Reef & bottom · Saltwater
Scamp
Mycteroperca phenax
Western Atlantic native, continental shelf waters from the Campeche Banks (Gulf of Mexico) to Florida and north along the U.S. East Coast to North Carolina; managed separately by GMFMC (Gulf) and SAFMC (South Atlantic).
- Nearshore
- Offshore
- Regulated context
- 4 of 4 overlays reviewed
- Reviewed 2026-08-27
Before you target this fish
Regulated context — check the rules for the exact water
Where this applies U.S. Gulf of Mexico (GMFMC) and South Atlantic (SAFMC) federal and adjoining state waters, Campeche Banks to North Carolina.
The reviewed context, unedited
South Atlantic (SAFMC) sourced regulations include a 20 in TL minimum size, a 1-fish bag limit aggregated with yellowmouth grouper, a 3-fish grouper-and-tilefish aggregate limit, a January 1-April 30 shallow-water-grouper spawning-season closure, and mandatory head-and-fins-intact landing; the cited commercial quota was already over-harvested (116% of quota) as of the source data. A standing South Atlantic federal-waters descending-device requirement (since 2020) applies to the snapper-grouper complex scamp belongs to. Scamp is also federally managed in the Gulf of Mexico (GMFMC Reef Fish FMP, per SEDAR stock assessments), but this record could not source current Gulf-specific season, size, or bag details, or confirm whether the Gulf reef-fish descending-device/venting-tool requirement (which lapsed in January 2026 pending renewal) currently applies in practice - verify both Gulf and South Atlantic current rules before fishing.
Rules for this fish change at a state line and sometimes inside one. Check the ones that apply to the exact water you are standing on before you act on anything here — this record is biology, not permission.
Take this somewhere
This page is the record. The reading is what happens when you add water, a season and a temperature to it — that is where the families below get ranked against each other instead of just listed.
Those three links carry the fish and nothing else. No conditions were declared on this page, so none travel, and the link says so rather than sending an empty reading.
The half nobody publishes
What this record does not know
Everything else on this page comes from a named agency or peer-reviewed source. This is the other side of that: the questions a reviewer went looking for an answer to and came back without, and the fields the record leaves empty because filling them would mean guessing.
It is here rather than at the bottom because a page that only shows what it knows is easy to read as a page that knows everything. For Scamp there are 15 of them.
Named by a reviewer
10Somebody looked for this and wrote down that they did not find it.
- Behaviour
Spawning-window dates disagree between SAFMC (April-May) and FWC ('late spring'); recorded as a discrepancy rather than resolved.
No thermally-driven behavior, current-facing behavior, territoriality, cold-front response, or angling-pressure response was found in a usable source; all omitted rather than inferred.
No Gulf-specific behavioral detail was found separate from the South Atlantic-sourced material above.
- Identification
Whether the elongated fin-ray extensions are sex-linked (i.e., specific to transitioned males) or simply age/size-linked was not resolved by any source found.
No thermal preference or tolerance data (°F) was found for this species in any agency or peer-reviewed source searched; omitted from the catalog record entirely rather than guessed.
FWC's 'commonly caught around 12 in' figure and the 20 in South Atlantic minimum size are in tension and were not reconciled by any source found.
- Forage
No life-stage, seasonal, or ontogenetic diet detail was found beyond the general adult prey list above.
Whether squid/cephalopods (mollusks class) feature in scamp diet, as they do for the closely related gag, was not specifically sourced for scamp and is omitted rather than assumed.
- Season
This record deliberately omits any location, structure-naming, or timing detail about spawning aggregations beyond 'this is a management-closed period' - by design, not because the information doesn't exist.
No Gulf-specific seasonal calendar was found; entries above lean on South Atlantic-sourced regulatory structure and general live-bottom biology that likely also applies in the Gulf, but this is not confirmed Gulf-specific.
Absent from the record
5No reviewer wrote a gap here. The field is simply empty, which is its own answer.
- Water temperature
No agency or peer-reviewed temperature band for Scamp was found that a review would accept. The reading runs without one rather than borrowing a number from a related fish.
- Spawning
No spawning account is recorded. For some species that is a missing source; for others it is deliberate, because the only available account describes an aggregation and naming one is exactly what gets a population fished out.
- Identification
No reviewed image. A photograph is only in this catalog when an agency or a named creator labelled the subject, and nobody has cleared one for this species yet.
- Presentation
No species-specific weighting rule is reviewed for Scamp. Its ranking comes from the shared model — season, temperature, water type, holding and forage — with nothing added for this fish in particular.
- Population context
No regional population profile is registered. The species-level reading stands on its own; it does not silently become a local one.
Where the record puts it
Water and range
Nearshore
3 reviewed holding classes- Nearshore reef
- Rock pile
- Wreck
Offshore
2 reviewed holding classes- Offshore ledge
- Deep wreck
DepthPrefers low-profile, live-bottom habitat in roughly 75-300 ft of water, characterized by dense soft coral and sponge growth; occasionally congregates over wrecks and rocky outcroppings, but live bottom is described as the preferred structure over hard vertical relief.
Moving waterNo agency source found gave a tide- or current-specific preference for this species.
LightNo agency source found made a specific light-response claim for this species; omitted rather than inferred.
Thermal band
Temperature
No reviewed temperature band
Nobody publishes a preferred or active temperature range for Scamp that a review would accept. Borrowing one from a related fish would look like knowledge and behave like a guess, so the reading runs without it and says which parts of the answer that weakens.
How it uses water
Behaviour
Described as a live-bottom resident that occasionally congregates over wrecks and rocky outcroppings rather than a schooling species; no source described adult social structure beyond that.
SAFMC describes scamp as aggressive predators that swallow crabs, shrimp, and other fish whole; FWC describes the diet as small fishes and invertebrates generally.
No agency or peer-reviewed source made a specific day/night feeding claim for this species; recorded as mixed rather than assigned confidently.
CoverLow-profile live bottom with dense soft coral and sponge growth is the preferred structure; wrecks and rocky outcroppings are used occasionally. Scamp are reported co-occurring on this live-bottom habitat with red grouper, white grunt, and red porgy.
Spawning (conservation context)Scamp are protogynous hermaphrodites, transitioning from female to male as they age. They spawn pelagic eggs offshore; SAFMC gives an April-May window, while FWC describes the timing more loosely as 'late spring.' As with other South Atlantic shallow-water grouper, harvest is closed during a defined spawning-season window as a conservation measure. This description is biological and regulatory context only - it does not identify, locate, or describe a spawning aggregation as a structure class to fish.
Where the general rule stops
- Scamp are protogynous hermaphrodites that spawn offshore in aggregations. This record never names, locates, or describes those aggregations as a structure class to fish; the regulatory spawning-season closure is recorded purely as conservation/regulatory fact, not as a timing cue.
What it can eat
Forage
- Small forage fish
- Crustaceans
SAFMC describes scamp as aggressive predators that will swallow crabs, shrimp, and other fish whole; FWC describes the diet more generally as small fishes and invertebrates. Diet capacity is not evidence of a current feeding event.
- Feeding style
- Opportunistic
- Feeding zone
- Benthic
Diet capacity is not proof that a feeding event is happening now. Observed current forage still comes from a user observation or Hatch Match, never from this record alone.
Through the year
Season
Winter
- Where they sit
- Low-profile live-bottom habitat and adjacent nearshore/offshore reef, ledge, and wreck structure.
What would count against it
- fishing without checking whether the current-year South Atlantic closure is in effect
Falls within the South Atlantic's January 1-April 30 shallow-water-grouper spawning-season closure. This is a regulatory/conservation fact, not a timing cue.
Early spring
- Where they sit
- Low-profile live-bottom habitat and adjacent reef/ledge/wreck structure.
What would count against it
- targeting a spawning aggregation or treating aggregation structure as a class to fish
Continued South Atlantic spawning-season closure period; SAFMC's reported spawning window (April-May) and FWC's ('late spring') both begin around or after this point.
Spring
- Where they sit
- Low-profile live-bottom habitat and adjacent reef/ledge/wreck structure.
What would count against it
- targeting a spawning aggregation or treating aggregation structure as a class to fish
- assuming the season is open without checking the current-year rule
SAFMC's reported spawning window (April-May); South Atlantic closure runs through April 30 in the cited structure. This is conservation context only.
Summer
- Where they sit
- Low-profile live-bottom habitat, occasional wrecks and rocky outcroppings, and nearshore/offshore reef and ledge structure.
What that changesBottom contact, drop presentation, structure vertical, and deep drop over reviewed nearshore/offshore reef, ledge, and wreck classes, where the season is open.
What would count against it
- fishing without a rigged descending device where required
- assuming a Gulf or South Atlantic season is open without checking the current-year rule
Fall
- Where they sit
- Low-profile live-bottom habitat and adjacent reef/ledge/wreck structure.
What that changesBottom contact, drop presentation, structure vertical, and deep drop over reviewed structure classes, where the season is open.
What would count against it
- assuming season status carries over from the prior year without checking current rules
No spawning account is recorded. Sometimes that means no source was found. Sometimes it means the only available account describes an aggregation, and this catalog does not write those down.
Telling it apart
Identification
What to look at
- Pronounced anal and soft dorsal fin-ray extensions in mature specimens, producing elongated caudal-fin lobes.
- Head profile is more concave than gag's.
- Tan-to-grayish-brown body covered with sharply defined, well-separated dark or reddish-brown spots roughly 1/8 in across, sometimes grouped into rosettes.
- Yellow coloration is limited to the corners of the mouth - the key field distinction from the closely related yellowmouth grouper, which shows yellow both inside and at the corners of the mouth.
- Average adult length
- FWC describes common catches around 12 in, well below the documented maximum size below - a wide gap between the 'commonly caught' figure and the maximum that this record reports rather than resolves.
- Common angling size
- Legal fish must meet the 20 in TL South Atlantic minimum size where that rule applies; FWC's commonly-caught figure (about 12 in) is below that minimum and likely reflects undersized/released fish or a different regional dataset.
- Typical weight
- Not clearly sourced as distinct from the maximum-size figures below.
- Maximum documented
- Up to about 43 in and 36 lb (SAFMC); FWC gives a maximum near 42 in, with the Florida state record standing at 28 lb 6 oz.
- Longevity
- May live up to about 30 years; the oldest documented age recorded was 21 years (SAFMC).
What it gets confused with
- Yellowmouth grouper (Mycteroperca interstitialis)
- Yellowmouth grouper shows yellow coloration both inside and at the corners of the mouth; scamp shows yellow only at the mouth corners.
- Gag grouper
- Scamp has a more concave head profile, pronounced elongated soft dorsal/anal fin rays, and a body covered in sharply defined dark spots - gag lacks the spotted pattern and has a less concave profile.
What follows from all of that
Presentation families
Nearshore
Bottom contact
Keep a bait on or just above the substrate along a break, flat, or inside a weed edge.
- feel bottom
- drag or hop
- pause on the break
- stay in contact
What it asks of the tackle
- Depth control
- High
- Sensitivity
- High
- Casting distance
- Moderate
- Weight range
- 1/8–1/2 oz
- Cover resistance
- High
- Line visibility
- Low
- Retie frequency
- High
Drop presentation
Let a bait fall on a controlled line into cover, along a wall, or through a hole in vegetation.
- place then fall
- watch the line
- hold at depth
- short hop only after the fall
What it asks of the tackle
- Depth control
- High
- Sensitivity
- High
- Casting distance
- Short
- Weight range
- 1/16–3/8 oz
- Cover resistance
- High
- Line visibility
- Low
- Retie frequency
- High
Structure vertical
Hold a presentation in the water column directly over hard structure and stay there as the boat moves.
- stay vertical
- hold the depth band
- short lifts
- reset when the line angles
What it asks of the tackle
- Depth control
- High
- Sensitivity
- High
- Casting distance
- None
- Weight range
- 2–16 oz
- Cover resistance
- High
- Line visibility
- Secondary
- Retie frequency
- High
Vertical jig
Work a compact bait up and down through a marked depth, basin, or timber pocket.
- stay over the target
- measured lift
- controlled drop
- watch slack
What it asks of the tackle
- Depth control
- High
- Sensitivity
- High
- Casting distance
- Vertical
- Weight range
- 1/8–3/4 oz
- Cover resistance
- Moderate
- Line visibility
- Low
- Retie frequency
- Moderate
Live / natural bait suspension
Present a natural food form with enough life or scent to hold in a station without looking mechanical.
- keep it alive or fresh
- match the holding depth
- minimize hardware bulk
- detect without pulling it away
What it asks of the tackle
- Depth control
- High
- Sensitivity
- High
- Casting distance
- Short to moderate
- Weight range
- As light as conditions allow
- Cover resistance
- Moderate
- Line visibility
- Low
- Retie frequency
- High
Offshore
Vertical jig
Work a compact bait up and down through a marked depth, basin, or timber pocket.
- stay over the target
- measured lift
- controlled drop
- watch slack
What it asks of the tackle
- Depth control
- High
- Sensitivity
- High
- Casting distance
- Vertical
- Weight range
- 1/8–3/4 oz
- Cover resistance
- Moderate
- Line visibility
- Low
- Retie frequency
- Moderate
Deep drop
Put bait on the bottom in water deep enough that the drop itself is most of the work.
- heavy enough to go straight down
- know when you are down
- short lift to check
- wind steadily
What it asks of the tackle
- Depth control
- High
- Sensitivity
- Low
- Casting distance
- None
- Weight range
- 8–48 oz
- Cover resistance
- Moderate
- Line visibility
- Secondary
- Retie frequency
- Moderate
Suspended stationary
Park a live or scent bait in the column where fish are already using a depth band.
- find the band
- hold it
- minimal motion
- refresh bait
What it asks of the tackle
- Depth control
- High
- Sensitivity
- Moderate
- Casting distance
- Short to vertical
- Weight range
- Sinker as needed
- Cover resistance
- Low
- Line visibility
- Low
- Retie frequency
- Moderate
Live-bait slow troll
Move live bait just fast enough to cover water while it still swims naturally.
- barely-moving speed
- bait leads the boat
- let it swim
- drop back on a follow
What it asks of the tackle
- Depth control
- Moderate
- Sensitivity
- High
- Casting distance
- None
- Weight range
- Unweighted to 4 oz
- Cover resistance
- Low
- Line visibility
- Low
- Retie frequency
- Moderate
Chum-established drift
Establish a scent trail and drift baits back through it at the speed the current is already moving.
- consistent trail
- unweighted or lightly weighted drop-back
- match the sink to the drift
- do not outpace the trail
What it asks of the tackle
- Depth control
- Low
- Sensitivity
- High
- Casting distance
- None
- Weight range
- Unweighted to 2 oz
- Cover resistance
- Low
- Line visibility
- Low
- Retie frequency
- Moderate
What moves them for this fish
No species-specific rule is reviewed for Scamp. Its ranking comes from the shared model — season, temperature, water type, holding water, forage — with nothing added for this fish in particular. That is a gap, not a claim that nothing is special about it.
Where every sentence came from
Sources
Agency
SAFMC - Grouper, Scamp species page
Used for habitat, thermal band and presentation families; identification; behaviour; forage; season. Read 2026-08-30, next check 2026-11-27.
Agency
FWC - Scamp species profile
Used for habitat, thermal band and presentation families; identification; behaviour; forage; season. Read 2026-08-30, next check 2026-11-27.
Agency
SEDAR 68 - Gulf of Mexico Scamp Grouper Operational Assessment
Used for habitat, thermal band and presentation families. Read 2026-08-27, next check 2026-11-27.
A source with no link predates the rule that one has to carry a URL. It is still a real citation and still checkable; it just takes a search rather than a click, and that is worth knowing before you rely on it.