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19-acre Hart Bay fishing map with NOAA survey-composite MLLW contours (96.97% measured, 96.97% assessed), source-traceable measured chart and habitat spots, six regional fish profiles, two forage calendars, connected ramp access and current DPNR/NPS rules. The water tops out around 33 ft. The depth chart is built from real agency bathymetry referenced to MLLW; directly measured coverage remains distinguished from source interpolation. The channels, holes and drop-offs come from the source data, not a distance-from-shore model. Species by species, here's what the data says the year looks like.
The outline encloses 19 acres, worked by 0.8 miles of shoreline. The basin is a simple one (shoreline index 1.4) — close to a bowl, so the structure on the chart matters more than the bank. The shallow band under 15 ft claims about 63% of the surface — that's where the groceries are. Figure 0.3 mi of water from one end to the other, 0.2 mi at the beam. Its nearest charted neighbour, Devers Bay, is 0 mi to the southwest.
Start shallow in spring: atlantic tarpon sit in 3 to 25 ft that time of year. Warm water sends them out to 4 to 33 ft; cold water stacks them in 5 to 33 ft. Top water on the chart: Surveyed channel edge, a drop-off in the 18 ft range, good in summer. Fish it in early morning and the evening and you'll meet the bite. Throw a heavy paddletail or a swimbait in pass current until the fish tell you otherwise.
Depth note: when a documented seasonal range extends below this chart, the table shows the deepest mapped working water, not a verified holding depth.
| Season | Depth | Best window | Start at | Go-to baits |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Spring | 3 to 25 ft | dawn & dusk | NOAA NCCOS mapped colonized bedrock (9 ft) | 4-6 inch paddletail, Suspending baitfish plug |
| Summer | 4 to 33 ft chart-limited; documented 4 to 35 ft | dawn & dusk | Surveyed channel edge (18 ft) | Heavy paddletail, Swimbait in pass current |
| Fall | 3 to 30 ft | dawn & dusk | NOAA NCCOS mapped colonized bedrock (9 ft) | Mullet-profile swimbait, Surface plug |
| Winter | 5 to 33 ft chart-limited; documented 5 to 35 ft | dusk | NOAA NCCOS mapped colonized bedrock (9 ft) | Slow-rolled paddletail, Suspending plug |
Early season jack crevalle use the shallows, holding in 2 to 25 ft. Summer is a 3 to 33 ft game here, winter a 5 to 33 ft one. The chart's best answer is NOAA NCCOS mapped colonized bedrock — hard bottom, 9 ft, good for spring. Best bite is early morning and the evening. Tie on a pencil popper or a casting spoon and you're in the game.
Depth note: when a documented seasonal range extends below this chart, the table shows the deepest mapped working water, not a verified holding depth.
| Season | Depth | Best window | Start at | Go-to baits |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Spring | 2 to 25 ft | dawn & dusk | NOAA NCCOS mapped colonized bedrock (9 ft) | Surface popper, Metal jig |
| Summer | 3 to 33 ft chart-limited; documented 3 to 35 ft | dawn & dusk | NOAA NCCOS mapped colonized bedrock (9 ft) | Pencil popper, Casting spoon |
| Fall | 2 to 30 ft | dawn & midday | NOAA NCCOS mapped colonized bedrock (9 ft) | Topwater walker, Metal jig |
| Winter | 5 to 33 ft chart-limited; documented 5 to 35 ft | dusk | NOAA NCCOS mapped colonized bedrock (9 ft) | Compact metal jig, Slow-rolled paddletail |
When the water first warms, yellowtail snapper slide up into 4 to 33 ft. There's no big seasonal slide here — summer means 5 to 33 ft, winter 5 to 33 ft. Start at NOAA NCCOS mapped colonized bedrock. It's a hard bottom holding about 9 ft of water and rates prime come spring. The feeding windows run early morning and the evening. Keep a micro jig or a small paddletail rigged through the warm months.
Depth note: when a documented seasonal range extends below this chart, the table shows the deepest mapped working water, not a verified holding depth.
| Season | Depth | Best window | Start at | Go-to baits |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Spring | 4 to 33 ft chart-limited; documented 8 to 60 ft | dawn & dusk | NOAA NCCOS mapped colonized bedrock (9 ft) | Small bucktail, Light vertical jig |
| Summer | 5 to 33 ft chart-limited; documented 10 to 70 ft | dawn & dusk | NOAA NCCOS mapped colonized bedrock (9 ft) | Micro jig, Small paddletail |
| Fall | 5 to 33 ft chart-limited; documented 10 to 70 ft | dawn & dusk | NOAA NCCOS mapped colonized bedrock (9 ft) | Small vertical jig, Baitfish streamer |
| Winter | 5 to 33 ft chart-limited; documented 12 to 80 ft | dusk | NOAA NCCOS mapped colonized bedrock (9 ft) | Small jig worked deep, Bucktail |
Start shallow in spring: mutton snapper sit in 4 to 33 ft that time of year. They don't go far with the seasons — 4 to 33 ft covers summer, 6 to 33 ft covers winter. The spot to know is NOAA NCCOS mapped colonized bedrock, a hard bottom in about 9 ft of water that rates prime for mutton snapper in spring. Warm-month bites cluster around early morning and the evening. Throw a heavy bucktail or a vertical jig until the fish tell you otherwise.
Depth note: when a documented seasonal range extends below this chart, the table shows the deepest mapped working water, not a verified holding depth.
| Season | Depth | Best window | Start at | Go-to baits |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Spring | 4 to 33 ft chart-limited; documented 8 to 65 ft | dawn & dusk | NOAA NCCOS mapped colonized bedrock (9 ft) | Bucktail near bottom, Paddletail |
| Summer | 4 to 33 ft chart-limited; documented 10 to 80 ft | dawn & dusk | NOAA NCCOS mapped colonized bedrock (9 ft) | Heavy bucktail, Vertical jig |
| Fall | 4 to 33 ft chart-limited; documented 10 to 75 ft | dawn & dusk | NOAA NCCOS mapped colonized bedrock (9 ft) | Bucktail + strip, Slow vertical jig |
| Winter | 6 to 33 ft chart-limited; documented 15 to 90 ft | dusk | NOAA NCCOS mapped colonized bedrock (9 ft) | Slow jig, Bottom bucktail |
In spring, great barracuda run shallow here, mostly 1 to 33 ft. Summer keeps them at 2 to 33 ft, and they winter in 3 to 33 ft. NOAA NCCOS mapped colonized bedrock is the standout, a hard bottom at roughly 9 ft, rated prime for winter great barracuda. Time it for early morning and the evening. You won't need more than a fast swimbait or a spoon most summer days.
Depth note: when a documented seasonal range extends below this chart, the table shows the deepest mapped working water, not a verified holding depth.
| Season | Depth | Best window | Start at | Go-to baits |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Spring | 1 to 33 ft chart-limited; documented 2 to 45 ft | dawn & midday | NOAA NCCOS mapped colonized bedrock (9 ft) | Fast tube lure, Long minnow plug |
| Summer | 2 to 33 ft chart-limited; documented 3 to 55 ft | dawn & dusk | NOAA NCCOS mapped colonized bedrock (9 ft) | Fast swimbait, Spoon |
| Fall | 2 to 33 ft chart-limited; documented 3 to 55 ft | dawn & midday | NOAA NCCOS mapped colonized bedrock (9 ft) | Mullet-profile plug, Tube lure |
| Winter | 3 to 33 ft chart-limited; documented 5 to 65 ft | midday & dusk | NOAA NCCOS mapped colonized bedrock (9 ft) | Long minnow plug, Fast jig |
The spring pattern is a shallow one: gray snapper (mangrove snapper) in 3 to 22 ft. As the season builds they drop to 4 to 30 ft, wintering in 6 to 33 ft. Top water on the chart: NOAA NCCOS mapped colonized bedrock, a hard bottom in the 9 ft range, good in summer. Time it for early morning and the evening. Summer baits: a small bucktail or a paddletail gets it done.
Depth note: when a documented seasonal range extends below this chart, the table shows the deepest mapped working water, not a verified holding depth.
| Season | Depth | Best window | Start at | Go-to baits |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Spring | 3 to 22 ft | dawn & dusk | NOAA NCCOS mapped colonized bedrock (9 ft) | Small paddletail, Jighead + shrimp imitation |
| Summer | 4 to 30 ft | dawn & dusk | NOAA NCCOS mapped colonized bedrock (9 ft) | Small bucktail, Paddletail |
| Fall | 5 to 33 ft chart-limited; documented 5 to 35 ft | dawn & dusk | NOAA NCCOS mapped colonized bedrock (9 ft) | Small vertical jig, Jighead + paddletail |
| Winter | 6 to 33 ft chart-limited; documented 8 to 45 ft | midday | NOAA NCCOS mapped colonized bedrock (9 ft) | Small jig worked slowly |
8 pieces of structure are mapped here — NOAA NCCOS mapped linear reef, around 26 ft, is the deepest of them.
Access data: National Park Service — Virgin Islands National Park Superintendent's Compendium and Cruz Bay Visitor Center POI. Confirm conditions and fees locally before you launch.
Season dates, license requirements, and size and bag limits for U.S. Virgin Islands waters are set by the National Park Service and USVI DPNR (St. John park fishing) — and special regulations can apply to Hart Bay specifically, so confirm the current rules before you fish.
Check the official U.S. Virgin Islands fishing regulations →
Hart Bay is about 33 ft (10 m) deep at its deepest point. The depth chart is built from real agency bathymetry referenced to MLLW; directly measured coverage remains distinguished from source interpolation. The contours reflect measured and quality-assessed source depths.
Anglers target atlantic tarpon, jack crevalle, yellowtail snapper, mutton snapper, great barracuda, gray snapper (mangrove snapper) on Hart Bay. This isn't a survey of the water — none is published for it — but an informed estimate from the species common to the region, narrowed by this water's depth, size and each species' range.
NOAA NCCOS mapped colonized bedrock is the top-rated area: a hard bottom in about 9 ft of water that rates prime for yellowtail snapper in spring. Scroll up to the map for the complete spot list by species and season.
For atlantic tarpon, the summer bite is best in early morning and the evening. Each species page section below lists the seasonal windows, and the map shows a live NOW badge when you're inside one.
Fishing on Hart Bay is regulated by the National Park Service and USVI DPNR (St. John park fishing). Check the official U.S. Virgin Islands regulations for current license requirements, season dates, and size and bag limits — special regulations can apply to this specific water.
Devers Bay 0 mi · Rendezvous Bay 0 mi · Monte Bay 1 mi · Great Cruz Bay 1 mi · Fish Bay 1 mi · Turner Bay 1 mi · Frank Bay 2 mi · Caneel Bay 2 mi · Genti Bay 2 mi · Reef Bay 2 mi · Hawksnest Bay 2 mi · Denis Bay 3 mi
See how Hart Bay stacks up: best gray snapper (mangrove snapper) lakes in U.S. Virgin Islands · best atlantic tarpon lakes in U.S. Virgin Islands · best jack crevalle lakes in U.S. Virgin Islands · best yellowtail snapper lakes in U.S. Virgin Islands
Browse all U.S. Virgin Islands fishing maps. See every water on DepthScout. Bathymetry credit: NOAA BlueTopo (MLLW; 97% measured, 0% source-interpolated). How we build these maps. Fish here with a sonar unit that logs? Send us your depth data and we'll improve this chart, credited to you. For fishing guidance only, never navigation.