The grounds · 180 ft · banks, ledges and wrecks

Monkfish (Goosefish)

Lophius americanus. Prime water reaches Penobscot Bay in New England right now (53°F on the bottom). Fish it 131–210 ft down — that is where 50–43°F water sits off Penobscot Bay.

Monkfish (Goosefish) identification illustration
LaneThe grounds · 30 fa (180 ft)
Depth it holds131–656 ft
Prime water37–54°F (workable 37–61°F)
Holds in the column131–656 ft down (on the bottom)
Judged onseabed temperature (RTOFS at depth)
Structurenone

The water column off Penobscot Bay

0 ft105 ft210 ft79 ft of workable water131–210 ft · 50–43°F

The strip is the water itself, coloured by temperature from the surface down to the 210 ft surveyed bottom at that spot — one band per RTOFS model level. The outlined stretch is where Monkfish (Goosefish)'s temperature band (37–61°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

Heavy bait dragged slow on soft bottom — they ambush from the mud and barely move for it.

Region by region — right now

RegionSeasonPrime waterTempFish it atMonths
New England in season reaches Penobscot Bay 53°F 131–210 ft
J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
Mid-Atlantic off-season reaches Montauk 58°F 131–181 ft
J
F
M
A
M
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 30-fathom lane whose seabed temperature sits inside this species' band. It is water, not a sighting report.
Charted grounds on the 30-fathom lane
Wilmington Canyon