DUCK AND COVER

Is the perfect name for a fly fishing instructional facility like this. It is a Horse and cattle ranch 15 minutes west of Katy Mills mall.

John Gibson    Jim and John

The ranch has Clydesdale and Belgian work horses, Zebra, several types of cattle, ducks, swans and pheasants. It has a bed and breakfast in a hundred year old farm house, with a view of a lake and covered dock.

The ranch has a few lakes for fishing but one is a beautiful lake specifically designed for flyfishing. There are finger points all around the lake that allows a walking angler to fish almost all the water and structure in the lake. John Gibson, the owner has spent all his time at the ranch making it one of the best lakes I have ever had the privilege to fish. The lake has it's own well to keep the water level the same year around. And during a recent survey was found to have 25,000 pounds of Bass,  Blue Gills, and Hybrid Sunfish. He has put timber and concrete culverts for structure and all are within casting distance from various places on the lake. 

John has a meeting facility that is awesome. The meeting room has leather chairs and a big screen TV to watch flyfishing videos. There is a fly tying bench as a small fly shop to pick up last minute items. He has a pool, sauna, shower and hot tub and a great open yard area for casting practice. 

But an institution like this is also staffed with some of the best flyfishing instructors Texas has to offer. With over 80 years fishing and flyfishing experience between them, these men have the knowledge and skill to take the beginner to a level where flyfishing is fun and productive in 1 or 2 lessons.

The goal of the Duck and Cover is to teach people the joys of flyfishing in a luxury environment. It is the premier fly fishing workshop in Texas and one of the best in the world.

Jim and I got the chance to tour the Ranch and fish the lake last weekend and boy is it nice. Starting with a 6 wt I started on the east end of the lake and went clockwise around. I have an injury to my casting wrist so kept the fly size small for bass and started catching fish. My first 2 were small bass under 12 inches but they were very healthy and strong. I then hit a Blue gill spawning area and hooked 8 about 1 pound each. They were the biggest I have caught in years. By the time I got to the West end of the lake I had figured out the pattern, a crystal bugger in olive was making the bass hit hard with almost every cast to structure. I hooked a 2 1/2 pound bass that was so clean and healthy I thought it was an aquarium fish. The water was clear and areas were as deep as 20 feet and many places you could wade fish. 

    Jim with a 2 1/2 pound bass               Jim and a nice sunfish

Unfortunately we fished a very stormy day and had to stop for the lightning several times during the afternoon. During the breaks John took us around the ranch to meet the animals and see the sites.

    You can see the weather was getting bad   

When we got back to the truck I changed to my 1 wt and went the same direction I had started. I caught 18 more blue gill and giant sunfish before I called Jim at the other side of the lake so he could get in on the fun. Jim put his 8wt away and came back with a 4 wt. Both of us had a great time fighting the big sunfish. Most were 8 or 9 inches long and many 1 1/2 pounds. John said many sunfish are over 3 pounds and he has some bass that are 12 to 14 pounds. The majority of the bass are around 5 to 7 pounds. Because of the weather we had to cut our fishing short so did not get to see a big sunfish or bass this trip. I am counting the days till I get invited back. I may even be a guest instructor sometime this year.

   Blue Gill     Sun Fish

I will add pictures of what we caught when the film gets developed.

Mark