How Garrett Frazier Built a $2.6M Crew in Three Years — The Story Behind the Third Coast Renegades

In the span of three years, Garrett Frazier went from running a 40-foot Invincible on charter trips to winning $2.6 million at the Bisbee's Black and Blue on the 60-foot Spencer Magnifico. At SFC Media Days, he sat down with host Mark Farag to talk about the journey, the crew that made it possible, and what comes next.

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Watch the full conversation with Garrett Frazier right here. The episode is also available on our podcast page, Spotify, and Apple Podcasts.

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From South Texas to Offshore Sportfishing: A Compressed Journey

Garrett Frazier grew up in Oklahoma City, raised in the Oklahoma oil fields before his family moved to Texas. He played soccer in college in Dallas, then moved to Corpus Christi to build a business with his father and brother in oil and gas. They ground at it for nearly two decades. When they exited in 2018, Garrett signed a non-compete with a public company and made it about 18 months before he couldn't take it anymore.

"I just decided I'd take a year off." He had a 40-foot Invincible, started running charters, then COVID hit. He kept going. One thing became another. "A lot of people start small and keep progressing and snowballing." He wanted a sportfisher. When the Magnifico — a cold-molded 60-foot Spencer, last of her kind — came up for sale and kept not moving in the weeks before the Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show, he knew what he was going to do. He had a breakfast with his dad and brother. "I've got something to tell you. We're buying a boat. We're going all in." The budget he presented was about a third of what a program like this actually costs. "I kind of learned that the hard way."

Three Seasons in the Pacific, Then Back for Blood in the Gulf

The Renegades didn't start by competing in the Gulf. They built their program by traveling — the Bahamas, through the Gulf, through the Panama Canal to Los Sueños in Costa Rica, Cabo, and the full Baja Peninsula. "The fishery down there is just so insane." Fishing 40 days in a Cabo season, catching 30 to 70 fish a day, compresses a mate's development in a way that nothing else can. "You take a mate with great work ethic, great attitude, maybe a little green, put them in a season up there — that learning curve gets compressed. After two or three seasons, you've got a weapon on your team."

That's exactly what happened with Captain Drake Sawyer and cockpit Robert Tyson. Drake is the engine of the program. "Any scenario we've been in, it's rarely because we couldn't find the fish or we weren't on the fish." Robert Tyson runs a cockpit where tackle failures essentially don't happen. "Everything has a place. There's something to be said for a clean workspace, good attitude, and the right vibe on the boat." And then there's the team ethos that Garrett describes as the glue: "Don't give up on the buzzer beater. I can't tell you how many times, with 30 minutes left, with 10 minutes left, we get the shot."

The $2.6 Million Day: How the Bisbee's Unfolded

The Bisbee's Black and Blue is the tournament that changed everything. The year prior, Garrett fished with Toby and Jaselyn Berthelot, weighed a fish, and came up short. They went back to Cabo to study it — where the bait is, what equipment to run, how to recalibrate their strategy. In 2025, they started at the Bisbee's East Cape and got third with a good fish. Los Cabos was slow. Then came the Black and Blue.

"We're very analytical about pot odds and making those dollars count." Instead of spreading across every entry, the Renegades — rostered on the Bisbee's entry list as Rising Sons/Magnifico — picked their pot deliberately, a smaller pool with a massive payout if they could win it. On day two, they caught a qualifying fish and secured $1.5 million. If nobody else made weight, the number would grow to $2.6M. They went back to their hotel in San Jose del Cabo, showered, and waited.

Then another boat caught a fish. They held it all day without weighing. The suspense built through the afternoon. "Everyone's asking, what are these guys doing?" When the boat finally brought the fish to the scales, it weighed 287 pounds — just under the 300-pound qualifier cutoff. "We knew that if it didn't hit the 300 mark, we just doubled." The video of that moment — the crew watching the weigh-in on a phone, then erupting when the fish missed the mark — has circulated thousands of times. "Full chaos in the cockpit."

What meant most to Garrett wasn't the number. "I can't tell you how much it meant to me to hand that check to Drake and the boys. Seeing the life-changing moment for them — that's what fills my cup."

2026: Coming Home to the Gulf

After three seasons building the program in the Pacific, the Renegades are entering the Gulf SFC circuit. Garrett is direct about what that means strategically: they're most at home on the dredge fishing methodology, but they've spent enough time around soak-bait operations to be flexible. "We shine a little better on the dredge fishing. But we've proven we can catch big blues, and we can hold bait." Drake and Robert Tyson will adjust. "We're not opposed to trying something new."

The boat is currently in the yard in Palm Beach dealing with a mechanical issue before Key West — a significant engine problem that Garrett described as "catastrophic" but says should be resolved in time. Everything is on schedule.

Meanwhile, Garrett's 19-year-old son Dylan is working his way up through the program — not handed anything, earning his stripes. "People are going to see he's just the owner's son. That's a drive in itself. I had to do the same thing." His wife, a multi-sport collegiate athlete, has developed into a solid angler in her own right, particularly during their Magdalena Bay seasons.

Key Takeaways

• Garrett Frazier exited a successful Texas oil and gas business, picked up a 40-foot Invincible, and turned it into a $2.6M championship program in under four years.
• Captain Drake Sawyer and cockpit Robert Tyson built their skills through full seasons in Cabo — 40-day stints with 30–70 fish-a-day reps that compressed years of experience into months.
• The Bisbee's Black and Blue win came down to one fish failing to make 300 pounds at the scales — locking in $2.6M for the Renegades at exactly the right moment.
• The Renegades are best on dredge fishing but can adapt — flexibility and Drake's boat-handling are competitive advantages that travel across methods and venues.
• The 2026 goal is the SFC championship in Cabo and a return to the Bisbee's. The crew is hungry, the boat is getting worked, and there's nothing casual about the approach.

Watch the Full Episode

Garrett Frazier breaks down the trailer park upbringing, the oil and gas exit, the boat purchase that changed everything, and the exact moment $2.6 million got confirmed at the Bisbee's scales. Watch on YouTube or visit our podcast page.