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

Red Drum (Redfish)

Sciaenops ocellatus. Prime water reaches Cape Hatteras in Southeast Atlantic right now (83°F at the surface). Fish it around 26 ft down — that is where 83°F water sits off Cape Hatteras.

Red Drum (Redfish) identification illustration
LaneInshore · 10 fa (60 ft)
Depth it holds2–26 ft
Prime water64–82°F (workable 64–90°F)
Holds in the column2–26 ft down below the surface, over 2–26 ft of water
Judged onsurface temperature (NASA MUR satellite)
Structureprefers

The water column off Cape Hatteras

0 ft30 ft60 ft25 ft of workable water2–26 ft · 83–82°F

The strip is the water itself, coloured by temperature from the surface down to the 60 ft surveyed bottom at that spot — one band per RTOFS model level. The outlined stretch is where Red Drum (Redfish)'s temperature band (64–90°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

Gold spoons or cut mullet on grass flats, oyster bars and marsh drains.

Region by region — right now

RegionSeasonPrime waterTempFish it atMonths
Southeast Atlantic in season reaches Cape Hatteras 83°F ~26 ft
J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
Gulf of Mexico in season reaches Tampa 86°F —
J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
Florida Keys in season reaches Islamorada 87°F ~26 ft
J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
"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
Frying Pan Shoals
The Point — Cape Hatteras
Key West / The Wall