Members & Friends,

Dave Pollack has added some new info on the Charleston Breachway fishing area, where we will hold our July 15th fishing get-together.

I have never been there, so Dave offered some tips about entering the Charleston Area. Seems there’s a fee to enter the state park, but not after 4Pm. So for those who don’t want to pay the fee, plan to arrive after 4Pm and follow Dave’s suggestions below.

Sorry for the confusion. Maybe it will be cloudy or rainy, so we won’t have to fight the beach crowd, too! Also no charcoal grills!

Hope to see you there.

Thanks for your patience.

Peter Nilsen

To get to the breachway you take Charlestown Beach Road to the very end – it makes a sharp right turn and runs south along the bay (houses on both sides of the road) and ends at the entry booths. Regular parking is straight ahead. Parking for campers and the like is on the right, that’s also where the boat ramp is. I’ve usually driven in to the camper/boat ramp area and parked there but over the last two years I’ve been told to stay out unless I have a camper there or am towing a boat trailer. Thus, for our outing we will be in the regular ‘straight ahead’ area.

Entering the breachway requires a payment for entry unless you have a pass or get there after 4 PM (I called the Breachway office to make sure on that). Also, the main parking area, where we will have to set up, can be very crowded when folks are on the beach in good weather. Thus, I would not plan to begin setting up earlier than 5 pm and you might want to move the time back a bit. The authorities will not object to propane stoves.

As for the fishing, I do not stand on jetties or rocks any more. At the Charlestown Breachway I step into the water at the boat ramp and then work my way down towards the point where the breachway enters into Ninigret Pond. The best fishing usually starts at the spot where the Breachway splits, main channel on the left and smaller channel, making Wards Island into an island, on the right. It is possible to wade across that channel if you are familiar with it and are careful, and then you can continue along the breachway and right into Ninigret Pond, but I wouldn’t advise anyone to attempt that unless he or she knows the area or is with someone who does. I don’t plan to try it at high tide.

While the breachway entrance is not really fly fishing friendly, there can be very easy, and good, fly fishing along the beach itself, especially at high tide. Last Fall the pocket formed where the beach reaches the north side of the breachway entrance was sometimes very productive. The issue will be the folks on the beach and if the weather is good there are likely to be many swimmers and sunbathers and kids with a first claim to the waters.

Dave