Wahoo: water temperature and season

Fall through winter along the Gulf Stream. Anglrithm scores wahoo at offshore spots on the Atlantic side and in the Keys. This page sets out what that score weighs and the cited studies behind it.

Water temperature

Evidence tier Well established

The tagged band for wahoo is 64-82 °F, with most time at 75-82 °F. Four wahoo tagged in the Florida Straits (about 26.5° N, 79.3° W) in February and October 2006 spent over 90% of their time in 17.5-27.5 °C (64-82 °F) and over 90% shallower than 200 m. Theisen & Baldwin 2012, Marine Biology 159:2249-2258 (evidence: moderate).

The band works in both directions. Fish feed along a dome, rising to an optimum and falling away past it, so water above the band counts against an hour just as water below it does. Outside the band, either way, no hour rates GOOD in the score, and an hour loses more the further out the water is.

Season

Best Nov to Mar, by the score's season weight.

The score's season weight by month, from the studies cited in the species profile; the outlined months are at 90% of its peak or better.

What the score weighs

  • SeasonWell establishedkeeps 100%
  • MoonSmall real effectkeeps 50%
  • CurrentSmall real effectkeeps 50%
  • WindSmall real effectkeeps 50%
  • Water tempWell establishedkeeps 100%
  • SeasSmall real effectkeeps 50%
  • Wind vs currentSmall real effectkeeps 50%
Why each tier
  • Season: Season is the strongest single predictor in most recreational datasets, because it carries water temperature, migration and spawning together. Shaw et al. 2021, PLOS ONE 16:e0257882.
  • Moon: Moonlight genuinely times spawning in many species through melatonin and clock genes, which is why aggregations key to the moon. For whether today is a good day, the measured effect is real but tiny, smaller than temperature and far smaller than where you fish. Ikegami et al. 2014, Marine Genomics 14:59-66. Shaw et al. 2021 found lunar effects significant but Cohen d below 0.20.
  • Current: No study we found ties a current speed or direction to catch for any fish in this app. Current decides whether you can hold a bait where you want it and how a drift sets up: off Southeast Florida the Gulf Stream runs fast close to the coast, and deep-drop boats stay under power to hold position. Treat a current pattern as a fact about your fishing more than about the fish. Davis, Cudney & Blankinship 2017, Bulletin of Marine Science 93:539-555. Lerner et al. 2013, Transactions of the American Fisheries Society 142:95-104.
  • Wind: Wind has a measurable effect on fish movement, apparently through dissolved oxygen, but it is small. The larger effect in any personal log is on you: wind decides where you can fish and whether you go at all, so a wind pattern in your own data is at least as likely to be about your choices as about the fish. Milardi et al. 2019, Aquatic Ecology 53:251-263. Shaw et al. 2021, PLOS ONE 16:e0257882.
  • Water temp: Fish are ectotherms, so appetite and digestion track water temperature along a dome: rising to an optimum, then falling away again. Warmer is not simply better. Snook energy demand roughly tripled from 15 to 25 C, and they were more likely to have empty stomachs when the water ran hot. Volkoff & Ronnestad 2020, Temperature 7:307-320. White et al. 2025, Marine and Coastal Fisheries 17:vtaf031, doi:10.1093/mcfafs/vtaf031.
  • Seas: Sea state mostly decides whether the trip happens and whether you can fish it well. Treat a sea-state pattern in your own log as a fact about your fishing, not about the fish. No direct angling-scale study found; labelled from mechanism.
  • Wind vs current: Wind blowing against the current stands the seas up: shorter, steeper and more likely to break than the same wind over slack water, which decides how a drift sets up and how long a day stays fishable. That is physics about the water, not evidence about the fish; no study we found ties it to catch. U.S. Coast Pilot 4, Chapter 3 (opposing wind and current on the Gulf Stream: sharply higher, steeper seas that can break; mechanism only). No catch study found.

Each factor's weight is multiplied by its evidence tier: well established and real but local keep all of it, a small real effect keeps half, and a popular belief that is not supported keeps a fifth. Guidance from the studies sits beside the score, never in it.

From the research programs

  • Four wahoo satellite-tagged in the Florida Straits in February and October all ended up north, 87 to 1,059 nm away. North Carolina Sea Grant, 2012
  • Tagged wahoo spent about 90 percent of their time in 64-82 °F water, the band the score uses from the same study, and 45 percent shallower than 65 ft. North Carolina Sea Grant, 2012
  • Wahoo made quick dives below 650 ft but returned to warm water, which may limit them to warm regions. North Carolina Sea Grant, 2012

Findings in our own words from the programs linked, area and season only; cited, not endorsed. None of these lines is in the score.

The studies

  • Mahi, wahoo and yellowfin patches match surface temperature patches, but swordfish patches match temperature at 200 m.

    Gulf of Mexico (outside South Florida) · field · full text read

    Kleisner et al. 2010

  • Per ocean boat trip, east Florida dolphin catch peaks May-June; wahoo and blackfin peak September-December.

    Florida Atlantic coast (MRIP South Atlantic Florida, excludes Monroe County) · agency · agency document

    NOAA Fisheries Marine Recreational Information Program 2025

  • In Florida's Gulf plus Keys domain, dolphin catch per trip peaks July-August and blackfin and wahoo peak September-October.

    Florida Gulf coast including Monroe County (Keys) as one MRIP domain · agency · agency document

    NOAA Fisheries Marine Recreational Information Program 2025

  • Wahoo mostly stay above 50 m, while swordfish sit near the surface at night and drop to 700-800 m by day.

    western North Atlantic and wider Caribbean · review · full text re-read Oct 16, 2026

    Luckhurst 2007

The whole evidence library

Entries read in full text or published by an agency. Entries read only in their abstract are listed on the science page with their numbers withheld.

Where it is scored

Today's score at any of them is free with an account; every fish has a page like this one.

Display only, not for navigation. Every figure here names its source; check the NWS marine forecast and the posted rules before you leave the dock.