Meet Capt. Jot Owens

Today we’d like to introduce you to Capt. Jot Owens. They and their team shared their story with us below:

Capt. Jot Owens has been in the Southeast North Carolina Fishing industry for over twenty-nine years. Capt. Jot began his fishing career when he was just fourteen years old, working at a local fish market and commercial fishing. In 1995, Jot started to mate on local Charter fishing boats out of Wrightsville Beach, NC. Today Capt. Jot has managed to translate his lifetime passion for fishing and guiding into his own charter business, which he began in 1997 with a USGC Captains License 100-ton six-pack. Capt. Jot is one of the very few local native guides of Southeast North Carolina. 

Capt. Jot is a member of the PENN fishing tackle, Berkley Fishing, and Spiderwire’s Elite Pro Staff as well as on the research, development, and test team for these companies. He is also honored to be partnered with these great outdoor companies as well MirrOlure, YETI coolers, Power-Pole, Plano, FraBill, Betts Cast-nets, Garmin Marine, SiriusXM Marine, Eagle Claw/Trokar hooks, and Smith Optics. 

Capt. Jot has been featured on TV shows; Flats Class TV with C.a. Richardson, The World of Saltwater with George Poveromo, Bob Redfern’s Outdoor Magazine, National Geographic Wild’s (NATGEO), and ESPN’s Saltwater Connection. Capt. Jot has been featured in hundreds of fishing magazine articles in Sport Fishing magazine, NC Sportsman magazine, and SC Sportsman magazine just to name a few. Capt. Jot is a regular speaker on the Saltwater Sportsman National Seminar series with George Poveromo, as well host his own inshore fishing school. 

Capt. Jot is a State and Federal finfish tagger, tagging Flounder, Striped Bass, Speckled Trout, Red Drum, Cobia, and Sharks for NCDMF and NOAA. Jot is also on the Cape Fear River Striped Bass Foundation board and NC Sea Grant Advisory Board 2009-2019. Jot has recently been appointed to the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council’s System Management Plan Workgroup. 

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back, would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Starting out and owning your business is never a cakewalk. Since I had been in the fishing industry most of my working life, I knew the struggles that lay ahead. But what you learn along the way is just how hard it can be financially when so many things dictate whether you are going to make money that day; this business is very seasonal. You’ve got to make the hay when the sun is shining, but then the wind blows or hurricanes come up the coast, something breaks on the boat, or something new like a pandemic hits the world. Being a full-time fishing guide is not an easy job, but it is very rewarding; with that said, you have to work hard, very hard to make it successful.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next, you can tell us a bit more about your business.
I run a small boat operation, taking up to four Anglers at a time, offering four-, five- and six-hour trips. I try to cater to everyone though sometimes it is not easy. I enjoy taking kids that have never seen ocean before, to professional Anglers that have caught thousands of fish. I pride myself in running a clean ship; I understand that this is my customers’ day. I put myself in their shoes of how excited they are to spend a day on the water. I take every opportunity to make it the best I possibly can with whatever conditions mother nature throws at us. Repeat, customers are extremely important to a fishing guide business; these clients are the ones I invest in.

What was your favorite childhood memory?
Any great day on the water catching fish with friends and family. 

Contact Info:

• Website: www.captainjot.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/capt_jot_owens/
• Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/CaptJot
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/today/author/jot-owens-14300040

Image Credits
Capt. Jot Owens
Flats Class TV
George Poveromo