# A Ricketts Point Pinkie Muster



## PoddyMullet (Aug 29, 2005)

A midweek day off, and a morning check of BoM had me postponing home maintenance for another day and taking my lazy arse down to Ricketts to see what was about. First up I noticed parking fee's have risen to $7 for the day....I guess we're going to get straighter lines and a better class of blacktop for our bucks from now on :roll:. Still, being on water isn't a time to mumble and grumble....so the fishing began with a bunch of pinkies around the 30-35cm size. Interestingly one of these fella's was living with a hook in his side....kind of illustrated whinging about fee increases is a bit rich. Also made me wonder about the current fashion which questions the effectiveness of C&R methods citing high mortality rates of released fish :?: I continued to mooch my thundersticks around in light SW chop and a filling tide, hoiking up a 46cm fella who really tested my cheap and nasty Aldi combo...geez did he bend that light rod and make the tussle a heap of fun. A few more smaller chaps came aboard, and then a 43cm fella again put Aldi through it's paces. The chop turned to glass with the wind going Easterly, and just as I thought the fishing had died another 46cm fella was reeled in. The area between the Beau Yacht Club and Surf Club about 100m out from the park seemed most productive, and left me driving away with an urban fisho's smile


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## PoddyMullet (Aug 29, 2005)




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## PoddyMullet (Aug 29, 2005)




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## PoddyMullet (Aug 29, 2005)




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## Peril (Sep 5, 2005)

That's more than a fair effort Poddy. Well done.

What a feed


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## whoohoo (Feb 3, 2006)

Well done mate, good posting! I'm an ex Melbournian and I know the Ricketts Point area, especially the Tea Room courtesy of my dearly beloved :roll: . Unfortunately have never fished the area with my yak but have fished it shore based using one of my radio contolled fishing boats which I manufacture.


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## Dodge (Oct 12, 2005)

Knowing how big a rear well is in the yak there is only one thing to say...you lucky bastard Poddy, up here fish like that are about $30 kg, so you have more than covered your $7 parking.

We are fee free at the moment [except some surf beaches], so are parking fees common in yakking launch areas down your way?


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## fishbrain (Oct 19, 2005)

Nice 1 poddy  , They test the tackle out indeed . cheers fishbrain


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## Davey G (Jan 15, 2006)

they're not pinkies where I come from.....

they're monsters! 8)

well done...


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## andybear (Jan 15, 2006)

Fantastic Poddy

In my book thats a years worth of fish! Well done! :lol: :lol:

Cheers Andybear :lol:


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## rawprawn (Aug 31, 2005)

Good one Poddy


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## Squidder (Sep 2, 2005)

Poddy, it's INCREDIBLE how you keep pulling great pinkies from PPB on HBs, even though it's winter :!: :!: 
Well done mate.


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## Shoey (Aug 30, 2005)

Great effort Rob. Im putting in a request for some photos of some nice King George Whiting, I really miss fishing for those guys.


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## Milt (Sep 2, 2005)

Gideee up what a fantastic haul of pinkys, well done mate!!! Where's RodL surelly this will excite him too? :shock: :shock: :shock:

Milt,


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## troppo (Feb 1, 2006)

andybear said:


> Fantastic Poddy
> 
> In my book thats a years worth of fish! Well done! :lol: :lol:
> 
> Cheers Andybear :lol:


I have the same book as Andybear. 

So, top fishing effort, Poddymullet. The fish are huge and would have been awesome fun. Well done indeed.

Okay, what's for tea?


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## YakAtak (Mar 13, 2006)

Yumm Yummmms, that's an awesome feed by anyone's standards, great stuff poddy, and thanks for sharing. :wink:


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## Scott (Aug 29, 2005)

Onya Rob, a top effort. A mate I used to bream fish Hen and Chicken Bay with had a way around those parking ticket machines. Before leaving home he would write a note for the rangers he would put on his windscreen. It read;

Sorry I tried to pay for my parking but all of the machines were inoperable. All he had to do when he got there was jam bits of paddle pop stick in the coin slots. He got away with it for years which used to crack me up as I was one of these guys that run around petrol stations looking for a heap of gold coins to feed these machines at 5 oÃ¢â‚¬â„¢clock of a morning.

Catch ya Scott


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## Blaen (Jul 4, 2006)

Poddy, having not yet caught a Snapper of any size all I can say is I am jealous!!!!!!!!! :roll:

NIce fish and that guy with the hook hanging out really does make you think about it. :shock:


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## hoit (Aug 29, 2005)

Great catch Poddy. I still don't know how you manage to catch Pinkies on HB's this time of year. I haven't had one touch on HB's the last three times I have been to Ricketts.

Your lethargic style of paddling must be the go during winter :wink: :lol: :wink: I will have to copy your style next time IÃ¢â‚¬â„¢m out. BTW what HBÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s are working for you at the moment.

Regards
Grant


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## Breambo (Apr 19, 2006)

Gee thats a nice catch there.
That first photo is a ripper.
I bet they tasted good


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## PoddyMullet (Aug 29, 2005)

Thank's for the akff goodwill (and parking tips) gents, much appreciated :wink:  I'm not sure why they're about and hacking at Hb's (I always thought they went slow in winter), but who am I to question what's about. If it's KG pics you're after Shoey ya may want to jump on another yak...I'm yet to land one (although if ya pissed I can try and pass off a pike as a KG) :roll: Hoit, the Storm Deep Thundersticks (9cm) in either metallic silver/black or walleye colours both seem to work best for me ATM on a slow troll, tied to 4kg Mono leader. I'm also running a heap of line out the back. For bait fisho's I noticed a couple of em had been into a feed of crabs. The arvo incoming tide with a little S to SW chop also seems to help out getting them frisky (although I'll have another half arse theory next week if ya give me time :!: ). I'm off to buy some paddle pops.


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## Mushi (Aug 31, 2005)

Great work Poddy, you're certainly in form this winter  I'm sure someone has asked you before, but what camera do you use? Great pics as always 8)

Interesting about the C&R topic. A couple of years back, i actually was lucky enough to get a gurnsey in a field study looking at C&R mortality on pinkies. We were catching them stinkboat style on Corio Bay. Things like location of hooking and amount of damage were recorded for each fish. Just need to find out what actually happened with the results!


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## PhilipL (Apr 15, 2006)

Nice catch Poddy. Geez they look plump. Great pics too.


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## Rod L (Aug 29, 2005)

Too good Poddy! Well done mate. As Milt suggested, you have got me a tad excited (geez I must be getting predictable  )
It's amaizing how many mid week trips produce the goods. All my best days have been on "RDO's".
I'm looking forward to the snapper season, but I hope it comes early cos my wife is due with our second minnow smack in the middle of the season, end of October. That will no doubt put the brakes on a tad.


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## Kevin (Aug 29, 2005)

Hi Poddy,

Top effort. I'll be sitting in your wake next time you head out. I have a few days in leiu up my sleeve as I've been away a bit.

I'm currently typing this from the Dubai airport (on my way home) with a few people looking curiously over my shoulder at your snapper - every one else here is typing to loved ones (I've already done my bit there) or looking at girlie pictures (or as much as they can despite the airport net filter).


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## troppo (Feb 1, 2006)

Kevin, good to see you have your priorities right.


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## hoit (Aug 29, 2005)

Well after wimping out of the gummy trip yesterday I thought I would keep a low profile on my planned trip to Ricketts today.

I must say PoddyÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s haul had given me some motivation but the 5am alarm soon nullified that. I struggled out of bed and checked BoM in the hope it would give me an excuse to go back to bed.

Hmmm Fawkner Beacon was registering 0 knots and the 256 km Melbourne Radar was showing no rain. It looks like I had no excuses.

I launched at 6.30am from the Yacht Club and made good use of my navigation light. I was on a mission to catch a Pinkie on a HB so I trolled a Manns Stretch 5+ which Poddy had bought for me. There was not one touch on the troll down to Ricketts Point.

It was now just starting to get light and I swapped the HB for my reliable Berkley Realistix SPÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s. In 15 minutes I had notched up 4 Pinkies all over 32cm. The best was 41cm which I kept for dinner. Then it went quiet. After Ã‚Â½ hour of no action I decided to try some Stimulate. I caught 3 small pinkies on my next 3 casts. I then saw two kayaks in the distance but I wasnÃ¢â‚¬â„¢t about to move. I caught another 5 small pinkies and then decided to be sociable and paddle over to Squidder and Squidette.

After a brief chat we paddled back to my mark but the pinkies have moved on. Even the Stimulate didnÃ¢â‚¬â„¢t work this time so I guess the jury is still out on its effectiveness.

I then resumed my mission to catch a Pinkie on a HB. I swapped the Manns Stretch 5+ for the EcoGear SX40, then a Rapala Magnum & then a Rex Hunt special in sheer desperation. I paddled the entire length of the marine park (100m outside as per PoddyÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s instructions) and didnÃ¢â‚¬â„¢t get a touch. I kept telling myself paddle slowly but nobody can paddle as slowly as Poddy.

I reckon Poddy is going to have a number of Mangoes shadowing him next trip to crack the HB code.

Regards
Grant


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## Peril (Sep 5, 2005)

Well done on the pinkies Grant. No need for hbs when you do so well on sps


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## PoddyMullet (Aug 29, 2005)

Rod, well done setting up an extra little fisho....if they're born in snapper season then it's a snapper fisho they will be. That would make ya Old Man Snapper, and no doubt with some great head shakes when they hit 15 yo. Hope it all goes smoothly 

Mushi, I'm using a Kodak DX7590 (not waterproof). With it I use two dry bags (one inside another) and always have my Roller Disco beach Towel about to wipe my hands on. The photo editing I do using Picasa, but will one day get my hands on Photoshop. I'm really interested in your opinions on C&R mortality rates....how species specific they are etc. Prepare an ear to be pinged at some stage :wink:

Kevin, those behind ya at the airport may have been a little concerned about ya mixing girly pics with fish pics. Me thinks there was a run on people having the chicken on Flight QN 674 :wink:  Catch ya soon (although we're away this weekend at Lake Tyers).

Grant, well done on dinner. Well done on any pinkies with the glassy water...I've been struggling when it's like that and maybe that's when the extra finesse of the Sp's comes into it's own. Given I'm a clown with the Sp's and bait I think I'll also adopt riding the coat tails of some Mango's to see what goes on. This may result in a large Cha-Cha line of paddlers doing circle work...if this happens I'll stick my dirty jocks in the middle with a bit of detergent for an annual clean. That should clear the boat traffic :shock: 8)


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## Milt (Sep 2, 2005)

Excellent work Grant and some top pics as well!!!

Must catch up one of these days.
Poddy i know declare thee:
*Squid* master Jason
*Pinkie* master Grant
*Hard body* "guru" master Poddy
*Paddle* master Kevin

Milt,


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## Squidder (Sep 2, 2005)

Great pics grant - grant was kind enough not to mention that squidette and I scored a donut on the day...no fish, no squid, and not even a single hit or lost tail on the sps.  We missed the dawn bite that Grant scored his fish on.

However, we were determined to bring home the chocolates, so after a drive back home and quick cuppa we were back on the road again, bound for Shoreham in WPB, and eagerly anticipating some leatherjacket action. There was a tricky shore break to negotiate, however we managed to get out and back in again without incident, thankfully. I think I have done something to offend the fish gods, aside from a few small wrasse and lost baits we didn't catch anything of note. And to top it all off the ocean swells made us both feel a bit queasy and we pulled the pin early to avoid losing our lunch. A bit frustrating considering that we'd spent the whole day fishing two different and distant locations for little result, but as always it was nice to be paddling, and squidette enjoyed her first taste of surf launching without meeting the sand monster. :wink:


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## Kevin (Aug 29, 2005)

Grant,

It's fortunate that you have your SP skills as it is appearing very dificult to emulate Poddy's HB success.

Jason,

Sorry to hear your big effort with fishing the two bays didn't pay off with putting something on the plate. But top effort to you and especially Michelle on getting in and out intact at Shoreham in what sounds like not ideal conditions. I always check the swell size before committing to a trip down that way.


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