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

Spanish Mackerel

Scomberomorus maculatus. Prime water reaches Cape Hatteras in Southeast Atlantic right now (83°F at the surface). Fish it 0–60 ft down — that is where 83–77°F water sits off Cape Hatteras.

Spanish Mackerel identification illustration
LaneInshore · 10 fa (60 ft)
Depth it holds10–66 ft
Prime water68–82°F (workable 68–88°F)
Holds in the column0–66 ft down below the surface, over 10–66 ft of water
Judged onsurface temperature (NASA MUR satellite)
Structurenone

The water column off Cape Hatteras

0 ft30 ft60 ft60 ft of workable water0–60 ft · 83–77°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 Spanish Mackerel's temperature band (68–88°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 shiny spoons cast or trolled fast through surface bait showers.

Region by region — right now

RegionSeasonPrime waterTempFish it atMonths
Southeast Atlantic in season reaches Cape Hatteras 83°F 0–60 ft
J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
Gulf of Mexico in season reaches Tampa 86°F —
J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
Mid-Atlantic in season reaches Montauk 69°F 0–60 ft
J
F
M
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
Frying Pan Shoals
The Point — Cape Hatteras
The Mud Hole
Chesapeake Light Tower