The Breach at Old Inlet - The Fisherman

The Breach at Old Inlet

2018 11 The Breach Ao Old Inlet Catch

I haven’t seen an aerial shot yet but my understanding is the breach/old inlet got much bigger. Last year I was stupid enough to try and fish the mouth of the breach. I had to turn around due to the draft (22 inches) of my boat. So I settled on the next best thing. I fished the very clear clean water that flows around the breach. The breach is much closer to my canal than Fire Island Inlet. So last year when brown tide appeared in the back bays very early in the season I decided to try to find cleaner water that was close to my house. So I headed east with a buddy of mine and we struck gold. We found clean water that was filled with life. We quickly grabbed our gear and within seconds we were both hooked up. For the next few hours we caught 8- to 12-pound bluefish on just about every cast with an occasional striped bass mixed in. I would go back to the same area several more times during the month and each time I would leave with sore arms and a big grin on my face. We worked poppers on the southeast side of the breach. We would often find ourselves in 3 feet of water or less. On the southwest side of the breach we did very well on the incoming tide drifting live bunker. With the water being only 3 to 6 feet deep it’s pretty cool seeing bass and blues exploding out of the water chasing the bunker. If you try it on the outgoing tide just make sure you are paying attention to your depth. It gets shallow really quickly. If the bite dies down, and you aren’t ready to call it a day, just head north to the other side of the bay. The clean water at the mouth of the Carmens River will often hold bass and bluefish. Once again you need to be willing to fish skinny water.

2018 11 The Breach Ao Old Inlet Map

I have read many reports from the Shinnecock Star that talked about being able to see the fluke chase your bait when they were fishing in shallow water. Well, seeing it happen is much better than reading about it. If the water is clean you will be amazed at what you will see. If you see that the fluke looks like a short you can actually just move your bait away. I found myself becoming addicted to shallow water fluking. It’s a great spot to go really light with your tackle. Try going with just a single bucktail no more than 1.5 ounces. This area is getting more and more popular. Last year I saw a few party boats from Moriches fishing the area. Besides fluke, keep your eyes open for crabs, skates and sea robins drifting by. To be honest even if you didn’t have a rod with you it would be pretty cool to see all the life under your boat.

If you plan on fishing the breach please be aware of your surroundings. If you attempt to navigate through the inlet during the outgoing tide you are playing with fire. In case you were wondering the boat I tried to get through the inlet was a 28-foot Contender. I draw very little and I was still unable to make it through. I had to turn back after hitting bottom. I’m not saying it can’t be done but please use caution. The breach has certainly become a great spot to fish especially in the spring and fall.

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