Inshore · 60 ft · beaches, bays, inlets and rips

Black Drum

Pogonias cromis. Prime water reaches Cape Hatteras in Southeast Atlantic right now (80°F on the bottom). Fish it 7–60 ft down — that is where 83–77°F water sits off Cape Hatteras.

Black Drum identification illustration
LaneInshore · 10 fa (60 ft)
Depth it holds7–66 ft
Prime water54–82°F (workable 54–90°F)
Holds in the column7–66 ft down (on the bottom)
Judged onseabed temperature (RTOFS at depth)
Structureprefers bridge pilings and jetty rock

The water column off Cape Hatteras

0 ft30 ft60 ft53 ft of workable water7–60 ft · 83–77°F

The strip is the water itself, coloured by temperature from the surface down to the 60 ft surveyed bottom at that spot — one band per RTOFS model level. The outlined stretch is where Black Drum's temperature band (54–90°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

Fresh crab or clam on the bottom along channel edges and hard against bridge and jetty rock.

Region by region — right now

RegionSeasonPrime waterTempFish it atMonths
Mid-Atlantic off-season reaches Montauk 60°F 7–60 ft
J
F
M
A
M
J
Southeast Atlantic in season reaches Cape Hatteras 80°F 7–60 ft
J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
Gulf of Mexico in season reaches Tampa 88°F —
J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
"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
The Mud Hole
Chesapeake Light Tower
Frying Pan Shoals
The Point — Cape Hatteras