MARQUETTE — Ron Matson didn’t think too much of it when some out-of-towners stopped by his business, Matson’s Fisheries, along Commerce Street in Munising.

Until these gentleman came back for more.

“Then I found out they were producers for Gordon Ramsay,” said Matson, who is called Cap’n Ron by most folks and was born and raised in Munising.

These producers checked out Matson after hearing from other fishermen how unique Matson’s product is.

It went farther than that when Ramsay, one of television’s most popular chefs and cooking show hosts, stopped by himself.

“It was a bit after the producers had been here,” Matson said. “My daughter said Gordon Ramsay would be talking to me, but I figured it would just be the producers. But Ramsay did come. We did an interview about fishing.

“There ain’t a lot of guys like me left.”

That visit, filmed in September 2020, turned into one of the segments of Ramsay’s show “Uncharted.”

Episode nine this season, “Michigan’s Yooper Cuisine,” was broadcast this past Sunday night on National Geographic and is available on the streaming service Disney+.

“We talked about smoked fish and the trout I use for the sausage I make,” Matson said. “It’s pretty good sausage, you know. Ramsay, he’s all right.”

Matson’s family has operated its fishing business since 1898 and Cap’n Ron has been working on Lake Superior since he was 11, with his dad and his brother, Tim Matson.

His great-great-grandfather Charles Matson started the business, then eventually his father, Ron Matson Sr., took charge. Ron Jr. and his wife, Kris, took over the business when Ron Sr. was diagnosed with colon cancer. He passed away in 1998.

He’s working with his oldest daughter, Katy, to expand the business, making her the fifth generation of Matson to work on the site along with her siblings Rick and Molly.

They opened a fish truck near the fisheries building.

It’s called Cap’n Ron’s Fish and Chips, offering a smoked fish dip as well as fried fresh trout or whitefish with coleslaw and fries as sides, all Cap’n Ron recipes.

After Ramsay’s program aired Sunday, Cap’n Ron has had a number of people stop by to get an autograph and/or sample his food.

“People did see us on TV,” he said, referring to him, his wife and his daughter.

Matson said the fisheries business is open from 9 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. most days.

To find out more, visit www.facebook.com/matsonfish.

Renee Prusi can be contacted at 906-228-2500, ext. 240. Her email address is rprusi@miningjournal.net.