Devon charter skipper Shaun Pedley joins skipper Scott Belbin for a day’s summer fishing in Essex-based Scott’s home waters of the outer Thames Estuary
I often say that being a charter skipper isn’t just about fishing; it doesn’t matter how good the weather, the fish or the boat may be, it is the people that make or break the day. As a skipper I have the pleasure of meeting countless new people throughout the year. Some are day trips on a one-off trip while staying nearby and others go on to become regulars with me. It always feels a bit special when another skipper joins me for the day; I get to show off what Mersea can offer and chew the fat about being a charter skipper.
One of the many interesting new people I enjoyed meeting aboard the Galloper last year was Shaun Pedley. Shaun is skipper of Our Joe-L based out of Paignton in Devon. Shaun and his family run a B&B alongside their boat and offer angling breaks as well as standard charter trips. Like me, Shaun is a second-generation charter skipper, so we share this in common too. I am certain this helps with understanding what chartering is about. The lads often come back from Devon with tales of great catches and prizes from the Torbay Angling Festival. In addition to this I had also heard about his impressive rowing exploits including holding the record for being the youngest person to row the Atlantic twice! At least if the fishing was slow, we would have plenty to talk about.
I had already heard lots about Shaun from several of the anglers who had fished with both of us over the years. In fact, it was a group of Shaun’s regulars that organised the trip for him to join them while he was visiting Essex. The lads had already enjoyed some very productive days with me on the hounds and bass earlier in the year and hoped to show Shaun some of what Essex sea fishing has to offer. The weather was spot on with a light south-westerly breeze dropping away to nothing later in the day.
It was no surprise, we had wall to wall sunshine as one might expect on Essex’s sunshine coast.
Tony and Malcolm had arranged the trip; they have enjoyed many angling breaks with Shaun and his family-run B&B over the years. Tony had arranged for Shaun to bring up some peeler crab from Devon to add to our ever-growing bait arsenal including squid, ragworm and small hard back shore crabs. With the tide behind us it was only a short steam to our first mark of the day. We anchored our first mark in around 2m of water for the last of the tide. In this shallow water casting away from the boat is necessary, something that isn’t so common in Devon but Shaun didn’t take long to get his eye in. He was soon sending baits towards the horizon along with the rest of the lads. The baits hadn’t been out long when the fi
