A little clarity.
Then back to the water.

Think of conservation pool as the lake’s “full” reference for normal storage. “Below pool” is how far the surface sits below that reference—not the depth beneath your boat.

Percent full compares the water in the lake’s normal-use storage with how much that storage can hold. It describes volume—not how much of the lake’s depth remains.

The height of a lake’s surface relative to its stated elevation reference. It is not the depth at your fishing spot.

The volume of water in the conservation pool. It is used with conservation capacity to calculate percent full.

Storage above conservation pool used to manage floodwater in reservoirs designed for that purpose. It is separate from conservation storage.

NOAA measures the water’s height at this station relative to a named reference level, called a datum. It is not the depth beneath your boat.

MLLW means Mean Lower Low Water: the average lower daily low-water height over the applicable tidal datum period. Other datums use different references. A negative height means below that reference; it does not mean negative depth.

Observed water is what the station measured. Predicted tide is NOAA’s calculated tide height, based on astronomical tidal patterns. Weather and runoff can make the actual height different.

A tidal current is the horizontal movement of water associated with tides. Water-height predictions alone do not give its speed or direction.

The high and low points in the predicted tide-height cycle at the selected station. Those times do not, by themselves, identify slack current.

Wind direction tells you where it comes from. A north wind blows from north toward south. A gust is a brief increase in wind speed.

Knots (kt) and mph both measure speed. One knot is about 1.15 mph.

“Water temperature” is a measurement from the selected water sensor. A nearby weather station’s air temperature is a different measurement.

This is air pressure measured at the selected station. The trend compares readings over the interval shown—rising, falling or little change.

hPa means hectopascals, a unit of air pressure. One hPa equals one millibar. A pressure value is not a fishing-success score.

Observed is when a measurement was taken. Issued is when a forecast was released. Retrieved or checked is when TFW obtained the response—not when the measurement happened.

The time interval a forecast describes. Its issue time says when it was released; it is not the time of a station observation.

“Retained” means a saved response is being shown after a refresh problem. Its original dates still apply.

Browse water pages, fish profiles, conditions, limits, access references and sources without registering. Guests can save two waters on the current device. A free account adds more saved waters, syncing and personal tools.

Saved is your collection of waters. Home Water is your default for the home page. Choosing “I’m fishing here” temporarily takes priority over Home Water. End the trip to return to your default. Your current trip stays on that device; account saves and Home Water sync when connected.

Check that both devices are signed in to the same account and connected. If My Account reports a sync problem, use Retry sync there. Guest saves belong to that browser and are separate from account saves; importing them is optional. A failed sync should not be treated as a successful save.

Open My Notes on a water’s overview or a Saved card, type your reminder and tap Save note. Wait for the saved confirmation. Unsaved edits stay in this tab; they are not an offline sync queue. Delete removes the note. Removing a saved water does not delete its note. Other users cannot browse your notes, and sharing a section does not share them. Provider and operator access is explained in the Privacy Policy.

Sign in, save at least two waters, then open Compare Waters from Waters or Saved. Select up to four. The cards show the data available for each water, with dates and sources. Freshwater pool levels and coastal station heights describe different things and should not be treated as the same measurement.

Open Water Watch in My Account to manage settings and read notifications. They appear inside your account; TFW does not send alert emails. Checks are periodic and can be delayed. The first successful check establishes a baseline rather than reporting a past threshold crossing. These tools do not replace official warnings or emergency information.

A section Share button sends the public water page and relevant section, without your private notes or a snapshot of current readings. Meetup links are created through your account for supported lakes and contain the meeting details you choose. Anyone receiving or forwarding an active meetup link can view it until it expires or is canceled.

Sources are named beside the readings. Reservoir information may come through TWDB or a listed gauge source, area weather comes from the National Weather Service, and coastal measurements and astronomical tide predictions come from NOAA CO-OPS. TFW presents those data; it does not invent missing readings or create its own astronomical tide predictions.

A station may not provide that product, a source may stop reporting, or a connection may fail. A retained response keeps its original dates. Try the relevant Refresh control and follow the official source link if needed. A recent check does not turn an older observation into a current one.

Send the water name, page link and what appears wrong through Contact Us. Include the managing authority’s notice or another official source when available. A lake level or coastal station height alone does not prove a ramp is usable or open. Check the operator’s current access information for that location.