Captain John Hawthorne

John grew up fishing for bass and bluegill with a bobber and worm with his dad outside of Charlotte, North Carolina. Fast forward to college where he spent his summers as a whitewater rafting guide in Colorado, it didn't take him long to pick up a fly rod. From then on, he was hooked and has been fly fishing and tying flies ever since. After graduating from NC State (go Pack!), John spent a few years in the corporate world, regularly sneaking out early to head to Wrightsville Beach to chase redfish in the marsh grass. John's hobby turned into a career when he moved to the Lowcountry in 2018 and started working full time at Bay Street Outfitters. Now, you can find him on the water targeting redfish, speckled sea trout, cobia, sharks, and many more inshore species with both fly and light tackle outfits as an Orvis Endorsed Guide. John fishes from a Beavertail Mosquito, the perfect boat for shallow water sightfishing.

With a thirst for learning about new fisheries, John’s experiences have had him fighting tarpon, bonefish, permit and barracuda in tropical environments as well as trout, smallmouth, largemouth, and carp in freshwater destinations. John has been featured in publications such as Flylords, and AvidMax and is also the writer for Bay Street Outfitters Fishing Reports.