Editorial policy
This page explains exactly how the guides on this site are produced, what we will and won't claim, and what to do if we get something wrong.
1. Sourcing
Factual claims are traced to primary sources wherever one exists:
- Regulations, seasons and limits — state, provincial and national fish & wildlife agencies. We describe how rules generally work and always direct readers to their own authority for current specifics.
- Species biology, ranges and behaviour — fisheries science literature, agency species profiles, and recognised taxonomic databases.
- Records and size classes — recognised record-keeping bodies, not aggregated blog claims.
- Gear specifications — manufacturer published specs and standards bodies for line, hook and tackle sizing.
Where sources genuinely disagree — which is common in fishing — we say so rather than picking one and presenting it as settled.
2. Fact versus judgement
A great deal of fishing advice is experience and preference, not fact. We label it that way. When a guide says a technique "usually" works or a setup is "a good starting point", that is deliberate wording, not hedging. We do not manufacture false precision to sound authoritative.
3. Authorship
Guides are produced editorially by the The Fishing Manual team. We publish under the publication name rather than inventing individual author personas with credentials we cannot substantiate. We consider fabricated bylines and invented expertise to be a form of deception, and we don't use them.
4. Updates
Every guide carries a visible last-updated date. Guides are revisited when regulations shift, when gear standards change, when a reader flags a problem, or on periodic review. An updated date means the content was genuinely re-checked — we do not refresh dates cosmetically to appear current.
5. Corrections
If we publish something incorrect, we fix the page and — where the error was material — note what changed. To report an error, email [email protected] with the page URL and what's wrong. Corrections from readers who fish the water in question are especially welcome.
6. Commercial relationships
The site is funded by display advertising and by affiliate links on a small number of clearly-labelled buying guides. Three rules govern this:
- Advertisers have no input into editorial content, ever.
- Affiliate links appear only on pages that disclose them at the top, and are marked as sponsored links in the page's markup.
- We do not accept payment for a favourable recommendation, and we do not publish paid guest posts or link placements.
Full details in our affiliate disclosure.
7. Imagery
All photography is used under licenses permitting commercial use, with attribution rendered where required. Diagrams are original. We maintain a machine-checked manifest of every image and its license, and the site fails to build if an image is missing its provenance.
8. Safety and legal scope
Nothing here is legal advice about fishing regulations, nor a safety guarantee. Conditions on the water are local and variable. Readers are responsible for confirming current rules and for their own safety decisions.