What is too hot of a water temperature to catch a pompano?

Pompano will be on the hunt for cooler water once the temperatures where they are get into the the 80 degrees or higher range. When the water is 80 degrees then it is a safe bet that most if not all of the pompano in the area have left and are headed North for cooler waters.

Pompano in my area of the Treasure Coast of Florida are usually all gone by May. This depends upon when the last cold front came through the area. When we get late cold fronts, then the pompano tend to stick around a couple of weeks later. When the cold fronts end earlier, then the pompano will leave town earlier.

Where ever it is that you live, just check the surf temperatures in your area to see what they are. If those temperatures are 80 degrees or more, then you know that the pompano are gone and won’t be coming back until the waters get too cold where they are and drive them back to your beaches..

What is too cold of a water temperature to catch a pompano?

Pompano like the water temperatures to be in the upper 60 degree levels. That is the optimal range for a pompano to be very comfortable. Sure they can handle the high 70 degree ranges but they don’t like it. They can handle the low 60 degree ranges but they don’t like it. What they definitely won’t tolerate is water temperatures in the 50 degree ranges.

Now that you are armed with this knowledge you can predict where the pompano schools will not be. This gives you critical information for figuring out where they might be.

All that you have to do in the Fall or Winter is get on the internet and look up the current Atlantic Ocean or Gulf of Mexico water temperatures. Let’s say you live in Daytona Beach for this example.

You get on the internet and see that the ocean temperatures in Jacksonville just dropped from the low 60s into the high 50s levels and your water temperatures and in the mid 60s. This tells you that those pompano that were in Jacksonville will be heading your way soon. It’s time to break out the surf fishing gear.

Many commercial pompano fishermen use this technique to follow the pompano for hundreds of miles. They will follow them all the way down the coast in the Fall through the Spring. Then they will follow them as they head back North again to escape the hot water temperatures in the Summer months.

The pattern is reversed in the late spring. All that you have to do is look for when the water temperatures go from the 70s into the 80s. Then you can follow the pompanos’ migration to the North. They will stay ahead of that 80 degree water on the North side of it.

You can figure out roughly where the schools might be by following that cooler water temperatures that the pompano like. You will have to follow them a long way though. Pompano will run all the way North to Virginia in the Summer.

Conclusion:

Pompano are all about water temperatures. You can find them strictly based on the water temperatures that they like. If you can follow water temperatures from 65 to 75 degrees, then you can find and catch a whole bunch of pompano.

Pompano are the most popular fish in Florida surf fishing communities. They are challenging to find; fun to catch and delicious to eat. I hope that this article helps you catch more pompano.

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