With sparse crowds, epic fishing, tremendous beach combing and unique history, it is easy to see why so many consider this coastal bend barrier island a true Texas treasure.

Story and photography by Danno Wise

A vast amount of the Texas Coastal Curve is lined with barrier islands. Historically there are seven barrier islands between the Gulf of Mexico and the Lone Star State – eight if you count South Padre and Padre Island, which were once one but separated with the digging of the Mansfield Pass in 1953, and individual islands. Among the other islands that protect the Texas mainland from the wrath of the Gulf are Brazos, Follet’s, Mustang, Matagorda and, the largest of them all, Galveston Island. While each of those is iconic in its own right, one Mid-Coast barrier island has a very unique status.

San Jose Island, sandwiched in the barrier island chain between Mustang and Matagorda islands, is located just across Aransas Bay from Rockport and Fulton. St. Jo, as it is often referred to, is unique in the sense that the entire island is privately owned. However, there is public access – at least to most of the island.

St. Jo doesn’t just have a unique status; it has a long and interesting history. The very first U.S. flag to fly in Texas was planted on San Jose Island in 1845 when Lt. Chandler waded ashore from the USS Alabama. Eventually, the island was purchased by wealthy oilman Sid Richardson, who established a fishing and hunting lodge that played host to political luminaries such as Lyndon B. Johnson and Franklin D. Roosevelt. When he died in 1959, his nephew, Perry R. Bass, inherited the island. The Bass family still owns the island.

While the island was traditionally utilized as a cattle ranch – and the San Jose Island Cattle Company still exists there today – the land is primarily utilized for conservation. However, the public is still allowed to visit and fish on a large portion of the island.

To that end, there are plenty of reasons to fish the isolated island, as the beachfront regular yields great catches of speckled trout, redfish, Spanish mackerel, whiting, and pompano. Around the jetty, bull reds are routinely caught throughout summer and fall. Tarpon tend to linger there for most of those seasons as well. Kingfish are another common visitor in summer, while sheepshead arrive in huge numbers during the spring. In addition to outstanding angling opportunities, St. Jo offers unparalleled beach combing and visitors are even allowed to camp overnight.

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