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

Florida Pompano

Trachinotus carolinus. Prime water reaches Islamorada in Florida Keys right now (86°F at the surface). Fish it around 13 ft down — that is where 85°F water sits off Islamorada.

Florida Pompano identification illustration
LaneInshore · 10 fa (60 ft)
Depth it holds2–26 ft
Prime water68–84°F (workable 68–90°F)
Holds in the column0–13 ft down below the surface, over 2–26 ft of water
Judged onsurface temperature (NASA MUR satellite)
Structurenone

The water column off Islamorada

0 ft29 ft58 ft13 ft of workable water0–13 ft · 85–85°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 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.

In 3D

Drag to rotate, pinch or scroll to zoom. 3D model traced from a The U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Public domain reference — source.

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

RegionSeasonPrime waterTempFish it atMonths
Florida Keys in season reaches Islamorada 86°F ~13 ft
J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
Southeast Atlantic in season reaches Cape Hatteras 76°F ~13 ft
J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
Gulf of Mexico in season reaches Tampa 85°F —
J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
Mid-Atlantic off-season reaches Montauk 68°F —
J
F
M
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 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
The Mud Hole
Chesapeake Light Tower