In the last few years Jekyll Island has exploded with many new hotels and venues it has become a haven for corporate outings and wedding retreats. Jekyll Island Summer Fishing Charters are also a big hit amongst these larger groups as well as families just looking to get out on the water. Jekyll Island is located in the unique Area separating Little Cumberland Island and Saint Simons Island. Behind Jekyll you will find Jekyll sound which is the sound where the little Satilla River empties and creates a fertile environment for great fishing. Next to that is St Andrews sound where the Big Satilla drains it’s waters from the lower Southeast and central Georgia watershed. This particular area is a crazy maze of sandbars in brackish water and home to some pretty awesome fishing pretty much year round.
As we approach summer the sound irrupt with life. Diving birds, large schools off glass minnow, menhaden “pods” and sometimes so much bait it appears you could walk on it. Caution to the reader!! Don’t try it! Underneath these pods of acrobatic bait fish are tarpon, jacks, catfish, and large large sharks. The tarpon can be anywhere from 50 to 200 pounds and the sharks can be equal in size and greater. I personally have seen sharks in the 10 to 12 foot lengths in this sound.
Today, I was fishing around St Andrews Sound with a couple from interior North Carolina. While we were steady catching trout and a few Sheepshead we had a 9-10ft Hammer Head come flying by the boat after we could only speculate an afternoon snack. The lady went crazy and I realized then she had never even seen a shark in the wild. What a cool experience to get to share with them.
Cumberland and Jekyll Island
As we ventured into a well known creek we stopped to admire a few wild horses running down the beach. What a sight she said. I had no idea we would see this kind of wild life here. I sat back and admired these magnificent creatures and I reminded myself how wonderful the coast of Georgia is and how we have had to constantly fight for it’s survival.
People are always asking. What is that? They are referring to the magnificent Jekyll Island club. This hotel has more history than most states can claim. You see it all started in the early 1900s when a group of wealthy men some names you might recognize such as Oglethorpe, Rockefeller, Goodyear, and J.P. Morgan to name a few. This group got together with a politician named Aldridge and had a secret meeting which set the baselines for what is now known as the federal reserve. Yes that is right, the federal reserve was founded on Jekyll Island. At one time there was something like 1/6 of the money in the United States on Jekyll Island.
Cumberland is no slouch when it comes to wealth and history either. Home to one of the wealthiest families in the world is has also had many books written about it and its history. The Carnegie family built magnificent mansions on the island with some pretty interesting names like Plum Orchard and Dungeness both constructed starting in the late 1800’s.
These were not small homes even in todays times. Plum Orchard was over 22,000 square feet and Dungeness was a whopping 35,000 square feet!!
Dungeness before it caught fire and burned. Plum Orchard today
At this point, I feel like this has been a quick lesson on the area and some of its history. It was intended to be a fishing report but sometimes things just don’t happen as intended. If you read this and have never been here its a pretty amazing place. Come visit us.