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

Scup (Porgy)

Stenotomus chrysops. Prime water reaches Penobscot Bay in New England right now (53°F on the bottom). Fish it 26–71 ft down — that is where 55–52°F water sits off Penobscot Bay.

Scup (Porgy) identification illustration
LaneInshore · 10 fa (60 ft)
Depth it holds26–131 ft
Prime water46–70°F (workable 46–77°F)
Holds in the column26–131 ft down (on the bottom)
Judged onseabed temperature (RTOFS at depth)
Structureprefers

The water column off Penobscot Bay

0 ft35 ft71 ft44 ft of workable water26–71 ft · 55–52°F

The strip is the water itself, coloured by temperature from the surface down to the 71 ft surveyed bottom at that spot — one band per RTOFS model level. The outlined stretch is where Scup (Porgy)'s temperature band (46–77°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

Small hooks with squid or worms over hard bottom and mussel beds.

Region by region — right now

RegionSeasonPrime waterTempFish it atMonths
New England in season reaches Penobscot Bay 53°F 26–71 ft
J
F
M
A
M
J
Mid-Atlantic in season reaches Montauk 60°F 26–60 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 seabed temperature sits inside this species' band. It is water, not a sighting report.
Charted grounds on the 10-fathom lane
Cape Cod Canal (East End)
The Mud Hole
Chesapeake Light Tower