The edge · 600 ft · shelf break and canyons

Shortfin Mako

Isurus oxyrinchus. Prime water reaches Penobscot Bay in New England right now (63°F at the surface). Fish it around 46 ft down — that is where 65°F water sits off Penobscot Bay.

Shortfin Mako identification illustration
LaneThe edge · 100 fa (600 ft)
Depth it holds131–1641 ft
Prime water63–72°F (workable 63–77°F)
Holds in the column33–492 ft down below the surface, over 131–1641 ft of water
Judged onsurface temperature (NASA MUR satellite)
Structurenone

The water column off Penobscot Bay

0 ft297 ft594 ft8 ft of workable water33–40 ft · 65–63°F

The strip is the water itself, coloured by temperature from the surface down to the 594 ft surveyed bottom at that spot — one band per RTOFS model level. The outlined stretch is where Shortfin Mako's temperature band (63–77°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

Chum slick on temperature breaks near bait concentrations.

Region by region — right now

RegionSeasonPrime waterTempFish it atMonths
New England in season reaches Penobscot Bay 63°F ~46 ft
J
F
M
A
M
Mid-Atlantic in season reaches Montauk 72°F 33–85 ft
J
F
M
A
M
J
California in season reaches Channel Islands 63°F 33–87 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 100-fathom lane whose surface temperature sits inside this species' band. It is water, not a sighting report.
Charted grounds on the 100-fathom lane
Jeffreys Ledge
Monterey Submarine Canyon