Just about anyone who fishes out of Moriches Inlet knows about the Moriches Reef. Or for that matter, they are also acquainted with The Shinnecock and Fire Island Reefs as well. Surprisingly however, when I mention the 12-Mile Reef, I always get that strange look of what you are talking about. If you also fall into that mystifying category, allow me to explain. The 12- Mile Reef is an 850 acre reef located in 125 to 150 of water 12-nautical miles south of Moriches Inlet (40.37.250/72.32.250). Considering the acreage of the reef, there really isn’t that much material scattered throughout the area. As of this writing there are two 102 foot tow vessels, 16 steel center beam railcars, several tiers of tires cast on concrete and hundreds of galvanized pipe scattered among the reef. NYDEC plans on dropping more material across the young reef that was established in 2019.
The reef is chock full of red hake all year long and are extremely abundant with fish, up to 5 pounds. Cod fishing has been quite good for the past two seasons with late December through pretty much the entire month of January. February and March sees sporadic cod fishing with ling and even a few silver hake mixed in.
Hi/lo rigs baited with clams are ideal for the hake while a super sharp Gamakatsu 5/0 Octopus hook on a Dropper Loop chest high is best for the cod. The area can, at times, be infested with dogfish therefore a 5/0 hook fished 3 to 4 feet off the bottom will cut down on the catch of doggies while putting the baited hook in the codfish zone. Speaking of bait, while skimmer clams are an easy and effective bait to employ on the cod, I find the 6-inch Gulp Swimming Mullet in pink, glow, and chartreuse extremely effective versus the clam.
May through August its sea bass and loads of them ranging from shorts to 5 pounds. This species is not picky as far as what they eat. Clams on hi/lo rigs is always reliable, however, 2 to 3-ounce diamond jigs with a chartreuse 3-inch Swimming Mullet Gulp or a Fishbites chartreuse EZ Bait produces like no other it seems.
September and October is mixed bag time as on the bottom, sea bass, porgies, triggerfish, red hake and sculpin come off the bottom while frequent visits of big bluefish, false albacore and a few Mahi and Spanish mackerel often find their way onto the boat. Although they must be released in the month of November, some of the biggest and most numerous fluke are migrating through as they work their way to the warm Gulfstream waters at the Continental Shelf for the winter season. November still sees good sea bass fishing along with some of the biggest bluefish of the year caught from this area. Jumbo porgies can still be had but not in the numbers from the previous month.
As for blackfish, it’s a catch 22 since by the time blackfish come to settle here, they’re just about ready to go into hibernation for the winter as it is rare for a tautog to travel beyond 150 feet of water. Personally, I have never done well with tog this far off the beach. I’ve caught tog real good on the Virginia and Oregon wrecks, but very few at the 12-Mile Reef. Hopefully the NYDEC will continue to participate with the building up this reef and all the other reefs that line the South Shore of Long Island. Lord knows we have plenty of space available.
