Inshore · 60 ft · beaches, bays, inlets and rips
Barred Sand Bass
Paralabrax nebulifer. Prime water reaches San Francisco in California right now (62°F on the bottom).
LaneInshore · 10 fa (60 ft)
Depth it holds33–131 ft
Prime water61–72°F (workable 61–77°F)
Holds in the column33–131 ft down (on the bottom)
Judged onseabed temperature (RTOFS at depth)
Structureprefers the edge where sand meets structure
The water column off San Francisco
The strip is the water itself, coloured by temperature from the surface down to the 52 ft surveyed bottom at that spot — one band per RTOFS model level. The outlined stretch is where Barred Sand Bass's temperature band (61–77°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
Squid strips or plastics on flat sand near a break in the bottom; the summer spawn stacks them up.
Region by region — right now
| Region | Season | Prime water | Temp | Fish it at | Months |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| California | in season | reaches San Francisco | 62°F | — | 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 10-fathom lane whose seabed temperature sits inside this species' band. It is water, not a sighting report.
Charted grounds on the 10-fathom lane