The grounds · 180 ft · banks, ledges and wrecks

Atlantic Mackerel

Scomber scombrus. Prime water reaches Penobscot Bay in New England right now (58°F at the surface). Fish it 0–66 ft down — that is where 56–55°F water sits off Penobscot Bay.

Atlantic Mackerel identification illustration
LaneThe grounds · 30 fa (180 ft)
Depth it holds33–328 ft
Prime water45–57°F (workable 45–64°F)
Holds in the column0–66 ft down below the surface, over 33–328 ft of water
Judged onsurface temperature (NASA MUR satellite)
Structurenone

The water column off Penobscot Bay

0 ft105 ft210 ft66 ft of workable water0–66 ft · 56–55°F

The strip is the water itself, coloured by temperature from the surface down to the 210 ft surveyed bottom at that spot — one band per RTOFS model level. The outlined stretch is where Atlantic Mackerel's temperature band (45–64°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.

In 3D

Drag to rotate, pinch or scroll to zoom. 3D model traced from a Robert Aguilar / Smithsonian Environmental Research Center, CC BY 2.0 reference — source.

How it's fished

Sabiki trees jigged through the marks — they run in dense schools you can read on the sounder.

Region by region — right now

RegionSeasonPrime waterTempFish it atMonths
New England in season reaches Penobscot Bay 58°F 0–66 ft
J
F
M
A
M
Mid-Atlantic off-season — — —
J
F
M
A
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 30-fathom lane whose surface temperature sits inside this species' band. It is water, not a sighting report.
Charted grounds on the 30-fathom lane
Wilmington Canyon