Montauk Fishing JournalMontauk, New York

Guide · October 1, 2026

Lake Montauk and the Inlet: A Primer on Montauk Harbor

How a brackish pond became the harbor for New York's biggest fishing fleet, where the party and charter boats tie up today, what the Army Corps' channel-deepening project involves, and which tide station and marine forecasts cover the harbor.

By Montauk Fishing Journal editors

Most people who fish from Montauk call the harbor just that, "the harbor." On charts and town maps it's Lake Montauk. The name is a leftover from the century before last, when the harbor was a pond. Knowing a little of how it got here helps explain where the boats are, why the inlet matters, and why the Army Corps of Engineers keeps coming back to dig.

From Great Pond to Lake Montauk

The Montauk Library's local-history archive tells the story, drawing on newspaper accounts and photographs from the 1920s. Before then, the body of water was Great Pond, also called Lake Wyandanch, "one of the largest freshwater lakes on Long Island." The library quotes a 1970s history of the South Fork describing it as "brackish and only occasionally open to salt water." The library also notes a Town Meeting vote from 1684 appointing 16 men "to help the Indians open the Great Pond at the north end." The records don't say why.

The modern harbor was built by the developer Carl Fisher, who wanted to make Montauk into what the library calls "a Miami Beach of the North." In November 1925, a local paper reported that Fisher's engineers had "dug a channel from Great Pond to Block Island Sound, and the pond was drained last week. In two hours it fell 11 inches." An easterly storm closed that first cut. A blueprint from 1926 in the library's collection shows the permanent plan: "a yacht channel 250 feet wide and 15 feet deep," with jetties protecting the entrance. The library's photographs include the "final cut" in 1927 and dredging at the inlet in 1928. Fisher renamed the pond Lake Montauk. The library says the harbor "went on to become the home of the largest commercial and sportfishing fleets in New York State."

The library says the channel Fisher cut is the same one the Corps of Engineers still dredges. Today it's called Montauk Inlet, where Lake Montauk meets Block Island Sound on Montauk's north shore.

The harbor's early decades weren't gentle. The National Weather Service's history of the 1938 hurricane records that on Long Island "Montauk was an island temporarily" and that the "fishing industry" was "wiped out." The storm made landfall near Bellport as a Category 3 on Sept. 21, 1938.

The channel today: an Army Corps project

The inlet channel is a federal navigation project maintained by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in partnership with the Town of East Hampton. The library's February 2025 post mentions that the Corps had dredged the inlet the week before.

The Corps has also announced a larger project. According to its New York District, a contract was awarded on Sept. 18, 2025 to deepen the Lake Montauk Harbor channel to 17 feet at mean lower low water, up from 12 feet, with construction to begin in fall 2025. The plan places sandy dredged material "onto the eroded shoreline directly west of the inlet jetty" and moves excavated channel rock to a state offshore reef. An earlier update named the Mattituck Artificial Reef site. The Corps says the deeper channel "will help ensure continued safe access for commercial, recreational, and Coast Guard vessels." Check the Corps' project page for current status.

Where the fleets tie up

Two parts of the harbor matter most to someone booking a fishing trip:

West Lake Drive, along the harbor's western shore, is home to most of the open-boat fleet. The operators list these addresses:

  • Viking Fleet: 462 West Lake Drive. Home of the Viking Star, Viking Starship, Viking Starlite and Viking Fivestar. Viking also runs a "seasonal interstate passenger fast ferry service" from Montauk, and describes its 120-foot ferry, the Viking Superstar, as "custom designed ... for the waters of Montauk."
  • Ebb Tide II: 470 West Lake Drive.
  • Lazybones: 474 W Lake Dr.
  • Miss Montauk II: Montauk Marine Basin, 426 West Lake Dr. The boat says it's docked "past the fuel dock in front of the store." That store sells ice, snacks and tackle, according to Miss Montauk II's what-to-bring page.

Star Island sits in the middle of the harbor. The library's archive includes a 1928 photograph of it "when it had only recently been connected to the mainland." Today it hosts the Fin Chaser II, which lists "Jun-Nov: 59 Star Island Rd.," and the Montauk Star, which lists Star Island Yacht Club, 53 Star Island Rd.

For directions to the West Lake Drive docks, Miss Montauk II's location page gives this route. Take Route 27 east into town, go around the traffic circle, and head north on Edgemere Road past the Long Island Rail Road station. After a couple of miles you reach a stop sign at the harbor.

Our party-boat guide covers trips, fares and rules at each of these boats.

The shore side of the harbor

Three Town of East Hampton sites sit on the harbor itself. All three are "at your own risk" beaches under town rules.

  • East Lake Beach, known as Gin Beach, 555 East Lake Drive, is "at the end of East Lake Drive." The town lists a lifeguard-protected bay beach in summer (swimming 10 a.m.–5 p.m. when guards are on duty), ADA-accessible restrooms open mid-May through mid-October, and vehicle beach access with a town permit. Parking requires a Town of East Hampton parking permit.
  • West Lake Drive, 487 West Lake Drive, is a small town site on the fleet side of the harbor. It has ADA-accessible restrooms open year-round. Swimming is prohibited. Check with the Town before you park.
  • South Lake Beach, at the end of South Lake Drive, has picnic tables and restrooms. Swimming is prohibited, and parking requires a town permit.

Our shore-access guide covers permits and the town's other Montauk sites.

A caution about the inlet. It's a working channel used by commercial boats, party boats, ferries and private boats. People who fish from the shore near the jetties should stay well clear of boat traffic and of wet, weed-covered rock. Boaters should know that conditions at the mouth can change quickly with wind against tide. Check posted signs and current Town and Corps notices before you go.

Tides and forecasts for the harbor

Tides. NOAA's tide station for the area is "Montauk," station 8510560. NOAA's metadata lists it as established in 1947, with the station's position at about 41.048° N, 71.959° W, and ties it to NOAA nautical chart 13209. Our Tides page pulls its predictions. For the week of Sept. 27–Oct. 4, 2026, NOAA predicts high tides of roughly 1.9 to 2.9 feet above mean lower low water there.

Marine forecasts. Because Montauk sits where three bodies of water meet, it falls at the edge of three National Weather Service forecast zones, run by two different forecast offices:

  • ANZ350, "Moriches Inlet NY to Montauk Point NY out 20 NM," from NWS New York (Upton). This covers the ocean side.
  • ANZ237, "Block Island Sound," from NWS Boston/Norton. This covers the water off the inlet and the route to Block Island.
  • ANZ340, "Peconic and Gardiners Bays," from NWS New York. This covers the bays west of the harbor.

On Sept. 27, 2026, during the nor'easter, the three zones carried a storm warning (ANZ350), a gale warning until noon (ANZ237) and a gale warning through the afternoon (ANZ340). That's a good reminder that the harbor can be calm while the ocean off the Point is not. Anyone heading out should read the zone that matches where they'll actually be.

How we reported this. We compiled this primer on Sept. 27, 2026 from the Montauk Library's local-history archive, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' New York District project page, the National Weather Service (1938 hurricane history and current coastal forecasts), NOAA's Montauk tide station, the Town of East Hampton's beach pages, and the dock addresses published by each boat operator. Nobody on our staff visited the harbor for this piece. Corrections are welcome, and we'll note any changes.

Sources (all accessed Sept. 27, 2026)

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