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Jekyll Island pier offers calm place to fish
Sat, Jul 15, 2006
By BUD L. ELLIS The Brunswick NewsThe ocean breeze brushes the Jekyll Island fishing pier, and for Jo Ann Maze, it's a perfect setting. Lowering her crab nets toward the churning waters below, the Waycross resident casts a glance at her natural surroundings. She feels fortunate to be spending a sunny summer afternoon on the tip of an island that once was one of the most exclusive locales on the planet."It's just getting away from the telephone and things like that," said Maze.
Waycross resident Jerrel Byrd fishes off the Jekyll Island pier earlier this summer. The island pier offers a more relaxed, quiter setting than the pier across the sound at the village on St. Simons Island. (James Nix/The Brunswick News)
| Funny that an island from where, in 1915, the first transcontinental phone call was placed, would offer solitude and an escape from the hub-bub of today's electronic world. But for those who come to the fishing pier — located at the end of Clam Creek park on the island's north side — Jekyll Island gives anglers a natural setting from where to cast their lines."What I like about Jekyll, in comparison to St. Simons, is they're still preserving things here," said Waycross resident Tony McDaniel, peering over the railing to look at his crab net. "St. Simons is getting a lot like Florida, which is where I come from, but overall, here it's a natural setting."The Jekyll pier, built in 1969, extends 360 feet from land. Most of the pier is covered (520 feet in length, plus a 95-feet section on each end of the pier), offering anglers a haven from the scorching South Georgia sun. Surrounded by Clam Creek park, the pier offers a nice view of St. Simons Island, the Sidney Lanier Bridge and St. Simons Sound.For Jerrell Byrd, that's just about enough to make his fishing trip complete. The Waycross resident, who was camping on the island with his wife, said he enjoyed coming to the pier day and night."I love to catch the flounder from here," Byrd said from one end of the pier, as he cast toward shore. "When they're biting, of course."Last year, Byrd said he snagged a 5-pound flounder. He's not the only one to catch a big flounder from the pier: Janice Youmans caught a 15-pound, 10-ounce flounder from the pier in November 1990 that still stands as the state record. One other state record also has been set at the pier: Chet Lee Kirby's 158-pound, 8-ounce sandbar shark, caught in April 1979.Beyond record catches, Jekyll Island's pier offers a quieter pace than that of its St. Simons Island counterpart. While the pier across the sound from Jekyll Island — located at the end of the St. Simons Island village area — is a popular tourist spot and gathering place, the pier on Jekyll Island offers a more relaxed setting.That suits Maze just fine. "It's relaxing," she said. "I don't get to do it very often, but I enjoy it when I do."
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