Moriches Inlet still funneling bass at night, but the sandbar's rewriting the drift

Let's talk about what the inlet's actually doing right now, because it's not the same inlet it was in May. Moriches cuts a new channel every few years and this spring's weather did some quiet reshaping — the east bar off Cupsogue has built out further than it was in April, which means the main scour hole that used to sit dead center of the throat has migrated west, tighter to the Westhampton side jetty rocks. If you've been fishing the old sweet spot and coming up empty, that's why. The water's still ripping through there on a big tide, but the deepest, coldest lane — the one holding bait and bass — has shifted maybe forty yards. I've marked it three trips running now, running 14 to 17 feet at the throat on the ebb, versus the 10-12 foot flat that's out there on the east side.

Tide-wise we came off a quarter moon this past week, which kept the swings modest — good for boat control at the cut but not enough push to really flush the back bay hard. That's changing. We're building toward fuller tides again over the next several days, and bigger water through Moriches Inlet means two things: faster current in the throat pulling bait through in tighter windows, and more exchange flushing peanut bunker and spearing out of the bay proper. Wind's been mostly out of the south and southwest through the week, which stacks a little chop against the ebb at the inlet mouth but hasn't been enough to blow the place out. If that holds into the weekend, the moving-water windows around the turn of the tide should stay fishable and worth planning around.

Striper fishing has genuinely been strong after dark, and I'm not overselling that. Guys running live spot on fish-finder rigs, 2 to 4 ounces depending on the stage of tide, drifting the cut from the east jetty rocks down through the throat on the outgoing, have connected on real fish — I've heard of stripers well into the 30s and better coming out of there in the last two weeks, mostly on the last two hours of ebb into the start of the flood, working the 12-to-17-foot lane I mentioned. Bunker spoons and umbrella rigs trolled just outside the bar in 20 feet have also produced, particularly at first light before the boat traffic stacks up. Daytime bass fishing is tougher — the fish are there but they're pressed down and picky, so if you're going in daylight, bucktails with a curly-tail trailer worked slow along bottom in the deepest part of the scour is your best shot, not the swimming plugs that work at night.

Fluke have been a mixed bag, and I want to be straight about that instead of dressing it up. The bay-side drifts off Tuthill Point and out toward the Smith Point flats have given up keepers, but you're working for them — three or four fish in the box after a full afternoon of drifting is a normal outcome right now, not a bad one. White Gulp Swimming Mullets on 3/4-ounce bucktails, tipped with a strip of squid, dragged slow over the sand-to-grass edges in 8 to 14 feet, has been the most consistent combo. The better fish, the ones pushing 4 and 5 pounds, are coming from just inside the inlet itself where the current sweeps bait through a narrow deep cut — but that spot gets crowded fast on a good tide, so get there early or fish it on a stage nobody wants, like dead low.

Bluefish have been showing in typical July fashion — snapping through the bay in waves, mostly smaller harbor blues, but with occasional cocktail-sized fish mixed in off Cupsogue on the outside. Diamond jigs and Ava 17s worked with a fast retrieve through visible surface activity will get you into them. Weakfish are the story I'm watching most closely right now. We've had a scattering of keeper-class weakfish coming out of the deeper holes in the back bay near Tuthill Point on the last hour of the incoming, on soft plastics fished slow near bottom — nothing like the old-school Moriches weakfish runs from twenty years back, but enough fish showing on light tackle in the evening that it's worth a couple hours if you're in the area. Porgies remain a dependable bread-and-butter fish around the bay's deeper holes and the inlet rocks, bloodworms or clam on a hi-lo rig, and they'll keep the rod bent even on a slow bass day.

Cupsogue surf has been giving up bass and blues to guys walking the beach at first and last light, working bucktails and metal into the wash where the cuts form off the bar. That surf bite depends entirely on the sandbar staying put day to day, and right now it isn't — so what worked last Tuesday might be a sandbar away from producing this weekend. Walk it, watch where the water's discoloring and pushing bait, and fish that seam rather than a spot you remember from last month.

Looking ahead, if the tides keep building through the week like they should off this moon cycle, I'd put my money on the inlet throat continuing to produce bass after dark, with the better daytime window being that hour around the tide change when the current slacks just enough for bucktails to get down. If the wind swings more southerly and stiffens, I'd shift effort into the back bay for weakfish and fluke rather than fight a sloppy inlet. Either way, check the bar before you commit to a spot — this inlet doesn't sit still for long, and neither should you.