The edge · 600 ft · shelf break and canyons

Albacore

Thunnus alalunga. Prime water reaches Penobscot Bay in New England right now (62°F at the surface). Fish it around 67 ft down — that is where 60°F water sits off Penobscot Bay.

Albacore identification illustration
LaneThe edge · 100 fa (600 ft)
Depth it holds328–6562 ft
Prime water59–66°F (workable 59–70°F)
Holds in the column66–591 ft down below the surface, over 328–6562 ft of water
Judged onsurface temperature (NASA MUR satellite)
Structurenone

The water column off San Francisco

0 ft292 ft584 ft17 ft of workable water66–83 ft · 61–59°F

The strip is the water itself, coloured by temperature from the surface down to the 584 ft surveyed bottom at that spot — one band per RTOFS model level. The outlined stretch is where Albacore's temperature band (59–70°F) and the depth it holds actually overlap. That thickness is the number that matters: it is how much water you can work, not just whether the spot is warm enough somewhere. One model cycle, not a weekly archive — this holds still while the surface map scrubs.

How it's fished

Troll jigs at 6-8 kt on the warm side of clear blue-water breaks.

Region by region — right now

RegionSeasonPrime waterTempFish it atMonths
New England in season reaches Penobscot Bay 62°F ~67 ft
J
F
M
California in season reaches San Francisco 61°F ~87 ft
J
F
M
A
Pacific Northwest in season reaches Neah Bay 59°F —
J
F
M
"Fish it at" is where this species' temperature band and its holding depth overlap in the water column, from the RTOFS profile (13 levels, 0–300 m) — the depth to actually put a bait, not just the place. "Prime water" is the furthest sampled station on the 100-fathom lane whose surface temperature sits inside this species' band. It is water, not a sighting report.
Charted grounds on the 100-fathom lane
Jeffreys Ledge
Monterey Submarine Canyon
Astoria Canyon