Case Study & Product Walkthrough

Infrastructure for Fisheries, Not a Directory for Anglers

A modern mapping and venue-management platform that gives fisheries control over their visibility, data, and demand. Plots sits between discovery and booking — replacing fragmented websites, Facebook groups, and word-of-mouth with structured, owner-controlled infrastructure.

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What Plots Is

Infrastructure, Not a Media Site

Plots combines accurate lake mapping, structured venue data, and owner-controlled visibility into a single system. Fisheries decide what is visible, who sees it, and how demand is managed.

Plots explore page with interactive map and lake listings

Real Lake Boundaries, Not Pins

Plots uses GeoJSON polygon mapping to show the actual shape and footprint of lakes on satellite imagery. This gives anglers clarity and gives owners control over how their waters are represented.

Accurate polygon boundaries on satellite imagery
Structured data: species, amenities, rules, pricing
Visibility is intentional, not automatic
Owners control what is public, limited, or private

Plots lake detail page with weather and fish stock

A Central Hub, Not Another Silo

Plots complements existing booking platforms rather than competing with them. It provides the context layer — mapping, conditions, stock info, rules — while linking out to Swimbooker, Catch, and your existing systems.

Live weather, pressure, wind, and moon phases
Direct links to booking systems and social media
Owner-managed updates and corrections
Engagement analytics: views, saves, enquiries

The Problem

Structural Fragmentation

The fishing market is structurally fragmented. Information is scattered, outdated, or locked in private groups. Booking platforms handle transactions but not visibility, context, or reputation. Plots fixes the gap between discovery and booking.

🎣 For Anglers

Finding suitable waters is time-consuming and unreliable
Information is outdated, scattered, or locked in private groups
Booking systems, weather, stock info, and rules live in different places
No single source of structured, accurate data

🏠 For Fishery Owners

No single place to present accurate information
Limited control over how and where venues are represented
Booking platforms handle transactions but not visibility or context
No feedback loop or engagement data
Outdated websites or no web presence at all

Core Capabilities

What Plots Provides

Tools for fisheries to control their presence, and clarity for anglers to make informed decisions.

🗺️

Polygon Lake Mapping

GeoJSON boundaries show exact lake shapes on satellite imagery. Accurate representation, not approximation.

🔒

Controlled Visibility

Owners decide what's public, limited, or private. Visibility is intentional — Plots reduces noise rather than amplifying it.

🔗

Platform Integration

Central hub linking to Swimbooker, Catch, Facebook, Instagram, and your website. Complements booking systems, doesn't compete.

☁️

Live Conditions

Real-time weather, wind, pressure, and moon phases for every venue. Context that helps anglers plan.

📊

Engagement Analytics

Track views, saves, and enquiries. Understand demand without exposing private data.

✏️

Owner-Managed Updates

Claim your venue, post corrections, update stock info, and respond to feedback directly.

Angler Experience

Clarity Without Noise

Anglers get structured, accurate information — but only what fisheries choose to share.

🔍

Filtered Search

Filter by venue type, species, amenities, and region. Find day tickets, clubs, syndicates, paylakes, and holiday venues.

🐟

Catch Logging

Record catches with species, weight, bait, weather, and photos. Personal stats and pattern tracking.

📍

Direct Booking Links

One-click links to existing booking platforms. No middleman — just the connection.

Built-In Intelligence

The Platform Learns As It Grows

No external AI services. No data sharing. Pattern recognition that runs entirely on the Plots server — your data stays yours.

🔗

Similar Waters

Automatically surfaces lakes with matching species, type, and price range. Helps anglers discover relevant venues. Helps owners reach the right audience.

📈

Demand Insights

Owners see when people view their listing, track trends over time, and benchmark against similar venues. Actionable data, not vanity metrics.

🎯

Catch Patterns

As catches are logged, the platform surfaces what works — best baits, times, and conditions. Personal stats for anglers. Venue insights for owners.

Privacy-First, Always

All pattern recognition runs locally on the Plots server. Nothing is sent to external AI services. Owner visibility controls still apply — engagement data is aggregated, never exposed at the individual level.

No third-party ML services
No data leaves the platform
Owner controls respected
Aggregated, not individual
Features unlock with usage
Transparent thresholds

Deliberate Positioning

Who It's For — and Who It Isn't

Plots is infrastructure for fisheries managing demand and visibility. It's not a crowdsourced discovery platform.

                    Built For
                    Commercial day-ticket fisheries
Coarse fisheries managing demand and enquiries
Venues already dealing with bookings and admin
Clubs and associations with controlled access
Holiday venues and complexes
Tackle shops seeking local visibility

                

Not Designed For

Hardcore underground syndicate discovery
Crowdsourced "secret water" intelligence
Social-media-style review culture
Maximising traffic to public waters
Amplifying noise and unwanted enquiries

The Build

Technical Architecture

A robust, scalable stack built for reliability and performance.

🐘 PHP 8.4

🗄️ MySQL 8 (InnoDB)

🗺️ Leaflet.js

🌍 GeoJSON Polygons

🎨 Custom CSS

⚡ Vanilla JavaScript

☁️ OpenWeather API

🔐 bcrypt Auth

🧠 PHP-ML

— Migrating to Modern Stack —

⚛️ Next.js 14

📘 TypeScript

🔺 Vercel

💎 Prisma ORM

🐘 Neon Postgres

📧 Mandrill Email

Development Process

How It Was Built

Research

Interviewed fishery owners, analysed market gaps, defined scope

Database Design

25+ normalised tables with full relational integrity

Core Build

Role-based auth, RESTful patterns, GeoJSON mapping

UI Polish

Dark/light themes, mobile-first, micro-interactions

Launch

Deploy, gather feedback, iterate continuously