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Captain J.R. Waits and his Isle of Palms Marina Charter Boats Celebrating 30 years of business!! Oct 2026

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Capt. J.R. Waits, 2021
Here I am catching reds on topwater, Winter 2025

Text me to book a trip
843-509-7337 (REDS)

Capt. J.R. Waits (me!) or one of my partnered licensed captains will be your guide for an exciting day on the water. I am a U.S.C.G approved captain that started guiding in the Charleston area in 1996. I grew up on the waters surrounding Charleston, and fishing with my father are some of my first memories. I graduated with a degree in Geology from the College of Charleston in 1993 when I decided to pursue my education further by enrolling in Graduate School at the University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill. I thought that I wanted to go on to get my doctorate and teach at the college level. I started teaching in graduate school, but soon found it was not my cup of tea. The most important thing I learned in North Carolina was that I wanted to spend the rest of my life in Charleston. There is nothing wrong with Chapel Hill except that there is no ocean. I never appreciated my hometown until I moved away. I got my Master's of Science Degree from UNC in 1996 and immediately moved home. I really was not even thinking about getting into the guide business, but just having fun. One day my mother said, "You're 26 years old and it's about time that you move out. Why don't you get a Captain's License and get people to pay you to take them fishing?" It was awful nice to wake up every morning, walk down to the boat, go fishing, and then come home to Mama's supper on the table, but she had a point. My father warned me to be careful and not ruin my hobby, but come to find out, I enjoy helping and watching others catch fish as much or more than catching them myself. So in 1996 I got my Captain's License, and I've loved it every since!
We now have two boats to fish out of, the "Fish Call" and the "Trophy Hunter." The "Fish Call" is a 2010 Action Craft 1720SE Hybrid flats boat powered by a newer Yamaha 115 outboard. This is an exceptional flats boat designed to fish extremely shallow water yet offer a comfortable ride. The Hybrid is a state of art Kevlar/Carbon Fiber hull that weighs only 720 pounds. I am getting shallower and staying with schools of fish longer than I ever have. I have the console mounted to the side which makes for more fishing room in the cockpit. Everyone raves about this flats boat!! The "Trophy Hunter" is a 2021 24-foot Canyon Bay 24h Bay/Offshore powered by a Yamaha F300 outboard. This boat has higher sides and T-top to keep that blazing summer sun at bay. The larger boat can accomodate parties up to six anglers while the smaller flats boat can handle three anglers plus the captain. Both boats are equiped with Minn Kota trolling motors and the The Power Pole anchoring system. I can control it by remote control and can get the boat stopped in any conditions. Both boats are also equipped with all the latest saftey equipment. We use the flats boat mostly Nov-Mar, and the bigger boat is used mostly in warmer months Apr-Oct. Whichever boat I am running is kept at the Isle of Palms Marina just north of Charleston. Come check out both boats!!

"Fish Call" - Action Craft 1720SE Hybrid
Casting to Mr. Redfish

"Trophy Hunter" - 2021 Canyon Bay 24h Bay/Offshore
my new baby next to my 1st charter boat, the OG "Fish Call" 1991 Action Craft 1760

I have gained much recognition in the fishing community since I started guiding. I am on the Pro-Staff Fishing team for Canyon Bay Boatworks, Action Craft Boats, Yamaha Outboards, Minn Kota Trolling Motors, Power Pole Shallow Water Anchors, Humminbird Electronics, Costa del Mar, and Penn Fishing. I have also been featured in many magazines including SportFishing, Saltwater Sportsman, In-Fisherman, Saltwater Fly Fishing, South Carolina Game & Fish, North Carolina Game & Fish, North Carolina Sportsman, South Carolina Sportsman, Women's Health, etc I have been featured on several television shows on The Outdoor Channel, Outdoor Life Network, ESPN, FOX Sports South, TNN, Turner South, and others. I have been featured on In-Fisherman Televsion, The Dodge Everyday Sportsman, Outdoor Sportsman Televsion, Off the Menu, Inshore Fishing with Mike Dias, Shallow Water Angler, Familiar Waters, and Big Water Adventures. I have also been a feature speaker for Saltwater Sportsman's National Seminar Series and SportFishing's Learn from the Experts Series as well as the North & South Carolina Sportsman Seminar Series.
I have been recognized by South Carolina Marine Resources many times over the past years. I used to tag alot of fish for the SCDNR, but don't do it much anymore because they have a good handle on what the fish are doing now. I had a goal to tag over 1000 fish in a year because no one in South Carolina had ever done it before. I wasn't counting but when SCDNR sent my Master Angler Certificate for 1999, I had tagged 1007 fish!! I was also awarded the Most Interesting Catch of 2001 when we caught the same 100+ pound tarpon that some of my clients had tagged the previous summer. We caught the fish in the exact same spot just a few days over one year later! Makes one think that the tarpon visit the same inlets every year! I was also awarded The Ecology Certificate from the Charleston Trident Fishing Tournament in 1997 for my tag and release efforts. In 2014, I landed the heaviest cobia (over 88-lbs) ever weighed-in to the Charleston Trident Fishing Tournamnet. My brother-in-law, Steven Michaels, and I won the Tarpon Tournament for two consecutive years in 2002 and 2003. We also got a very close second place in the 1999 tournament. In 2004, I had some good clients, Hylan and Brad, get 4th place overall and 2nd biggest fish in The Redfish Tour Tournament in Charleston. We did win the 2009 Inshore Fishing Association (IFA) Charleston Redfish Tournament. My partner Hylan Furniss kept the Ranger flats boat that we won. Hylan and I also got 2nd plcae in the 2011 IFA Charleston event, just missing first place by .02 of a pound! We won the 2013 G. Loomis Owner's Tournament with over 300" of redfish!! I won this all release tournemant with anglers Mary Wesley Simmonds, Brian O'Dell, and Cantey Smith. Also in 2013, my dad Ray Waits and I got 6th place in IFA Redfish Charleston Tournament, Brian O'Dell, Hunter Allen, and I got 3rd place in Charleston Harbor Tarpon Tournament, Ben Alderman and I got 3rd place in the Oakley Redfish Tournament, and Scott Lanzon, my brother Travis Waits and I got 3rd place in the Georgetown Lowcountry Tarpon Tournament. 2013 was a busy tournament year for Fish Call Charters. In 2014 we won the Charleston Harbor Tarpon Tournament for a record breaking third time! This time it was anglers Bill Browne and Matt Bachinski. Hylan and I also fished two tournaments out of Georgetown, SC; 6th place in IFA Redfish Tournament and 7th place in Low Country Redfish Cup (LRC) Tournament. To finish out 2014, Scott Lanzon, Lance, Travis Waits, and I got 5th place at the Georgetown Low Country Tarpon Tournament. We scored again in the 2018 Charleston Harbor Tarpon Tournament getting 2nd place. I kinda quit updating my tournament results after 2018 but we did fish two tournaments in 2025. We won the Heaviest Amberjack category in the First Annual Charleston Cobia Cup and got 6th place in the Charleston Holy City Tarpon Tournament. I plan on fishing those two and the Georgetown Tarpon Tournament in 2026. Scroll to bottom of page to watch J.R.'s Solo Fishin' Show.

Capt. J.R. Waits wins 2009 Charleston IFA Redfish Tour Tournament!!!

Tournament partner Hylan Furniss and I won the 2009 event with a total weight of 7.97 pounds. Both redfish fell for Gulp! shrimp very near Isle of Palms, SC. We have fished this tournament every year previous and fisnished in the top 5 all but one time. That year we caught the right two fish, and it was our turn to WIN! We won a fully rigged 2009 Ranger Banshee Extreme flats boat in which Hylan kept to chase redfish. I don't fish any of the redfish tournaments anymore.

To book a charter please text 843-509-7337 or
call 843-509-7337 or
email jrwaits@fishcall.com

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