Lake Montauk

Coordinates: 41°04′07″N 71°55′41″W / 41.068675°N 71.92800°W

Fiberglass copy of 3,427 pound (1,554 kg) Great White Shark caught off Montauk and brought into the harbor by Frank Mundus

Lake Montauk is a 900-acre (360 ha) embayment in Montauk, New York that is home to the largest commercial and sporting fish fleets in the state of New York.

History

The lake (originally referred to on maps as Lake Wyandanch and commonly referred to as the "Great Lake") was a freshwater lake until 1927 when Carl Fisher blasted a hole on the northern shoreline to connect it to Block Island Sound and the open waters of the Atlantic Ocean.^[1] Before the entrance to Montauk Harbor was created, the Great Lake was the largest body of freshwater on Long Island, more than double the size of Lake Ronkonkoma.^[2]

Fisher's efforts were intended to use the lake as the port of his planned development to turn Montauk into the "Miami Beach of the North." On Star Island, a small island in the lake, he built the Montauk Yacht Club and Star Island Casino. His other projects included Montauk Manor, Montauk Playhouse, Montauk Downs golf course, and the six-story Montauk tower. Fisher renamed the lake Lake Montauk.

After Fisher opened and dredged the lake, the lake replaced Fort Pond Bay as Montauk's main port (Fort Pond Bay is notoriously shallow and rocky with one of its more famous groundings being the HMS Culloden during the American Revolution).

Fisher's enterprises went bankrupt following the Crash of 1929. The U.S. Navy took over the lake during World War II along with other Fisher businesses including the Montauk Manor.

After World War II, the lake boomed with commercial and sports fishing, and became New York's largest fishing port.^[3]

Today

The Montauk Coast Guard Station on Star Island

The charters at Montauk lay claim to 25 world records for biggest fish^[4] including a 76-pound (34 kg) striped bass.

Montauk has several shark tournaments with boat operator Frank Mundus often being reported in stories as the source for the character Quint in Jaws (film) (Jaws author Peter Benchley's denials of this has not altered the myth). Mundus reputation is encouraged by catching a 4,500 pound (2,040 kg) great white shark by harpoon and a 3,427 pound (1,554 kg) great white by rod and reel.

A proposal in the 1970s called for damming Fisher's access to the Sound and instead building a canal through the former Montaukett Indian Field and Big Reed Pond for a new outlet onto the Sound. The plan called for construction of more than 1,000 houses along the new waterway. Intense local opposition organized by Hilda Lindley stopped the plan.^[5] Suffolk County took over the property and it is now Theodore Roosevelt County Park (formerly Montauk County Park).

Among the businesses on the lake is the only ferry service in East Hampton town. It offers service in the summer to Block Island, Martha's Vineyard and New London, Connecticut.^[6]

The Coast Guard also operates on Star Island. The Montauk Airport is on the east side of the lake, on East Lake Drive.

References

1. Rattiner, Dan (December 4, 2009). "Taking the Beach Private in Lake Montauk". Dan's Papers. Retrieved 2010-01-31.
2. Penny, Larry (February 4, 2010). "Lake Needs a Flush". The East Hampton Star. Retrieved 2010-02-06.
3. Gall, Ken (Fall–Winter 1994), Montauk - New York's Largest Fishing Port, New York's Seafood Council, retrieved 2010-01-31
4. "Fishing - Montak's Lifeblood". Montauk Life. Retrieved 2010-01-31.
5. Porco, Jane Powers (2005). "1". Holding Back the Tide: The Thirty-Five Year Struggle to Save Montauk (PDF). Sag Harbor: Harbor Electronic Publishing. ISBN 1-932916-05-9. Retrieved 2010-01-31.
6. "Viking Fleet Interstate Fast Ferry". VikingFleet.com. Retrieved 2012-08-20.