# St. Joseph's Island Questions ??????????????



## speckthreat (Feb 8, 2008)

Does Anyone Have Any Information To Share About This Island. It Is The One Just Off The Coast Of Rockport That Mud Island Sets Next To. I See At One End What Looks To Be An Abandoned Air Strip And At The Other It Looks Like An Old Bomb Site. Hundreds Of Circles With Craters In The Middle Of Them. There Is Also A Facility Right At The East Tip Of Mud Island With A Little Harbour. Is This Facitlity Occupied? Reason I Am Asking Is Because I Would Like To Camp The Island One Weekend And Explore Around A Little Maybe With A Metal Detector And Fishing Pole Of Coarse. Any Advice Would Be Appreciated. I Plan On Getting To The Island On A Flat Weekend From The Gulf Side By Boat. Looks Like A Hell Of A Place To Party And Tell Some Ghost Stories...thanks


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## redfish bayrat (Feb 17, 2006)

Island is a private Island and working ranch owned by the Bass family. The only camping allowed is close to the north Jetty or on the jetty itself. I would not do too much exploring because the ranch hands there are similar in attitude to the hands on the King Ranch when it comes to tresspassing.


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## saltaholic (Feb 19, 2005)

We Used To Walk On To The Bass Ranch(st Joe Shoreline) To Duck Hunt The Tidal Ponds And Yes-the Ranchers Show No Tolerance For Trespassers! We Werent Trespassing At The Time, But They Gave Us A Friendly Reminder Not To.


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## Freshwaterman (May 21, 2004)

*ST. JOSEPH ISLAND*. St. Joseph (San José) Island, whose center point is 28°00' north latitude and 96°56' west longitude, is a sand barrier island in Aransas County. It is separated from Matagorda Islandqv on the north by Cedar Bayou and from Mustang Islandqv on the south by Aransas Pass.qv St. Joseph Island is about twenty-one miles long and five miles wide. It protects Aransas Bay and the mainland from the storms and tides of the Gulf of Mexico.qv The French landed parties on the island in 1712 and 1718. José de Escandónqv explored St. Joseph, Padre, Mustang, and Matagorda islands in 1766. The combined islands of St. Joseph and Matagorda were also known as Culebra. The first United States flag to be raised in Texas is said to have been raised on St. Joseph Island by United States troops on July 26, 1845. Forts were erected at various times on the south end of the island. Aransas, a town, prospered on the south end of the island between Texas independence and the Civil War.qv The north jetty, which protects the shipping channel through Aransas Pass, is anchored to the south tip of St. Joseph Island. The island is largely uninhabited today.

Bass Family out of Ft. Worth owns the entire island today. You can take a Jettie boat out of Port A in Summer to fish the North jettie and the beach. Some old Port A guys take fat tire bikes on the jettie boat with a rod rack and a cooler and surf fish for trout. They also allow you to take a yak on the jettie boat. Cedar Bayou sometimes silts in but was open last month.

The families from Ireland that settled Refugio and other areas in South Texas ( Welder and O'Connor are some of the family names) shipwecked on San Jo island in 1828 made rafts to cross the bay and walked into Refugio.

San Jose was 1st mapped by French explorers in 1718 as a separate island. The earlier Spanish maps of the 16th century showed just one barrier island running from Pass Cavallo to Aransas Pass.

I have an aunt that is a "Welder".


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## speckthreat (Feb 8, 2008)

*??*

Could You Camp Out Down By Ceder Bayou? Do You Think The Place Would Be Have A Little Bit Of Radiation? Do You Think I Would Be Found By The Hands At All?


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## Pablo (May 21, 2004)

My dad was the Director of Livestock Operations for the Bass Family from 1959 to 1992. I used to go down there and work cattle when they did a big roundup, usually the first part of the summer. Dang it was hot! 

All those circles that you see are areas of brush/motts that they plowed around to enhance the quail population, which was tremedous. The houses are maintained year round. Mr Bass passed away a while back and Lee Bass and family are usually the only ones that go down there.

You would be technically tresspassing, but the manager and hands will usually give you a good-natured warning about. I can remember driving along the beach and seeing people walking up from the South end (North Jetty) and they would be wide-eyed and wondering how the heck we got the jeeps across. LOL We also ran across some couples in compromising positions. Pretty funny.

I don't see where or why there would be any radiation. 

Pablo


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## MilosMaster (Aug 18, 2005)

I would strongly reccomend against tresspassing on the island. There is a private security team there 24/7 (as well as any other Bass owned property). If caught by them, you would definitely be prosecuted. That being said, the family respects the rights of outdoorsmen, so if you are below the 'mean high tide' line you have nothing to worry about. Basically, stay in the backlakes area or on the beach. Going 'exploring' around any part of the 'mainland' on the island is asking for trouble. The days of the good natured warning from ranch hands are gone, you can thank Al Qaeda and drug trafficking for that.

As far as the harbor, yes it is used to maintain the ranch house and small number of gas wells on the island. There is no radiation on the island that anyone knows of. 

If you want to camp around Cedar Bayou, the Matagorda Island side is set up for it. We used to go out there all the time when I was younger, great place to camp, fish and explore!


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## speckthreat (Feb 8, 2008)

*Circles*

i assumed that all those circles where targets for bombs!! i figured that air strip was a base of some kind back in the day and they did a little practicing out there on the other side of the island. i would like to thank you all for the wonderful insight on this beautiful island. i will not go exploring around but something tells me that someday soon i and several other wild crazy daring idiots will crash the coast and when it happens i will tell you all about it. hopefully!!!

its the pirate blood in me!!


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## redfish bayrat (Feb 17, 2006)

If exploring is what you want to do, try Padre Island or Matagorda Island where the old military base is at. St. Joe is not a place to try your luck. The security team has jeeps, planes, and helicopters at their disposal and a great relationship with the Aransas County judge.


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