RIO GRANDE VALLEY, Texas (ValleyCentral) — Flip Pallot is perhaps the most famous angler in the history of saltwater fly-fishing, but every opening day of White-tailed Deer season you will find him hunting in deep South Texas.
His ESPN show, The Walker’s Cay Chronicles, began in 1992, and during its 15-year run was the highest-rated outdoor show on television.
The native Floridian’s accolades are too many to enumerate, and he continues to fish around the world, except on the first Saturday in November, when you will find him on the Tecomate Ranch, likely preparing an archery blind.
“Steve Shepard said, I understand you love to deer hunt, and I said absolutely, I love to deer hunt. He said, you know I have a ranch, and you ought to just come down to the ranch and hunt with us, we would be happy to have you,” said Pallot.
Since that initial invite years ago, the Starr County ranch has become a favorite destination for the legendary outdoorsman.
“It has been a treat for me once a year for the last 15 years or so…it has become another home for me,” he said.
As Pallot readily acknowledges, there is just something special about the chaparral of southernmost Texas.
“There is a sense of freedom here, that I don’t find in other parts of the country…the diversity here is startling.”
Pallot has seen his native Florida developed beyond imagining to the detriment of all wildlife, and he worries about what the natural world will hold for coming generations.
“I see a generation of people emerging, Americans, who really just don’t have any touchstones to the natural world, and it was all about the natural world for us growing up in my generation…and I wonder if generations coming along will even know it’s gone,” added Pallot.