Thanks everyone.

Going into this, I had NO experience with developing anything for the iPhone or Mac OS for that matter.  Sure I’d written some scripts, and about 7 years ago I wrote an app to import users into Active Directory, but I was a clean slate and ready to learn.  Initially, and some may remember, the app started out working like the Weather app, super simple, but it got the job done.  I gleaned a lot off forums, friends, and screw-ups to get it working and it did!  Apple even published the darn thing for me.  After some requests and a complete redesign by Brisk Studios, a much improved version 2 was out with almost 30 states and 300+ rivers, entomology photos and a great new interface.  Entomology photo’s were slow coming, but Lucas Carroll (http://www.flickr.com/photos/luke_c_photography/) was kind to provide some of his amazing photography and with the help of Jason Neuswanger (http://www.troutnut.com) a huge portion of the photography was hammered out.

With the new version I also tried to push the app to a lot of blogs and a few magazines looking for reviews and was very pleased with what came out (I have a pretty good list here).  Most recently American Angler even wrote a quick blurb about it in their Jan/Feb 2010 issue!

In all, it’s been a fun and extremely time consuming process.  There are currently over 46k rows of data in one of the SQLite tables that were hand entered.  The process has been rewarding in the fact that it’s something that I’ve created, but equally as frustrating.  One of the downsides to the app store is the commenting/review system, though it’s inherit in any retail scenario.  Anyone who’s going to take the time to comment, will most likely be a complainer.

Most recently, “Andyfisher” left a comment stating:

The data on my favorite river is plainly incorrect and the number of rivers it covers is too limited!  This app still needs a lot of work because it’s substandard.  Don’t buy it before it’s radically updated!

Wow, Andyfisher, please let me know which river(s) needs more work and I’ll see what else I can find.

A man named Robert emailed me:

Your site is a joke, at least this time of year.  The same 4 flies
cannot be appropriate for every river in the US

One of the hard things about creating an app like this is you have to generalize some information.  I fully understand that a stonefly pattern that kills in Montana may not work as well on the Deschutes; but in no way is this app meant to replace a good old local fly shop.  In fact, I would encourage users to visit fly shops for indepth knowledge of the local regions!

On that note, the latest version that I’ve submitted for approval is coming with photo’s of patterns by Montana Fly Company.  They have a great list of fly shops that sell their product and maybe in a future version I’ll figure out a way to provide a list of shop for states.

This whole process has really made me sit back and take criticism lightly and understand that I can’t please everyone.  Sure I’d love to have exact information for every river, stream, lake, and body of water in the US, but then I know I’d get bashed for giving away ‘secrets’.

I’ve got in touch with some great folks like Lucas Carroll as mentioned above, Cameron Mortenson and the folks behind http://www.fishykid.org/, David Gross at http://www.flyfishingsherpa.com, the great guys at Korkers, http://paflyfish.com/, http://eastcoastangler.blogspot.com/, and http://www.midcurrent.com.  I’m sure I’ve missed someone, but thanks everyone for the support and helping spread the word.

Should I have the chance to do it over or anyone thinking of creating an app I’d do the following:

• Wait to release a more complete app rather than slowly adding rivers as time permits
• Realize that it can’t be created for free
• Realize it is rewarding, but don’t count on it to be a gold mine

You can find it over on iTunes: http://www.itunes.com/apps/thehatch

Make sure you check out the new website for the app over at http://www.thehatchapp.com

An update to the lite version will be coming shortly, so hang in there.

Some of you may have noticed “The Hatch” isn’t on the app store right now, well, your right.  Unfortunately I had to pull it from the App Store due to an issue with the logo.  A new version has been submitted to Apple, and now it’s just the waiting game until it’s approved.

Sorry for the inconvenience, it should be resolved shortly.  I think most everyone will be very excited for the next version 2.0.4….can anyone say “pictures”?

The following is a list of where you can find various reviews and posts:

http://www.flyfishingnotes.com/2009/08/20/hatch-2-0-ipod-and-iphone-app/

http://www.paflyfish.com/modules/smartsection/item.php?itemid=102

http://thesierranevadas.com/?cat=6

http://wcflies.com/blog/2009/08/yeah-theres-an-app-for-that/

http://www.otterbox.com/employee-spotlight-mary-knaus/

http://www.dsflyfishing.com/fishing-blog/the-hatch-2-fly-fishing-app-for-iphone.html

http://www.kiene.com/forums/showthread.php?t=17442

http://www.moldychum.com/home-old/2009/10/6/hatch-chart-app-on-itunes.html

http://eastcoastangler.blogspot.com/2009/10/best-iphone-fly-fishing-app-hatch.html

http://www.facebook.com/fishpond.usa?ref=mf

http://blog.fishykid.org/10/07/2009/112

http://thefiberglassmanifesto.blogspot.com/2009/10/iphone-hatch-app.html

http://thenorthernangler.blogspot.com/2009/10/hatch-2-for-iphone.html

http://flyfishingsherpa.com/the-hatch-2-for-fly-fishing-theres-an-iphone-app-for-that/

http://mouching.wordpress.com/2009/11/14/la-bonne-mouche-est-au-bout-du-fil/

Check out http://www.thehatchapp.com

A blog dedicated to The Hatch 2 will be coming along in the future.

You can see his writeup at http://www.paflyfish.com/modules/smartsection/item.php?itemid=102

You can see some of his great pictures at http://www.flickr.com/photos/luke_c_photography/