The edge · 600 ft · shelf break and canyons

Common Thresher Shark

Alopias vulpinus. Prime water reaches Penobscot Bay in New England right now (62°F at the surface). Fish it 33–67 ft down — that is where 65–59°F water sits off Penobscot Bay.

Common Thresher Shark identification illustration
LaneThe edge · 100 fa (600 ft)
Depth it holds98–1312 ft
Prime water59–70°F (workable 59–77°F)
Holds in the column33–394 ft down below the surface, over 98–1312 ft of water
Judged onsurface temperature (NASA MUR satellite)
Structurenone

The water column off Penobscot Bay

0 ft297 ft594 ft30 ft of workable water33–63 ft · 65–60°F

The strip is the water itself, coloured by temperature from the surface down to the 594 ft surveyed bottom at that spot — one band per RTOFS model level. The outlined stretch is where Common Thresher Shark's temperature band (59–77°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

Slow-trolled bait or a chum slick where bait stacks on a break — they stun with the tail, so hook-ups run tail-first.

Region by region — right now

RegionSeasonPrime waterTempFish it atMonths
New England in season reaches Penobscot Bay 62°F 33–67 ft
J
F
M
A
M
Mid-Atlantic in season reaches Montauk 72°F 33–94 ft
J
F
M
A
M
J
California in season reaches San Francisco 61°F 33–87 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 100-fathom lane whose surface temperature sits inside this species' band. It is water, not a sighting report.
Charted grounds on the 100-fathom lane
Jeffreys Ledge
Monterey Submarine Canyon