Black Drum
Pogonias cromis. Prime water reaches Montauk in Mid-Atlantic right now (65°F on the bottom). Fish it 7–60 ft down — that is where 68–68°F water sits off Montauk.
The water column off Montauk
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.
In 3D
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
| Region | Season | Prime water | Temp | Fish it at | Months |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mid-Atlantic | in season | reaches Montauk | 65°F | 7–60 ft | J F M A M J |
| Southeast Atlantic | in season | reaches Cape Hatteras | 77°F | 7–60 ft | J F M A M J J A S |
| Gulf of Mexico | in season | reaches Tampa | 85°F | — | J F M A M J J A S O N D |