Redfish Rodeo with Capt. Mason

We landed in Corpus Christi, TX to, what felt like, 120ºF heat and a Dodge Ram rental truck built exclusively for the great state of Texas.

Fast forward a few hours and we're making our way down a long stretch of barren flatland with windmills, plenty of steer, and the occasional Whataburger. Pulling in to Port O'Connor, Texas one thing was abundantly clear: there just isn't a whole lot going on. But, as our friend Capt. Mason Matejeck, was going to prove to us over the course of the next few days, there's a handful of things they have more than an abundance of: redfish and cattle. And we can definitely work with that kind of combination...

Our POCO Crew

Capt. Mason Matejeck

Mason Matejeck, our newest ambassador, is a native Texan and full-time fly fishing guide between Port O'Connor and Rockport, TX. Mason's one of those guys that belongs in a time before social media; preferring to put his head down and get to work at being the best-of-the-best in his fisheries. He's not one for "clout" and is about as humble as they come.

Just make sure to obey his one rule, the hat doesn't come off for nothin'.

Andrew Brown

Andrew is the owner and operator of Emprassario Cattle Co. His brand "EDJ" is the first registered brand in Texas, dating back to 1807. While his main goal is raising quality beef, he also actively works to restore the ranchland he works back to native prairie and coastal grassland.

Lucky for us, Andrew was more than happy to help us burn a non-fishing day on his home turf.

Ranchin'

With an extra day to burn before getting on the water with Capt. Mason, we figured there was no better way to get a taste of Texas than finding some ranchland to goof off on. Lucky for us, Mason had the right guy in mind. We followed Mason a short drive out of town and met up with Andrew to get into a few shenanigans...

The Escape Pant

We can officially add barefoot horse riding to the list of activities that these pants excel at. Other (more realistic) activities include: long hot days on the bow of a skiff, traversing busy airport terminals, getting to know your favorite barstool that much better.

Andrew, highly entertained by a bunch of fellas who had no business being up on horses. Lucky for us, Mason was there to make it look easy.

We offer up a wide variety of t-shirts in multiple different fabrics with designs to suit everyones' style.

Fishin'

Capt. Mason's fishery is known for abundant (and big) trout as along with tailing redfish. A popular destination to wet wade, the Espiritu Santa and Matagorda Bays are large and mostly flat, shallow opens swaths of water that harbor a multitude of differnt species and acts as a nursery of sorts for many.

It's common to see flat "scooter" style boats along grass edges with anglers fishing out front on foot. But, folks like Mason, the bays offer up world-class sight fishing opportunities for schooling redfish, big trout, and much more. We connected with Mason during a stretch of Summer when big bull redfish and jack crevelle school up in deeper water, affording us a nice change of pace and a heavier tug on the other end of the line.

The Gulfport Rain Jacket

Perfect for fighting more than just rain. When the going gets rough, stay out a little longer.