Baseline Maps vs onWater: Flow-First or Access-First?
Last updated: July 26, 2026 · Prices checked against vendor sites
The honest verdict
onWater is a well-regarded fly-fishing app centered on water access and its My Waters dashboard. Baseline Maps is built flow-first — live CFS for 1,300+ rivers with custom alerts — and adds tides, buoys, and hunting maps; it is first week free, with one paid edition at $34.99/year.
| Baseline Maps | onWater Fish | |
|---|---|---|
| Price per year | Professional Edition $34.99 (or $7.99/month), first week free, every feature | Tiered subscription (see their site for current pricing) |
| Focus | Live water data + hunting | Fly fishing — access and water intel |
| Live river flows | Real-time CFS for 1,300+ rivers, custom alerts | Stream flow readings on covered waters |
| Tides & ocean buoys | Included (US Pacific Coast) | Not the focus |
| Land ownership | Included | Access-focused mapping |
| Hunting | Included (11 Western states) | Not included |
| Regulations | Fishing regs parsed by river/zone (OR, WA) | Varies |
Where onWater Fish is stronger
- →Your priority is access intelligence on fly water — where to legally get on, wade, and float.
- →You want their My Waters home-water dashboard experience.
Where Baseline Maps is stronger
- →Flow is your decision driver: per-river fishable ranges and push alerts when a river drops into shape.
- →You fish the coast or estuaries — tides, NOAA buoys, and bar conditions are built in.
- →You hunt too: one app instead of two.
Bottom line
Pick onWater Fish: A dedicated fly angler optimizing for access knowledge on well-known trout water.
Pick Baseline Maps: An angler who plans by the gauge — and anyone splitting the year between rod and rifle.
FAQ
- Does Baseline Maps have flow alerts?
- Yes — set your fishable CFS range for any of 1,300+ rivers and get a push notification the moment the river enters it. It’s the most-used feature in the app.
- Which app covers more rivers with live flow data?
- Baseline Maps tracks live USGS flow for 1,300+ rivers across 38 US states plus BC and Ontario. onWater’s flow coverage centers on its supported fly-fishing waters.
- Can I run both?
- Plenty of anglers do — they solve different problems. If you have to pick one and flow data decides your trips, Baseline’s alerts and coverage are the differentiator.
Try it for a week. Keep it for the season.
Professional Edition is $34.99/year with the first week free, or $7.99/month — one edition covers every mode and every state, no per-state buying. Waypoint import from onX, Gaia, and Google Earth takes about a minute.