Even though we had a limit of redfish in Jason Shilling’s boat, my son Matthew still wanted something more pulling on his line.
Having used Harvey Cut as a back-up plan before, Shilling knew exactly where to go.
Harvey Cut connects Turtle Bay to the south with Bayou Rigolets to the north. It averages about 25 feet deep all the way through but comes up to 4 or 5 feet on the south side by Turtle Bay.
Shilling believes big redfish and black drum invade Harvey Cut during the summer to get out of hot water.
“You get bull reds and black drum in here,” Shilling told us as we began casting heavy Carolina-rigged shrimp upcurrent. “Most days, you’ll catch one for one — one redfish and one black drum.”
The current was ripping so hard because of the high tidal range, so we had to cast way upcurrent. Allowing the current to wash our rigs back to us and past us, black drum picked up our shrimp just about the time the current took the slack out of our lines.
“For the most part, the fish hang out on this south end of the cut at the rip ledge,” Shilling explained while helping my son land a heavy black drum. “They kind of stage here where they can eat the bait that comes up the ridge.”
Depending on the current, Shilling rigs up with anything from a 1-ounce sinker to a 3-ounce sinker and leaves about a 2-foot leader to complete his Carolina rig.
If Harvey Cut is packed with anglers, Shilling suggested giving Little Temple Canal just to the west of Harvey Cut a try. Little Temple connects the bottom of Bayou Perot with Little Lake, and it attracts big reds and black drum for the same reasons as Harvey Cut.
