring device	Place your fish on a visible ruler or measuring mat
Unsupported species	The detected species is not in the competition	Only supported species can be submitted (Pike, Zander, Perch, Carp, etc.)
Suspicious image	The image appears AI-generated or heavily manipulated	Use an original, unedited photo
Recapture detected	The photo appears to be a photo of another photo or screen	Take a direct photo of the actual fish
Duplicate image	This exact photo was already submitted	Each photo can only be used once

If your photo is rejected, tap “Try Another Photo” to retake. You can also tap “Cancel” to go back to the home screen.

GPS Source

The app uses two sources for location data, shown with an indicator badge:

• 🖼️ Photo EXIF — GPS coordinates embedded in the photo file by your camera (preferred)
• 📱 Device GPS — Real-time location from your phone’s GPS sensor (fallback when EXIF data is missing)

You can expand the GPS Coordinates section to see the exact latitude, longitude, altitude, and photo date.

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Step 2: Species & Length

Once your photo passes the checks, you’ll move to Step 2 to confirm the species and enter the fish length.

Species Selection

• The AI automatically pre-fills the detected species from Step 1
• If the detection was wrong, you can manually select a different species from the dropdown
• Each species is shown with its icon for easy identification

Entering the Length

1. Enter the fish length in centimeters (whole numbers only, 1–500 cm)
2. Tap the “Verify Length” button

The app will use AI to compare your entered length against what it can measure from the photo. This helps prevent accidental or intentional errors.

Length Verification Results

After tapping “Verify Length”, the AI returns a result with a confidence indicator:

Confidence	Meaning	Effect on Status
🟢 High	AI measurement closely matches your entered length	Catch stays approved
🟡 Medium	AI measurement partially matches — some uncertainty	Catch set to pending review
🔴 Low	AI measurement differs significantly from entered length	Catch set to pending review

Even if length verification fails or returns low confidence, you can still proceed. Your catch will be submitted as pending and reviewed by an admin.

Country-Specific Minimum Lengths

Some countries enforce minimum legal catch sizes. If your entered length is below the minimum for the selected species in your country, you will see a rejection dialog and cannot proceed until you correct the length.

For example, if the minimum length for Pike in Germany is 50 cm and you enter 45 cm, the app will block submission.

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Step 3: Details & Submit

The final step collects additional information about your catch and lets you submit.

Auto-Filled Fields

The following fields are automatically filled from your photo’s GPS data:

• 📅 Date & Time — Extracted from the photo EXIF data or device capture time
• 📍 Location — Nearest town/village from reverse geocoding
• 🌍 Country — Detected from GPS coordinates (EU countries supported)

If you manually edit any auto-filled field, your catch status will be changed to pending for admin review. This is a fairness measure to prevent location spoofing.

Water Body Selection

The water body field uses a smart selector with three sources:

1. Nearby Waters — Automatically detected water bodies near your GPS location (rivers, lakes, canals) using OpenStreetMap data
2. Previously Used — Water names from your previous approved catches in the same country
3. Custom Entry — Type any water name if the auto-detection didn’t find the right one

If only one water body is found nearby, it’s automatically selected for you.

Additional Photos (Optional)

You can add up to 2 extra photos of your catch. These are optional but recommended for verification.

• Tap the dashed upload boxes to add photos
• Extra photos must be taken on the same day as the main catch photo (validated via EXIF date)
• Photos with no EXIF date information will be rejected
• Photos are checked for inappropriate content

Caption (Optional)

Add a short caption (up to 250 characters) to tell the story behind your catch. This will appear on your catch card in the feed.

• Captions are checked for inappropriate content and links (links are not allowed)
• If your caption is blocked by moderation, you’ll see an error message

Submitting

When all required fields are filled:

1. Tap the “Submit Catch” button
2. If you haven’t added extra photos, a prompt will ask if you want to add some or continue without them
3. The app uploads your photos, runs final moderation checks, and saves your catch

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After Submission

Success Screen

After a successful submission, you’ll see a congratulations screen with two options:

• “View Catch” — Takes you to your catches list (My Catches)
• “Submit Another” — Resets the wizard so you can submit another catch immediately

Catch Status

Your catch will have one of two statuses:

Status	Meaning
✅ Approved	All AI checks passed with high confidence. Your catch is immediately visible and counts toward rankings.
⏳ Pending	One or more checks had low/medium confidence, or you edited auto-filled fields. An admin will review your catch manually.

Pending catches are still saved and visible to you, but they won’t appear in public rankings until approved.

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Step Indicator & Navigation

The wizard shows a step indicator at the top with numbered circles:

• Filled circle = current step
• Checkmark = completed step (clickable to go back)
• Empty circle = upcoming step

On mobile, a sticky bottom navigation bar appears with Back/Next/Submit buttons for easy one-handed use.

If you try to navigate away from the wizard after Step 1, you’ll see a confirmation dialog asking if you want to discard your unsaved progress.

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Photo Requirements

✅ Do’s

Requirement	Why
Use the app’s camera	Ensures GPS and timestamp metadata are captured correctly
Place fish on a measuring scale	Required for AI length verification
Make sure scale markings are visible	The AI reads the scale to verify your length entry
Keep GPS enabled	Location is required for country detection and fair play
Use good lighting	Better photos = more accurate AI species detection
Take the photo immediately	Photos older than the configured time window will be rejected

❌ Don’ts

Avoid	Why
Screenshots or screen photos	Detected by recapture check and rejected
Downloaded or transferred images	May lose EXIF metadata or be flagged as suspicious
Heavily edited photos	May be flagged as AI-generated or manipulated
Photos without a measuring device	Scale detection will fail
Using someone else’s photo	Duplicate check will catch reused images
Photos taken days ago	Image age check will reject old photos

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Troubleshooting

”My photo keeps getting rejected”

1. Check GPS is enabled — Go to your phone’s Settings → Location and make sure it’s turned on
2. Take a fresh photo — Use the app’s camera button, don’t import from your gallery
3. Show the measuring scale clearly — The AI needs to see ruler/scale markings
4. Make sure the fish is visible — Good lighting and clear framing help species detection
5. Don’t edit the photo — Use the original, unmodified photo

”My catch is pending instead of approved”

This happens when:

• AI species confidence was medium or low
• AI scale confidence was medium or low
• Length verification returned low confidence or failed
• You manually edited auto-filled fields (date, location, country)

Pending catches are reviewed by admins and will be approved if everything looks correct.

”I can’t find my water body”

If the automatic water detection doesn’t find your fishing spot:

1. Try the search field to look through previously used water names
2. Type the name manually — a “Use [name]” option will appear
3. Water names are title-cased automatically (e.g., “lake michigan” → “Lake Michigan”)

“The app says I need the mobile app”

Catch submissions are restricted to the native mobile app for GPS verification and camera access. Download the app from the App Store or Google Play to submit catches.

”Rate limit reached”

If you see a rate limit error, wait a few minutes before trying again. This protects our AI services from overload.