The Journey That Started It All
In 2023, our family made a decision that would change our lives forever. A husband, wife, and their young son traded the traditional house and routine for a 40-foot RV and the open road. For one incredible year, we traveled from coast to coast, chasing sunsets, exploring national parks, and teaching our son that home is wherever your family is together.
The RV life taught us countless lessons—how to fix things with duct tape and determination, how to navigate with nothing but stars and instinct, and most importantly, how to appreciate the simple beauty of America's waters. From mountain streams in Montana to coastal piers in California, we fished everywhere we went. Those moments on the water—our son's first catch, quiet morning bass fishing, sunset surf casting—became the heartbeat of our journey.
Finding Paradise in the Florida Keys
After a year on the road, we knew we'd found our paradise when we rolled into Marathon, Florida. The turquoise waters of the Keys called to us like nowhere else. The decision was easy: this was home. We parked our RV in the Keys and bought a 27-foot center console boat. Working from home gave us the flexibility to fish the flats in the early mornings and build something meaningful in our spare time.
Paradise had arrived. We were living the dream, fishing the flats for bonefish at dawn, chasing mahi offshore, and teaching our son to read the water like a book. Every day was an adventure. Every sunset was from the deck of our boat.
The Problem We Couldn't Ignore
But paradise came with a challenge we hadn't anticipated. The Florida Keys are a fisherman's wonderland, but they're also a regulatory maze. What species is this? Is it legal to keep? What's the size limit? Is it in season? How many can we keep? Which regulations apply in state waters versus federal?
"I was tired of juggling apps—using one to identify the fish, then scrambling to pull out another to look up regulations while the fish was flopping on the deck. We needed one app that did it all."
We weren't alone. At the marina, we watched experienced anglers struggle with the same questions. We saw families confused at the cleaning station. We met charter captains carrying binders full of regulations that changed every season. The fishing was incredible, but the uncertainty was exhausting.
We tried everything. Printed regulation guides that were outdated before we got them laminated. Fishing apps that showed size limits for the wrong state. Websites that crashed when we lost cell signal offshore. Phone calls to FWC that went to voicemail. Nothing worked the way it should.
Building the Solution
Late one night, after putting our son to bed, we sat on our deck watching boats return from the reef. The husband, a software developer who'd been coding since college, turned to his wife and said, "What if we just built it ourselves?"
It started as a simple spreadsheet. Then a basic app on a phone. Then late nights learning about AI, image recognition, and database architecture. We talked to marine biologists, conservation officers, charter captains, and weekend anglers. We learned about the science of fish identification, the politics of fisheries management, and the challenges of keeping regulation data current.
Our son became our unofficial product tester. If he could identify a fish and know whether to keep it or release it, we were on the right track. If he got confused, we went back to the drawing board. CatchCheck was born from these late-night coding sessions and weekend fishing trips.
Our Mission Today
What started as a family's frustration became our mission: make fishing regulations accessible to everyone, everywhere, instantly. No more confusion. No more outdated guidebooks. No more uncertainty about whether you're fishing legally.
We're still that same family in Marathon, Florida. We still fish the flats every chance we get. But now, we're part of something bigger—a community of anglers who believe that protecting our fisheries and following regulations shouldn't be complicated.
Every time someone uses CatchCheck to identify a fish, verify a size limit, or ensure they're fishing legally, we remember why we started this journey. It's not just about avoiding fines. It's about conservation. It's about teaching the next generation to be responsible stewards of our waters. It's about spending less time worrying and more time fishing.