Hesperia Duct

[M@M]

Fished the portion from siphon marked 401.05 to bridge at Los Flores RD marked
402.6 from 8:30am to 1:30. First time I've seen no current, water was like glass much of the time today, a very light wind from time to time. I was surprised. Water has always been moving very fast every other time Ive been here. Still I have yet to get as much as a bite!
Only thing I saw moving in the water was a catfish a little over a foot long. I thought it was dead (floating) but than it tried to swim a bit. It was definitely injured and dying. Water doesn't really seem very deep 10ft?? Anyway I tried RattleTraps
3/4,and 1oz.(silver with black top/red chin) storm shad (pearl)3in? a chartreuse/white 2oz bucktail and a couple other lures I'm not sure what their names are. One was for topwater(mostly white)and a larger swimbait (4in?) I found at Silverwood. Anyway same result. No bite. Really feels different with no current. I may go back tomorrow and take another pole and try some anchovies. There may be a reason I hardly ever see anyone fishing here??

[cutbait]

Keep at it. Your doing it right. You fished 1.1 miles. Thats a lot of water covered

I suggest a fluke on a 1/4-1/2 head. {darterhead}

Middle of the day is generally tough

Your paying your dues and it will pay off

Good luck

[M@M]

Keep at it. Your doing it right. You fished 1.1 miles. Thats a lot of water covered

I suggest a fluke on a 1/4-1/2 head. {darterhead}

Middle of the day is generally tough

Your paying your dues and it will pay off

Good luck

Thanks for the help.
I had to look to see what a fluke was I've still got a lot to learn.
What would you suggest, a white or pearl like color??

[cutbait]

Both, they're like 3 dollars a pack.

Work'em on top, bottom, twitch em, weightless. See what the fish want.

In conjunction of the other stuff your throwing

[gletemfeelsteelgary]

keep at it, the water in most regions is generally 12-14ft deep till it hits the transistion where it slopes up.

seems like your using the right stuff....like cutbait says try different things at different depths till you find the action...and it will very likely be spread out.

1.1 miles isn't really that much area to walk honestly when it comes to the duct, I generally put at least 3 miles on ea. outing most likely more !

I've never fished those regions out there but I plan on putting a weekend in on it sometime soon to explore it.

I find it real hard to beleive there arent' stripers around there.....there has to be !!!


They are tough customers and prevail through many different obstacles, you know they've past through there to get to silverwood and DVL and such lakes.

The fish tend to be deep in the water column out in AV maybe commit and hour each outing to diffrent water collumns to find the average depth of stripey but I'd lay odds it will be in the deeper slices of the water collum..

I'd suggest maybe a bait pole with a clicker out to see if they are there and sluggish and fish the hell outa the zones with the array of lures you mention above...

Furthermore, try at night.....into the morning light....gonna be cold but ya gotta PAY....if ya want ta PLAY !

Good luck...also check my aqueduct lure post, it may help add insight on how to work your lures ...

nail 'em !!!!! ....go out and try again !....

It's like the lotto...."ya can't win it....if you aint in it !"

[Nessie Hunter]

Cool!!!

I have walked and fished that area (even past there to the end) many times.
Havnt been there in quite a while though...

Only place I have seen or caught fish is at the beginning at the siphon..

[Lipripper93561]

The duct is just one of those places that you have to put the time in, make a habit of being mobile, covering large areas of water, and fishing different depths.

[M@M]

keep at it, the water in most regions is generally 12-14ft deep till it hits the transistion where it slopes up.

seems like your using the right stuff....like cutbait says try different things at different depths till you find the action...and it will very likely be spread out.

1.1 miles isn't really that much area to walk honestly when it comes to the duct, I generally put at least 3 miles on ea. outing most likely more !

I've never fished those regions out there but I plan on putting a weekend in on it sometime soon to explore it.

I find it real hard to beleive there arent' stripers around there.....there has to be !!!


They are tough customers and prevail through many different obstacles, you know they've past through there to get to silverwood and DVL and such lakes.

The fish tend to be deep in the water column out in AV maybe commit and hour each outing to different water columns to find the average depth of stripey but I'd lay odds it will be in the deeper slices of the water columns

I'd suggest maybe a bait pole with a clicker out to see if they are there and sluggish and fish the hell outa the zones with the array of lures you mention above...

Furthermore, try at night.....into the morning light....gonna be cold but ya gotta PAY....if ya want ta PLAY !

Good luck...also check my aqueduct lure post, it may help add insight on how to work your lures ...

nail 'em !!!!! ....go out and try again !....

It's like the lotto...."ya can't win it....if you aint in it !"

Thanks Gary for the help. I'm still real new to this. I don't know what you mean by water columns (different depths are columns?) and how do I learn the depth and control it (by my retrieve? weight of lures?) Can I do this even with fast current? I had to look up what a clicker is tooI still use spinning reels. Will this work for now? 7' Ugly Stick medium action/Penn 550SSg reel for lures and a 8' BPS Powerstick/Daiwa Emcast sport 4500 reel for bait and wait. The more I fish. The more I realize how much I have to learn. I read your aqueduct post (with diagrams) and am sure I'll be reading it at least a few more times. Thanks to all of you that share your knowledge with me. It's appreciated!! I'll keep trying! If you ever make it to this area I'll be happy to share all my knowledge with you...... Oh yeah........ all I know is how to get there!! Thanks, Mike


Just read your aqueduct lure post again! I was a bit confused first time I read it...last week. Now I get it! Answered a lot of the above questions. I'm a little slow sometimes, but I'll get it!!

[M@M]

Cool!!!

I have walked and fished that area (even past there to the end) many times.
Havnt been there in quite a while though...

Only place I have seen or caught fish is at the beginning at the siphon..

Nessie Hunter,
That's a GOOD walk!!.... Have you ever been out there at night??......By the way ....I took your advice from one of my previous post and exchanged my BPS Off Shore Angler Gold Cup reel for a Daiwa. It's the Emcast sport 4500. Like you said, for the same price. Thanks, I'm happy with it!

[gletemfeelsteelgary]

Thanks Gary for the help. I'm still real new to this. I don't know what you mean by water columns (different depths are columns?) and how do I learn the depth and control it (by my retrieve? weight of lures?) Can I do this even with fast current? I had to look up what a clicker is tooI still use spinning reels. Will this work for now? 7' Ugly Stick medium action/Penn 550SSg reel for lures and a 8' BPS Powerstick/Daiwa Emcast sport 4500 reel for bait and wait. The more I fish. The more I realize how much I have to learn. I read your aqueduct post (with diagrams) and am sure I'll be reading it at least a few more times. Thanks to all of you that share your knowledge with me. It's appreciated!! I'll keep trying! If you ever make it to this area I'll be happy to share all my knowledge with you...... Oh yeah........ all I know is how to get there!! Thanks, Mike


Just read your aqueduct lure post again! I was a bit confused first time I read it...last week. Now I get it! Answered a lot of the above questions. I'm a little slow sometimes, but I'll get it!!

The water column is basically depth, for example if you were to take a 14’ deep aqueduct, and slice it up in say….4 pcs…..each of those zones would be a column….you could slice it in as many pcs as you choose but this allows you to reference the depth you fish in relation to the overall depth no matter how deep or shallow…

For example….if I caught a fish near the bottom or say 2’ up off the bottom, I’d say I was targeting the lower water column….if I got em on top, I’d reference it was the upper water column…

You can also use the the term “register” that would apply too…

I would say for example….I was the lower register of the the duct….

Anyway..that should clarify it…

As for gear, spinning gear will work just fine but in my opinion I think you get much more control, power and sensitivity with a baitcasting (or conventional) reel.

Stout gear is a plus for the hookset and battling and controlling a big fish….medium action spinning will do fine for the time being but as you get more serious about attacking the ducts I’d recommend a medium heavy with a fair to great quality baitcasting reel.

I use a shimano Crucual 7 ½ Medium heavy with a fast tip and a Shimano Curado reel but it doesn’t need to absolutely be the more expensive gear….power and sensitivity are what your looking for…

At minimum 15 lb test flourocarbon or copolymer line.

As far as gauging the depths and how to control the depths..

I won’t delve into the faster current ideologies at this point since we have few limited days left with flow at this point of the year (in my opinion !)

To gauge the overall depth, using a 1 ounce rattletrap type lure, cast out in the dead center of the duct where it will be deepest….

Once the lure hits the water…with slack in the line, as soon as it makes contact with the water, start counting as it sinks….a 1 ounce lure of that type will have a rough decent of about 1 foot per second…..if you count to 14 and the lure hits bottom…it’s 14’ deep and so on and so on…..

Now, with this being said….if you want to vary your depth, now that you know the overall depth, you can stop it at any particular count you like, being sure you count at a roughly true 1 second per count rate…

Count to 8……..the lure will begin it’s retrieve at 8’….

You really just have to work with rates of retrieve to find the right rate to “KEEP” the lure running that depth consistently and it’s CRUCIAL to PAY ATTENTION to the counts you use and the rates of retrieve cause when a strike happens, you need to have made a mental note of what you were doing to make the lure run at the depth you got struck at…

Other wise you won’t be able to reproduce what you successfully did in any regularity…

Anyway, study what I stated, it’ll take a while to really sink in to where it’s second nature but the more you prepare your self the better you’ll feel about spending hours in the efforts ! (mentally approach and gear wise).

I’d strongly suggest wrapping your head way around the aqueduct lure method post, that will get you fish if you truly apply it.

Good luck and this concludes this novel : )
Gary

Oh yeah...P.S.
What I am reffering to when I say clicker is that of a baitcasting reel with a clicker...cast it out and let it sit with the clicker on so the fish can take it and you hear the clicker...plus, if you just leave a bait pole out while your fishing a lure, odds are that when a toad comes a knocking, he's gonna rip that pole right into the water....aqueduct stripey are mean motha's !