The grounds · 180 ft · banks, ledges and wrecks

Black Rockfish

Sebastes melanops. Prime water reaches Neah Bay in Pacific Northwest right now (48°F on the bottom). Fish it 26–177 ft down — that is where 57–48°F water sits off Neah Bay.

Black Rockfish identification illustration
LaneThe grounds · 30 fa (180 ft)
Depth it holds26–180 ft
Prime water46–57°F (workable 46–63°F)
Holds in the column26–180 ft down (on the bottom)
Judged onseabed temperature (RTOFS at depth)
Structurerequires shallow rock pinnacles

The water column off Neah Bay

0 ft89 ft177 ft151 ft of workable water26–177 ft · 57–48°F

The strip is the water itself, coloured by temperature from the surface down to the 177 ft surveyed bottom at that spot — one band per RTOFS model level. The outlined stretch is where Black Rockfish's temperature band (46–63°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 NOAA Fisheries, Alaska Region Nearshore Fish Atlas, United States government work; public domain reference — source.

How it's fished

Swimbaits and jigs over shallow rock — the one rockfish that chases up off the bottom.

Region by region — right now

RegionSeasonPrime waterTempFish it atMonths
Pacific Northwest in season reaches Neah Bay 48°F 26–177 ft
J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
California in season reaches San Francisco 55°F 26–180 ft
J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
"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 seabed temperature sits inside this species' band. It is water, not a sighting report.