Inshore · 60 ft · beaches, bays, inlets and rips
Bonefish
Albula vulpes. Prime water reaches Islamorada in Florida Keys right now (87°F at the surface). Fish it around 7 ft down — that is where 88°F water sits off Islamorada.
LaneInshore · 10 fa (60 ft)
Depth it holds1–7 ft
Prime water75–88°F (workable 75–91°F)
Holds in the column1–7 ft down below the surface, over 1–7 ft of water
Judged onsurface temperature (NASA MUR satellite)
Structurenone
The water column off Islamorada
The strip is the water itself, coloured by temperature from the surface down to the 58 ft surveyed bottom at that spot — one band per RTOFS model level. The outlined stretch is where Bonefish's temperature band (75–91°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
Shrimp or small crab flies led ahead of tailing fish on incoming flats.
Region by region — right now
| Region | Season | Prime water | Temp | Fish it at | Months |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Florida Keys | in season | reaches Islamorada | 87°F | ~7 ft | J F M A M J J A S |
"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 surface temperature sits inside this species' band. It is water, not a sighting report.
Charted grounds on the 10-fathom lane