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  • 12/2018 Fishing Report by Shaun Pedley on Our Joe - L (Paignton, Devon)

    Dec 2018 by Shaun Pedley

    Report on-board Our Joe - L

    2018 Fishing Report from Shaun Pedley, OUR JOE-L . . . Well, where to start?

    The first full year for me as a Full Time Charter Skipper, running the Our Joe-L and organising the Fishing Holidays with my family.

    The Fishing.
    I'm not going to lie here, at times it has been slow throughout 2018 but I'm confident I made the most of the different year we've had on the wrecks. The hottest water temperature for a long time saw the Black Bream arrive in numbers towards the end of the year! The Lads who have been sharking have seen big numbers too and we've also spotted Tuna jumping on more than one occasion. Now, back to our fishing.
    I started the year mainly drifting on the wrecks, seeing some nice Pollock caught offshore and the occasional Cod. We fished a Plaice Festival on a weekend in April and had a number of catches weighed in. Not quite a match for the local Skerries Bank residents that produced some nice fish, though I've been working on that throughout the Summer and we will be back in 2019 for the comp!

    We had a good time in May & June fishing inshore on the wrecks. On most days we caught more fish inshore than when we pushed offshore, so knowing the inshore marks was key for the beginning of the Summer! The Skerries Bank had also started to pick up, with the number of Plaice and Turbot caught rising all the time. Whilst on the lookout for some new spots, we had a couple of fish other than the usual Pollock and Cod with Coalfish, John Dory, Red Gurnard, Tub Gurnard and Bass! One to remember for another time then!

    With a couple of Black Bream caught early in July, I had a feeling we were in for a good year on them. We had a fishing holiday in August who wanted to target them specifically, so off we went on the hunt to follow up Dad's reputation of catching lots of Bream! On day one we caught none - what a start, time for a rethink! We tried some different baits and I picked a wreck that I had my eye on all year. Bang! A number of decent sized catches in a couple of hours, the biggest up to 4lb7oz. Kevin won't let me forget that one in a hurry! With everyone aboard happy with their catches and the best of the Bream tide gone, I decided to use the remaining time of target Cod. Same wreck, but a different strategy of drifting on baits and lures. A few catches around the 6-8 lb mark to round off the day. The rest of the week was much the same on the reefs and wrecks.

    Moving on to August which was a cracking month for Conger! A couple of specific Conger Charters from our regular guys who fish for the British Conger Club (BCC) and many competitions, On the day it was Essex Boys vs Devon Boys! Being a Devon Boy myself it was hard not to be one sided, although the Essex Boys smashed it! Catching a 66lb half way through the day was enough to win a BCC Silver medal, what a result! Our eldest fisherman proved to be the wisest too, as he spent more time hooked onto an Eel than off! We quickly lost count on the number of catches and a shame the weather called off the next day. We had planned an experimental day having fished well the day before, but that is mother nature for you!

    In September we fished in the annual Torbay Fishing Festival. The usual crowd booked our hotel and fished with us for all 9 days. The usual target for us was Conger and Bream and when tide wasn’t favourable, Pollock and Ling. I'm proud to say we won trophies on all 4 species over 100%, narrowly missing out on top boat by 1 fish. After winning 8 prizes in total, it was a pleasure to see our fishermen at the prize giving.

    The Dartmouth Fishing festival
    Unlike the rest of 2018 the weather was not playing ball and we called off day 1. Day 2 made anchoring up on the wrecks a no go, Pollock it was then! With only 3 guys fishing they all caught a dozen Good Pollock each and all weighed in there best. Biggest Pollock on Day 2 was ours at 15lb. Day3 Saw again similar conditions but we all agreed on a strategy to catch one Eel big enough. Knowing nobody else would have anchored up in this weather that would be all we needed for a winner. It took all morning drifting over the wreck having a nice sport of bass fishing to wait until the conditions were as good as they could be. 3 re anchors and an hour later the short rods came out and heavy leads went over the side, right on the sweet spot. I said to the lads that we won't be here long in these changing conditions so best baits and sharp hooks on please! With 4 caught in half an hour and one big enough to take for the weigh in we picked up the anchor and headed for home. Enough of that. Well we did get beaten for the Pollock on day 3 but Paul managed to walk away with a nice new Conger rod and a trophy for the best Conger of the weekend. Job Done.

    The Boat was safely out of the Water the next day for a good winter refit and will soon be ready for 2019. I’ve heard the lads are having a nice spot of Cod and whiting inshore and the winter Pollock are starting to show in sizes. This is a really good sign for next year already.

    Shaun Pedley
    Our Joe-L

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