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

Spotted Seatrout

Cynoscion nebulosus. Prime water reaches Cape Hatteras in Southeast Atlantic right now (83°F at the surface). Fish it around 16 ft down — that is where 83°F water sits off Cape Hatteras.

Spotted Seatrout identification illustration
LaneInshore · 10 fa (60 ft)
Depth it holds2–16 ft
Prime water64–84°F (workable 64–90°F)
Holds in the column2–16 ft down below the surface, over 2–16 ft of water
Judged onsurface temperature (NASA MUR satellite)
Structureprefers

The water column off Cape Hatteras

0 ft30 ft60 ft15 ft of workable water2–16 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 Spotted Seatrout'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

Popping cork with shrimp over grass flats and potholes at first light.

Region by region — right now

RegionSeasonPrime waterTempFish it atMonths
Southeast Atlantic in season reaches Cape Hatteras 83°F ~16 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
"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