No need to be in the channel, certainly at night time. If the fish are around they're more likely to be in tighter to shore anyway...
Best best is to anchor near some structure and drift chunks of the freshest pogie you can find (bunker to you Joieseys
). Weigted and unweighted. AFTER (a big AFTER) you learn the rocks & water & drift/current patterns, you can drift these areas. But you really need to know the area first so you don't punch a hole in the boat.