By Captain Vernon Reynolds

Bull Redfish have been King of the hill in Coastal Georgia waters the past couple of weeks. Bull Reds are even hitting trolled jigs, somewhat unusual. Bull Redfish spend most of there life in open ocean waters but for about six weeks in the spring and fall they return to the sound system in which they grew up in. They feed aggressively and are easy to locate due to the fact they return to the same structure every year. Mark the location where you catch a Bull and you may catch one there every year the rest of your life.

The typical fishing method is to bottom fish with live or dead bait. Redfish are scavengers and will eat dead or live bait equally well. Whiting, Poggie and Mullet produce well but any cut fish will do. Crab might be the best bait. You can get crabs free at most seafood shops that carry them. They must be sold alive for table fare, so the dead ones are thrown away. Simply hook the cut fish or crab onto the hook and toss it out with enough sinker weight to keep it on the bottom. Try to place the hook so the bait doesn’t twist in the current. A little twist is OK but a lot will have your line so twisted up you can not fish it. Place the rod in the rod holder and watch the tip of the pole. The tip will lightly bounce a few times before the fish makes a run. Wait until the rod is deeply bent before taking it from the holder and starting to reel. Circle hooks are employed when Bull Red fishing and there is no need to set the hook. The fight will last from five to 15 minutes depending on the weight class of the gear being used. Be sure to revive the fish once it is brought to boat side. Hold his mouth into the current, allowing water to rush over the gills. Once the fish is revived, release it unharmed.

Speckled Sea Trout have also been active the past several weeks. Many boats have been returning to dock with near limit to limits of Trout. These fish are some of the best tasting in our, or any other, area. Trout school this time of the year and feed actively in preparation for the winter migration upriver. Live shrimp is the best bait fished under a float rig. Trout must be over 13 inches in length to keep and there is a creel limit of 15 fish per person.

A few Flounder have been taken recently. Flounder are preparing to move offshore for the winter and can be found along ocean sand bars. Whiting are still active in area sounds. A few King Mackerel are still being found well offshore. These are fish that migrated to the mid-Atlantic states during the summer and are now moving to south Florida for the winter. These fish will move into the area for a day or two and then move on south.

Coastal Expeditions offers charter fishing trips and Dolphin/sightseeing tours. Join us for a fishing trip you will never forget or a Cumberland Island sightseeing tour. Contact Captain Reynolds at (912) 265-0392 or go to coastalcharterfishing.com to book a charter or for further information. Departing daily from Jekyll Harbor Marina.

By Dan Lott

Overlooking the intracoastal waterway and alongside the historic Jekyll Island Club Hotel, the Jekyll Island Invitational Tournament was played October 23-25 under very favorable weather conditions. It had been 17 years since the last tournament was played there.

The field consisted of eight strong players (four from Georgia and four from Florida). With only one block, each participant played five matches before the seeding of single elimination ladder play on Sunday.

It took several matches before seasoned tournament players Dick Brackett, John Curington, and Ted Knopf adapted to the challenging court, and began to assert their superior style of play.

Absent from the sport for many years, Jim Woodall was the surprise of the tournament going 4-1 in block play to earn the #2 seed position in the ladder. His only block loss was by one point to the eventual champion.

With the exception of a one point loss to Ted Knopf in block play, rising star Derrick Wassink was the dominant force in the tournament. He quickly adjusted to the vicissitudes of the court and overpowered his opponents, earning +48 Net Points in block play.

In the finals, when Ted Knopf stuffed one of his balls in #2 wicket, Wassink hit in and took control of the match, turning in a score of 26-4 to capture the championship trophy.

Log Date: 10/22/2009

Nice hide and thanks to log by mwillefl I knew the coords were about 40′ off and that helped when looking.   I took new coords and they are N 31° 06.082 W 081° 24.854.  My GPS showed 43′ difference and I am adding a waypoint (above) to this log for my coords.  NIce ‘tool box’, not what I expected - smaller and more hi-tech.  TFTC!

Jekyll Island Authority is a proud participant in the Humane Society of South Coastal Georgia’s “Coastal Dawgs Unleashed” art fundraiser. The Humane Society’s goal is to raise $200,000, to support the shelter’s daily operational expenses and the capital campaign to build a new shelter by recruiting thirty-area businesses to sponsor Dawgs. Talented artists from the Jekyll Island Arts Association will paint our 4-foot-tall fiberglass bulldog named “Essence” to represent all the wonderful things about Jekyll Island. The dog will be worked on from November - March were final touches will be done live at the Jekyll Island Arts Association’s Art Festival.

Breaking Out the Mallets

It has been a long time since an officially sanctioned croquet tournament came to Jekyll Island - 17 years to be exact.

In that gap, the closest tournaments that made their way even close to the area were at Hilton Head Island, S.C., and St. Augustine, Fla.

For local player Dan Lott, the time had come for croquet to return to the Jekyll Island Club Hotel.

“Jekyll Island used to, years ago, have some really fine tournaments there at the hotel,” Lott said. “I visited with Kevin Runner, the general manager of the hotel, and asked him if he thought there would be any interest in renewing their commitment to having a croquet tournament at Jekyll Island. He gave me a very positive response and from that point on, I started working on it.”

Lott’s efforts will bear fruit Friday as some of the top croquet players in the country flock to Jekyll Island to play in a prestigious singles invitational tournament sanctioned by the United States Croquet Association.

The tournament, which is scheduled to begin at noon Friday and run through mid-afternoon Sunday, will feature three former Georgia state champs, two members of the United States Croquet Hall of Fame, the reigning seniors national champion, a former national championship runner-up and a former USCA president.The quality of the field has the members of the Jekyll Island Croquet Club looking forward to the event.

“They seem to be very excited about it,” Lott said of the club members. “None of them has ever played in a tournament before or, to my knowledge, witnessed a tournament before.

“They’re very excited about having some of these top-notch players come in and participate.”

Ten players in all will compete, including four from Georgia and six players from Florida.

Read the full story here…

Head to the Georgia coast for GA/FLA activities | Bulldawg Illustrated

Posted using ShareThis

In picture left to right. Nick, Cameron, Chris and Captain Eric Moody. Caption: Nick turned 12 years old a couple of days ago and his father, Jason, gave him the choice of going to Fenway Park to watch the Red Sox-Angles play off game or go fishing. He chose fishing. Talk about pressure in the Captain. Captain Eric came through though with four more Reds like this one, lots of Sharks and a few Trout. Congratulations Nick.

By Captain Vernon Reynolds

Bull Reds, River Reds and Spotted Sea Trout have been leading the catch the past several days. Often all there can be found on one drop. All will hit live bait and artificials and all are fun to catch. October and November are the best months for Reds and Trout, both are feeding heavily in preparation for winter. Both offer fine table fare.

River Reds are fish less than five years of age and shorter than 24 inches. River reds inhabit the sound system into which they were born, moving to the outer sound in the summer and to upper sound system and rivers in the winter. River Reds are sexually immature. As Reds reach their fifth year they become sexually mature and move from the sound and river system to open ocean waters, at this time they become mature Reds. Mature Reds return to the outer sound system in which they grew up twice a year. The spring return takes place in April, May and June. The fall return takes place in October, November and December. River Reds will be found working oyster bars and mud flats. Mature Reds will be located on oyster bars and sand bars. Mature Reds live over 40 years and will return to the same sand and oyster bars their entire lives.

Spotted or Speckled Sea Trout live up to eight years and most spend their life in the same estuary system into which they were spawned. Trout move to the outer sound system and beaches in the spring and to the upper sound system in the winter. The fall migration up stream takes place in October, November and December. Trout group up in large schools and feed aggressively before winter water temperatures drop too low for most Trout food groups to survive.

The most effective and fun way to catch Trout and Reds is when they are working oyster bars. Float fishing is most productive and reduces hang ups on the oysters. Live shrimp is the bait of choice; live Mud Minnows and finger Mullet work just as well and often catch bigger Trout. This is true because as Trout mature and produce more eggs, more fish oil is needed to strengthen the eggs. Big female Trout consume fish almost exclusively. Artificials imitating shrimp or bait fish will take Trout and Reds also. Presenting the bait under a float entices the fish to take the bait. Sometimes jerking the rod, thus making the bait dart and dance, will cause a strike.

Nick also caught this nice Sea Trout.

Catching mature Reds on sand bars is a different matter. Heavier rods and reels are needed and live or cut bait is required. Live or cut Menhaden, Whiting or Mullet work best. Simply anchor the boat and toss out the bait with enough sinker weight to keep it on the bottom. Put the rods in a rod holder and pick up a spinning rod with a piece of shrimp on the hook. You will catch Whiting, small Sharks, Rays, Flounder and such on these while waiting on the big bad Bulls to come along. The wait is not long and when they get there you will put the spinning rods away. This is catch and release fishing, all the Bulls are over the 24 inch size limit, but its great fun. Join us for a fishing trip you will never forget. To book a trip or for further information call (912) 265-0392 or go to www.coastalcharterfishing.com. We also offer Dolphin and Cumberland Island cruises. Coastal Expeditions Charter Fishing and Dolphin Tours is owned and operated by Captains Vernon Reynolds and Eric Moody.

Pelican (Jekyll Island)

Originally uploaded by ToJoLa

A bird….to celebrate the start of Georgia’s Colonial Coast’s Birding & Nature Festival. Don’t miss Nature Day on Saturday…The raptor show, snakes, turtles, lots of programs from Tidelands Nature Center. Get your kids (or yourself) outside and learn about nature. It’s cool!

yuvb6m24it

September 27 by FHall9600 (24 found)
Javonne and I placed “Bobblehead Paul” bobblehead doll in the cache after cleaning and drying out the cache box. This doll was found by us in St. Anthony, Newfoundland last month and carried to the Jekyll Island to be found and moved on. The cache is being tracked by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation’s “Shift” show on radio broadcast by Paul Castle, the host of “Shift”. The finder needs to contact Paul when he/she finds and moves it. My radio interview on this find can be heard at: www.cbc.ca/shift/interviews. The interview was done on September 8, 2009. Please help Paul find a great new location. Bill Hall (fhall9600)

Check www.geocaching.com for more information.