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

Cero Mackerel

Scomberomorus regalis. Prime water reaches Islamorada in Florida Keys right now (87°F at the surface). Fish it 0–58 ft down — that is where 88–85°F water sits off Islamorada.

Cero Mackerel identification illustration
LaneInshore · 10 fa (60 ft)
Depth it holds20–164 ft
Prime water73–84°F (workable 73–89°F)
Holds in the column0–82 ft down below the surface, over 20–164 ft of water
Judged onsurface temperature (NASA MUR satellite)
Structurenone

The water column off Islamorada

0 ft29 ft58 ft58 ft of workable water0–58 ft · 88–85°F

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 Cero Mackerel's temperature band (73–89°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

Live pilchards on light wire over the reef edge — the reef-line mackerel the kings run past.

Region by region — right now

RegionSeasonPrime waterTempFish it atMonths
Florida Keys in season reaches Islamorada 87°F 0–58 ft
J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
Southeast Atlantic in season reaches Cape Hatteras 83°F 0–60 ft
J
F
M
A
M
J
J
"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
Key West / The Wall
Frying Pan Shoals
The Point — Cape Hatteras