Captain Will grew up fishing the Harkers Island area, where his family has had a cottage on Shell Point since the 1970s. He started with bottom fishing, casting bait shrimp for croakers and spot, until one pivotal trip changed everything. While nursing a broken ankle on vacation in Hilton Head, SC, his dad booked him an inshore fishing charter. That day, a local guide put him on his first-ever red drum, and the rest was history.
As he got older, Will upgraded from a ski boat to a 21-foot Sea Hunt and suddenly the whole coast was open. He chased cobia, tarpon, amberjacks, false albacore, king mackerel, Spanish mackerel, bluefish, red drum, and speckled trout, occasionally venturing offshore for mahi and wahoo.
He earned a BS in Ecology, Environmental and Evolutionary Biology from Appalachian State University. After graduating, he took a position with the NC Division of Marine Fisheries in Morehead City and moved to Harkers Island full time.
He earned his USCG OUPV 6-Pack Captain’s License, refined his inshore and nearshore skills, launched Bounty Hunter Guide Service, and never looked back.
Captain Will is on the water whether you book a trip with him or not. That means when you step aboard, you are fishing with someone who knows exactly what the fish are doing and how they are behaving right now, in these conditions, on these spots.
He will exhaust every resource and every ounce of energy to put you on fish. He considers himself truly fortunate to do what he loves for a living, and his goal is always to make your day on the water an unforgettable experience you will want to repeat. No captain can control the weather, but Captain Will will always control his effort level.
There is no better way to experience the Crystal Coast than with a guide who knows every creek, flat, and reef.
