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Brian Doty Outdoors
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THE LAND CUT
As one travels south in the Laguna Madre, six miles south of Baffin Bay the Laguna Madre seems to narrow down. Elsewhere the Lagoon is notable for the vast expanses that it presents, especially in the area where it begins at Corpus Christi Bay all the way south to Baffin Bay. But as you pass Baffin going south the land masses on either side come together and squeeze the waterway down to a narrow passage. This is the Land Cut. This twenty-six mile long corridor gives the impression of a long, straight, river.
The bank on the west side is vast mudflats, and ranchland of the Kennedy and King ranches. The east side is formed by spoil islands that are the product of dumped dredge material when the Cut was originally constructed decades ago. Behind them is an area of very shallow grassflats called "The Graveyard". Beyond this is the sand dunes on Padre Island. Click here for Aerial view.
If, upon first glance, you develop the impression that it is a canal, this is warranted, because that's exactly what it is. The Gulf Intracoastal Waterway was cut throuth the Laguna Madre until this area of tidal mudflats was encountered, at which time the Corps of Engineers cut through the area to reach the Lower Laguna Madre, 26 miles south. (thus the name Land Cut!)
The reason this area attracts so much attention from anglers is because it produces large catches of large fish!
Some believe it is because, as can be seen by the aerial view, the Land Cut is a virtual bottleneck for constantly migrating marine life.
Trout and Redfish (and practically all other marine fishes) are always on the move from one bay system to another, and to the Gulf of Mexico and back. The Land Cut is a great thoroughfare for this marine traffic and fishermen consistently do well fishing the grassline and adjoining drop-off.
The usual approach for fishermen is to anchor so that the boat rest at a point directly above the bottom of the slope. This allows bait cast at the edge of the grassline to fall down the slope cleanly until fish are encountered. Sometimes the fish appear at the shallow grassline, sometimes they congregate at points that are deeper. The trout at right is an example of what can be harvested using this technique. Note in the background is the west bank of the Land Cut with the grassline, shallows and dry mud flats. The boat in the photo is anchored in 15 feet of water.
Some places in the cut tend to be especially productive for trout and redfish. This is because the slope from the shallow grassline to the 15 ft. deep bottom of the canal, at some points, holds rocks that are identical to the ones that fill Baffin Bay. This causes the fish to congregate in parts of the Land Cut, just as it does in Baffin Bay. And, just as in Baffin Bay, it is a good idea to depend on help from the professional guides at Bluff's Landing Marina in order to assure an exciting day discovering this great fishery.
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