false herring
Harengula clupeola · Dorosomatidae · forage fish
Schooling sardine of coastal waters and estuaries, from the Gulf of Mexico to Brazil, used as bait and for fishmeal. Its flesh has an unpleasant smell.
Also called: sardinha-falsa, carapachona, sardina escamuda, false herring, false pilchard
- maximum
- 31 cm
- record/max.
- 0.1 kg
- depth
- 0–50 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…
—
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 false herring
who is the false herring
Sardine of the family Dorosomatidae, with a slender, elongated body, dark green back and silvery flanks. It forms schools in coastal waters, lagoons and estuaries. It reaches 31 cm and 109 g, and the common size is about 10 cm. It lives down to 50 m, and the small ones appear on sandy beaches. It occurs from the Gulf of Mexico and southeastern Florida to Brazil, including the Bahamas, the Caribbean and the Guianas. Its flesh has an unpleasant smell, so it is used as bait and in fishmeal.
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 false herring; in the meantime, see the similar species.
fun facts
- It tolerates a wide range of salinity, from the sea to estuarine water.
identification
Slender silvery body, with a slightly curved lower profile. It has a diffuse yellow or orange spot on the edge of the gill cover and no dark pigment at the tip of the dorsal fin. Harengula jaguana looks similar, but has a deeper belly and lacks the orange spot on the gill cover. Harengula humeralis has a dark dorsal-fin tip and a reddish spot behind the head.
where found
In Latin America, it occurs from the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean to the Guianas and the Brazilian coast, in coastal waters and estuaries.
Habitat: Coastal waters, estuaries and lagoons, from 0 to 50 m, in schools.
coast
rules for the false herring
Summary of the regulations we found, with the source for each. Rules change; before keeping or transporting fish, check with the state environmental agency.
Conservation: Not on the Brazilian national list (Ministerial Ordinance GM/MMA No. 1.667/2026).
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.
No danger to the angler. As it is small, it usually ends up as bait: if returned, release it promptly, with wet hands.
how much it weighs without taking it out of the water
Length-weight relationship W = a·Lb (a = 0.00851, b = 3.07; 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
—
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: Harengula clupeola (ficha da espécie)Size, length-weight, depth, habitat, distribution, biology, and IUCN status. Page checked on Oct 13, 2026.
- scientific FishBase: nomes populares de Harengula clupeolaNames by country and language.
- official Portaria GM/MMA nº 1.667, de 27 de abril de 2026: Lista Nacional Oficial de Espécies da Fauna Ameaçadas de Extinção (peixes e invertebrados aquáticos)The species is not on the list. Checked in the DOU of April 28, 2026.
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: