Tom Rowland Podcast Episode 720 is my conversation with Jason Coffrin, the angler and adventurer behind Mr. Trigger Sport Fishing. Jason has chased the biggest fish imaginable all over the world, set inshore and offshore records, survived some genuinely insane situations on and off the water, and run a 240-mile ultramarathon across Moab. He describes himself as an entrepreneur who never chases the dollar, always the dream with a story at the end — and this episode is full of those stories.
Listen now: Apple Podcasts · Spotify · YouTube · Press play in the player above to watch.
Jason Coffrin is an angler, charter captain, and adventurer who operates Mr. Trigger Sport Fishing. Over more than twenty years he has set inshore and offshore records and chased big game fish around the world, surviving extreme situations in Costa Rica, Panama, and Central America. He also owns Cochran Jewelers, has run the Moab 240 ultramarathon, and is pursuing a new mission to help stop poaching in South Africa with his dog.
Mr. Trigger Sport Fishing is the fishing operation and brand run by Jason Coffrin, through which he documents his fishing adventures and runs charters. Jason has pursued big game fish all over the world under the Mr. Trigger banner and uses it alongside his other ventures, including Cochran Jewelers and his planned anti-poaching work.
The Moab 240 is a 240-mile ultramarathon across Moab, Utah, completed over several days. Jason Coffrin ran it because he felt it would make his life easier, and he says it worked — he is now in the best shape of his life. For an offshore fisherman, deciding to run 240 miles is a striking example of his appetite for hard, dream-driven challenges.
Jason is channeling his ventures, including Mr. Trigger Sport Fishing and Cochran Jewelers, toward a new endeavor to help stop poachers in a far-off place in South Africa, working with his canine. In the episode he describes this as the beginning of that journey and a story he is finally ready to tell.
Tom Rowland Podcast Episode 720 with Jason Coffrin is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, and iHeartRadio. The video version is embedded at the top of this page.
I opened this one by reading a post Jason had written, and it set the whole tone. The guy has lived in a boat shed at 120 degrees because he had no money for a home, floated for three days off Costa Rica, walked a fifty-pound bait cooler two miles down a beach with a knife in hand so he would not get robbed, and run the Moab 240. I wanted to know how one person ends up with that many stories, and what drives someone to keep choosing the dream over the safe path. Jason did not disappoint.
Press play in the YouTube player at the top of this page to hear the full story.
Jason has a backlog of stories that sound made up until you hear how matter-of-fact he is about them. Floating for three days off Costa Rica until he and his mate decided they could fix anything and got themselves home. Being stranded on a sandbar twenty miles up a river in Panama when a storm changed the inlet. A bar shootout in Central America. He walks through how he kept ending up in these spots. Listen to him tell them in the episode.
Jason calls himself an entrepreneur who does not make any money — his line, not mine — because he has always followed the dream with a story at the end instead of the paycheck. He lived in an aluminum boat shed for four years with no money for a home. Now he is trying to take business as seriously as he takes his adventures. That honesty about the cost of chasing dreams is the heart of this conversation. Watch the YouTube player above.
Jason ran the Moab 240 — 240 miles across Utah in four days — because he believed it would make life easier. And he says it worked: he is in the best shape of his life. How an offshore fisherman talks himself into a 240-mile race, and what it actually did for him, is one of my favorite threads in this episode. Listen to how he describes pushing through it.
Jason now owns and operates Cochran Jewelers alongside Mr. Trigger Sport Fishing, and he is channeling all of it toward a new mission: helping stop poachers in a far-off place in South Africa, working with his dog. He says this episode is the beginning of telling that story. Where a life this varied is heading is worth hearing. Press play in the YouTube player above for the full picture.
Listen to the full conversation: Apple Podcasts · Spotify · or watch in the YouTube player at the top of this page.
The day after talking to Jason, I kept coming back to his line about chasing the dream with a story at the end. Most of us optimize for security. Jason optimized for stories, and he has more of them than almost anyone I have had on.
There is a cost to living the way he has, and he is honest about it. But there is also a richness most people never touch. Whatever you think of the path, the stories are unforgettable.
Press play in the player above, or grab Episode 720 on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.
The Tom Rowland Podcast brings you long-form conversations with the most accomplished anglers, hunters, conservationists, and outdoor professionals in the game. Listen to every full-length Tom Rowland Podcast interview.
Jason Coffrin · Mr. Trigger Sport Fishing · Cochran Jewelers · Costa Rica · Panama · Moab 240 · South Africa anti-poaching
Jason Coffrin is an angler, charter captain, and adventurer who operates Mr. Trigger Sport Fishing. Over more than twenty years he has set inshore and offshore records and chased the biggest fish in the world, while surviving extreme situations from Costa Rica to Panama. He has lived in a boat shed for lack of a home, run the 240-mile Moab 240 ultramarathon, and now owns Cochran Jewelers alongside his fishing operation. He is pursuing a new mission to help stop poaching in South Africa, working with his dog.
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