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

Tarpon

Megalops atlanticus. Prime water reaches Islamorada in Florida Keys right now (87°F at the surface). Fish it 3–39 ft down — that is where 88–86°F water sits off Islamorada.

Tarpon identification illustration
LaneInshore · 10 fa (60 ft)
Depth it holds3–39 ft
Prime water75–88°F (workable 75–91°F)
Holds in the column3–39 ft down below the surface, over 3–39 ft of water
Judged onsurface temperature (NASA MUR satellite)
Structurenone

The water column off Islamorada

0 ft29 ft58 ft36 ft of workable water3–39 ft · 88–86°F

The strip is the water itself, coloured by temperature from the surface down to the 58 ft surveyed bottom at that spot — one band per RTOFS model level. The outlined stretch is where Tarpon's temperature band (75–91°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

Live crabs or mullet drifted through passes and along beaches on moving tide.

Region by region — right now

RegionSeasonPrime waterTempFish it atMonths
Florida Keys in season reaches Islamorada 87°F 3–39 ft
J
F
M
A
M
J
Gulf of Mexico in season reaches Tampa 86°F —
J
F
M
A
M
J
Southeast Atlantic in season reaches Cape Hatteras 83°F 3–39 ft
J
F
M
A
M
"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
Key West / The Wall
Frying Pan Shoals
The Point — Cape Hatteras