Florida Pompano
Trachinotus carolinus. Prime water reaches Islamorada in Florida Keys right now (87°F at the surface). Fish it around 13 ft down — that is where 88°F water sits off Islamorada.
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 Florida Pompano's temperature band (68–90°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.
How it's fished
Sand fleas on a pompano rig in the surf trough — they follow the wash on a moving tide.
Region by region — right now
| Region | Season | Prime water | Temp | Fish it at | Months |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Florida Keys | in season | reaches Islamorada | 87°F | ~13 ft | J F M A M J J A S O N D |
| Southeast Atlantic | in season | reaches Cape Hatteras | 83°F | ~13 ft | J F M A M J J A S |
| Gulf of Mexico | in season | reaches Tampa | 86°F | — | J F M A M J J A S O N D |
| Mid-Atlantic | in season | reaches Montauk | 69°F | ~13 ft | J F M A |