Fishing before the causeway was built

At the meeting of the Seaford Historical Society, November 6, 2008, Fred Roth and others discussed fishing in the bay. The topic included references to previous generations and, in particular, the condition of the bay before the Wantagh Causeway to Jones Beach was constructed (1928?). If my notes are correct, there existed an inlet, Zach's Inlet, near present Zach's Bay. It could get fairly shallow, so most of the ocean-going boats used Jones Inlet, which has moved west over the years since the 1920's, due to the shifting sands. Much of the sand on which Ocean Parkway east of the water tower was constructed was taken from the bay, and thus the State Channel (parallel to Ocean Parkway) was dredged for the sand. Some sand for the causeway was taken from a sandpit near the present Washington Avenue Park, Seaford, but the appearance of the water table in that pit limited that supply. The terms "East Bay" and "West Bay" predate the causeway, as the waterways of the bay allowed only one route, The Run, between the two bays. By the way, each island, each channel had some name or other, and these names rather than buoys were used in conversation about where one was going or had been. I think I heard it said that the count of island houses is about 28 now, down from hundreds in the old days. Corrections are welcome to the address on the right.