silver seatrout
Cynoscion nothus · Sciaenidae · predator
Silver seatrout from beaches and river mouths, occurring in the Gulf of Mexico and on the eastern United States. It has small commercial fishing and is considered a sport fish.
Also called: pescada-prateada-do-golfo, corvina plateada, trucha plateada, silver seatrout
- maximum
- 36 cm
- depth
- 2–18 m
the right time
to be on the water
Choose the place and the species. The index, from 0 to 100, combines weather, sun, moon and tide with each fish's habits. Up to 28 days, with each day's confidence.
Reading the weather across 3 global models and 31 simulations…
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hour by hour
slide your finger or mouse over the chart to see each hoursee hour-by-hour table
why this index at —?
choose the day
Each card shows the day's index (0 to 100) and, below it, a strip with the index for each hour, from 0h to 23h. from poor to excellent.
the fishing month at a glance
what's the best window for the crew?
Choose how many fishing days. We compare each stretch by its average index, discount days with a warning or closed season, and show the 3 best.
trend for the coming weeks
Line: the middle value of 31 simulations of the American GEFS model. Band: where 8 out of 10 fall. Narrow, firm trend; wide, high uncertainty.
everything about the silver seatrout
who is the silver seatrout
The Gulf silver seatrout is a fish of the family Sciaenidae, with a spindle-shaped body, gray above and silvery below. It reaches 36 cm, with a common size of 25 cm. It lives in shallow coastal waters, from 2 to 18 m, on sandy bottoms near beaches and river mouths. It feeds mainly on crustaceans and fish. It has small commercial fishing and is considered a sport fish. It is easy to confuse with the American weakfish, which lives in the same region.
Essential profile. Identification, where it occurs and rules, with data from FishBase and the cited regulations. Season, time of day, technique and bait are added once we have a good source for the silver seatrout; in the meantime, see the similar species.
fun facts
- It lives briefly: the maximum recorded age is 1.2 years.
- There are records of occurrence on the Campeche Bank, Mexico.
identification
Gray above, changing abruptly to silvery below, with a lightly spotted back: sometimes there are irregular rows of very faint dots, while the American weakfish has dots forming very visible wavy lines. The dorsal fin is dark, and the others pale to yellowish. The mouth is large and oblique, with the lower jaw protruding, and the upper jaw has a pair of large canine teeth at the tip.
where found
Lives in the western Atlantic, from Maryland (USA) to northeastern Florida and throughout the Gulf of Mexico, including the Campeche Bank. In Latin America it occurs in Cuba, Mexico and Trinidad and Tobago.
Habitat: Shallow coastal waters, 2 to 18 m, on sandy bottoms, near beaches and river mouths.
rules for the silver seatrout
Summary of the regulations we found, with the source for each. Rules change; before keeping or transporting fish, check with the state environmental agency.
We found no species-specific rule beyond the region's general rules.
catch and release
catch and release Releasing the fish alive, quickly and with a wet hand. During a closed season it isn't always allowed: what the regulation says applies.
Harmless, but the canine teeth of the upper jaw can cut, so handle it carefully.
how much it weighs without taking it out of the water
Length-weight relationship W = a·Lb (a = 0.01259, b = 3.0; FishBase (relação peso-comprimento bayesiana, estimativa da própria espécie)). It's an average: a fat or lean fish can vary by 10% to 20%.
estimated weight
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sources and references
Essential profile: size, length-weight, depth, countries and conservation come from FishBase and the cited regulations, and the texts were written from those sources. Season, time of day, sensitivities, technique and baits and lures are not included yet, because we did not find a good source for this species.
- scientific FishBase: Cynoscion nothus (ficha da espécie)Size, length-weight, depth, habitat, distribution, biology, and IUCN status. Page checked on Oct 13, 2026.
- scientific FishBase: nomes populares de Cynoscion nothusNames by country and language.
similar species
where each number comes from
The weather comes from three independent global models, cross-checked hour by hour: when they agree, confidence goes up; when they diverge, the band between them shows on the chart. Beyond 16 days, we use the GEFS ensemble of 31 simulations: if 20 of the 31 predict rain, the chance of rain is 65%. Sun and moon are calculated astronomically, with no uncertainty.
The index adds up, weighted for each species: time of day (species curve anchored to real sunrise and sunset), moon (transits, rise and set, phase), pressure (3 h trend and 24 h swing), water temperature (in rivers, estimated from air temperature; at sea, estimated by an ocean model), wind, rain, clouds, tide and the month in the species' cycle.
sources for this lookup
how accurate the forecast is
Accuracy measured in the reference project (4 regions, 93 days, forecast vs. observed): maximum temperature is off by 0.6 °C on average the next day and 1.7 °C at 7 days; rain of 5 mm or more is detected 76% of the time the next day and 57% at 7 days. Detection isn't everything: the false alarm rate isn't published here yet, and 93 days in 4 regions is still a small sample. We now also measure every day, at the app's destinations: