Duct Revenge

[yolo]

This will be a combo report. I went Friday late afternoon and hooked a nice one on a 2oz white bucktail in the churning water. It peeled drag and wouldn't stop running down flow and went under a buoy line and I was still watching it peel drag and tried to get my rod under the buoy line and then my 15lb Seagaur snapped. I was pissed and bummed. Water was moving really good and gates 3/4 open.

Fast forward to today. I wanted some revenge and went out in the morning for a short time and nothing. Revenge was still on my mind and I decided to go out in the afternoon again for a little bit. I went back to my old routine of fishing open water instead of the siphons and gates like I have been doing lately and getting skunked like 3 or 4 outings. I took my bike this time and just fished every 1/4 mile or so. Nothing at the first 3 stops and at the mile and a quarter stop I am casting the Lucky Craft Pointer and on the 5th cast, I get a strong hit and it is on. It is putting on a good fight and making several long runs. I actually have to walk the bank and follow it at times. I didn't want it getting too far from me. I finally get it in and grab it with the gripper. Snap a couple of pics and release it. It was dropping milt too.

I fish there for a bit longer and nothing happening. I keep pedaling and stop about another quarter mile away. Still using the LC but nothing. I switch over to a 2oz bucktail and am working the bottom for several minutes. I get a hit on the fall after lifting the tip off the bottom. This one too hit it pretty good and just hooked itself. The fight is on again and this one is hauling butt down flow and not stopping. I am following it on the bank and I get a few cranks in and it keeps running down. I am able to get a few more cranks in and it runs again. Rod tip up because hooked on the jigs, you don't want to lower it for anything. After a few more runs, I am making progress on bringing it in. I have a visual on it as it comes up about mid way. As soon as it came up, it switched direction and was running up flow and diving. We go through this a few times and it finally gives up from exhaustion and it wore me too, lol. This one seemed a little bit bigger than the first one and it just turned on its back. I decided to keep this one. I didn't have a stringer or my scale with me because I took a backpack with the bike and left all the other stuff in my tackle chair/bag. I called it a day and pedaled back a mile and a half to the car holding the fish with the gripper. It was oozing milt the whole ride back. That makes 2 males today. 90% of my previous catches have all been females.

Both of these fish were stocky and strong. Made for a great Sunday afternoon!

http://i370.photobucket.com/albums/oo144/JetSkiJunkie118/Duct%206-14-09/IMG_3183.jpg

http://i370.photobucket.com/albums/oo144/JetSkiJunkie118/Duct%206-14-09/IMG_3186.jpg

http://i370.photobucket.com/albums/oo144/JetSkiJunkie118/Duct%206-14-09/IMG_3187.jpg

http://i370.photobucket.com/albums/oo144/JetSkiJunkie118/Duct%206-14-09/IMG_3187.jpg

[trail blazer]

Wtg yolo!!!!!

[Stormcrow]

Dont call the PoPo cuz the Yolo is up in here!

[vagabond]

very nice catch...

[yolo]

Thanks all. Forgot to mention that it was stuffed with the duct shrimp and moss. Literally hundreds of the shrimp in the gut. It is another food abundant year for the duct. The stripers are going to get fat for the fall and winter like they did last year. Man they have a lot to eat again this year.

Do you Bako guys get the shrimp in the guts too? Many people don't even know all the food that is in the duct. There is billions and billions of the shrimp. All the ones that I have kept since about March have all had s bunch of the shrimp in the gut. Its an easy meal. Just open up and say ahh as there is so much of it in every part of the duct I have fished in the AV.

[xjdesertfox]

is this part of the duct in palmdale? ive tried fishing the duct where it hits 40th street east and where it meets cheseboro rd by the little rock res. and have yet to catch anything.

maybe i just fail?

[trail blazer]

Thanks all. Forgot to mention that it was stuffed with the duct shrimp and moss. Literally hundreds of the shrimp in the gut. It is another food abundant year for the duct. The stripers are going to get fat for the fall and winter like they did last year. Man they have a lot to eat again this year.

Do you Bako guys get the shrimp in the guts too? Many people don't even know all the food that is in the duct. There is billions and billions of the shrimp. All the ones that I have kept since about March have all had s bunch of the shrimp in the gut. Its an easy meal. Just open up and say ahh as there is so much of it in every part of the duct I have fished in the AV.

Seems like the ones i catch north of the buttonwillow area have lots of those small shrimp in them,,,,the ones we catch closer to bakers have more of those 3in smelt or whatever there called,in thelm.

I agree that the duct has had more forage in it the last cpl years then it has ever had!

strange too that your MALE stripers were milting.,,,,ours all seem to have spawn,d out 5 or 6 weeks ago,,,,ive always wonderd if the water cool,d down somewhat as it heads up over TEJON ranch to the A,V< THAT WOULD EXPLAIN THAT!!

WTG again yolo on those FINE stripers

[yolo]

Seems like the ones i catch north of the buttonwillow area have lots of those small shrimp in them,,,,the ones we catch closer to bakers have more of those 3in smelt or whatever there called,in thelm.

I agree that the duct has had more forage in it the last cpl years then it has ever had!

strange too that your MALE stripers were milting.,,,,ours all seem to have spawn,d out 5 or 6 weeks ago,,,,ive always wonderd if the water cool,d down somewhat as it heads up over TEJON ranch to the A,V< THAT WOULD EXPLAIN THAT!!

WTG again yolo on those FINE stripers

Thanks for the 411 on your fish belly contents. I caught a lot with the smelt in them late last year and early this year. water flow has been good this year, maybe too good, lol with all the dislodged green stuff. Conditions were and are ideal this year for a good spawn. I hope they took advantage. So much for the supposed 30% flow cutback from lat years already cut back. I do see lots of small 3 inch sized followers that pop up out of the weeds on the side when my lure goes over them. I could never make out what they are. They are long and slender so they are not the perch plus these things dart out and follow the lure and dart back into the cover. Hope fully small stripers because that would be a good sign.

[yolo]

is this part of the duct in palmdale? ive tried fishing the duct where it hits 40th street east and where it meets cheseboro rd by the little rock res. and have yet to catch anything.

maybe i just fail?

Yeah I fish in Palmdale. Usually Pearblossom Hwy and west of there. Keep at it and you will get one sooner or later. I used to catch nice ones in those areas when I lived out that way, especially Cheseboro.

[xjdesertfox]

Yeah I fish in Palmdale. Usually Pearblossom Hwy and west of there. Keep at it and you will get one sooner or later. I used to catch nice ones in those areas when I lived out that way, especially Cheseboro.

thanks man, i still have a house around pearblossom and 40th so whenever i head up there again i should start trying again, and hopefully i can pull out a decent sized striper soon

[kpn]

Good job nailing those stripers Joli. I was there Wed night with Gary and the conditions were brutal.....
Weed & moss on every cast.

KPN.

[yolo]

Yeah the water running has been relentless. The weather has been cold and windy too for weeks. The weeds settle down if you are not near the gates and siphons, even with the water moving pretty good. I got fed up of the weeds so this time I ventured to open areas and it paid off. I only got weeds on the jig at times. The crank baits didn't get any weeds farther up in the water column in the open areas.