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

Redtail Surfperch

Amphistichus rhodoterus. Prime water reaches Neah Bay in Pacific Northwest right now (59°F at the surface). Fish it around 13 ft down — that is where 52°F water sits off Neah Bay.

Redtail Surfperch identification illustration
LaneInshore · 10 fa (60 ft)
Depth it holds2–20 ft
Prime water50–61°F (workable 50–66°F)
Holds in the column0–13 ft down below the surface, over 2–20 ft of water
Judged onsurface temperature (NASA MUR satellite)
Structurenone

The water column off Neah Bay

0 ft33 ft66 ft13 ft of workable water0–13 ft · 52–52°F

The strip is the water itself, coloured by temperature from the surface down to the 66 ft surveyed bottom at that spot — one band per RTOFS model level. The outlined stretch is where Redtail Surfperch's temperature band (50–66°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 shrimp or clam necks cast into the surf troughs and rip channels on an incoming tide.

Region by region — right now

RegionSeasonPrime waterTempFish it atMonths
Pacific Northwest in season reaches Neah Bay 59°F ~13 ft
J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
California in season reaches San Francisco 61°F ~13 ft
J
F
M
A
M
J
J
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
The Farallon Islands