Capt. J.R. Waits (me!) 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. I am
currently living with my wife Pilar, daughter Greta, and son Guerin just
down the dirt road from my parent's house on the Wando River. There is a
picture of all of us down near bottom of page.
We now have two boats to fish out
of, the "Fish Call" or the "Trophy Hunter." The "Fish Call" is a 2010
Action Craft 1720SE Hybrid flats boat. 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. 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 a
revolutionary new anchoring system, The Power Pole. 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. Both boats are 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, 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.
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 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 will chase redfish
with.
My family at the Hard Rock Park 2008
Guerin's first redfish
encounter, 2005.
Family
Fishin' in the grass with Pilar and Greta 2005
Catch & Release For The Future
Guerin's first red without anyone's help,
Dec 2010
Nice catch sweetie,
Dec 2010
Greta's World Record 24 pound bonnethead shark, 2006
Another notch in Guerin's tarpon belt, 2018
We are a divided house
at times, some Tigers some Cocks
Waits Family August 2019
Our Captain-In-Training Guerin is becoming quite the 1st mate
Guer with his mama Pilar and her biggest redfish ever 2021
