Originally Posted by
Kilo818
Fishing the California aqueduct
I would like to start off by saying I am not a pro aqueduct fisher I have only fished the duct for about 4 years I got really busy and haven't fished it for 2 years. Now I am starting again and I want to share with everyone who wants to fish the duct or has been fishing it with no luck I will share with you the tackle I use and how I use them I will not share any specific spots because fellow fishers and I have worked hard to find them trough trial and error and I really don't want every spot to become what the gates off of golf coarse rd. have become there are over 20 fishers at any given time at that place. again I am no pro but these are the things that work for me. First I will give a list of all the tackle I use.
Tackle:
KPN lipless crank bait
KPN Top water
Zoom flukes
Lucky Craft pointer ( 95,100,128)
Super spook
Zara spook
I fish the duct usually at nights I try to get there before sunset and fish all night to about 4 am that's when I have had the best luck there are people who fish early morning and afternoon and have luck also. The key to the duct is not to fish one spot for over an hour if you are not getting bites move on. What I recommend you do is plan out a couple of spots before your trip go to the furthest and work you way back. If one spot is producing then you should continue to fish it until the bite dies off then move on to the next spot. I usually like to fish when the gates are open and the water is flowing stripers love fast moving water. The fish I have personally caught from the duct have been stripers, large mouths, and catfish there are reports of carp and blue hills in the duct but I have never fished for them my main target are the stripers.
I fish the duct year round hot summers and cold winters it will produce all year long with some months better then other months now let get back to the tackle and fishing.
KPN lipless crank bait
Cast it up stream about a foot or two from the other side and start reeling it you are working the lure as it is going down the other side to the middle to your side reel in slow reel in fast reel in medium until you figure out what the fish want that day. On really cold days reel very slow.
KPN TW, Super Spook, Zara Spook:
Cast to the other side of the duct let it sit until the ripples go away and start the walk the dog retrieve. The walk the dog retrieve is very effective when the fish are feeding from the surface or if your lucky you can chase boils. Walk the dog you pretty much retrieve and twitch your rod side ways this causes the bait to work its way back towards you in a side to side action you can watch YouTube video for more info practice makes perfect.
Zoom Flukes:
I fish the flukes in 2 different ways both ways have been effective for me on way I would hook the flukes weightless cast to the other side and start retrieving in a twitching way a lot of twitching.
The other way I fish flukes is I rig them to a half ounce or a 1oz buck tail cast and wait for it to sink and I start hoping the bottom this is very effective when the fish are on the bottom of the duct usually when really cold or very hot stripers hate the heat.
When you buy the flukes most of the time they bend in the packs they come in due to shipping all you have to do is boil some water put them in there for 15-20 seconds and that will make them straight do not leave them in for more then 20 seconds they will start to kind of melt one you do that they are fixed and I feel you get better action as it softens the plastic a bit.
Lucky Craft Pointer:
Cast to the other side of the duct and jerk it 2 times wait about 20 seconds jerk it 2 times again and so on. This I one of the most effective lures for me.
Bait & Wait
Chicken liver
Anchovies
Sardines
Chicken liver:
I would recommend a size 1 treble hook for the liver it stays on better depending on the water flow you can put some weight on your line or you can do it weightless both ways produce stripers and catfish.
Anchovies and sardines :
I cut them in half and hook them again depending on the flow you can add a weight or fish it weight less both catfish and stripers will go after your bait.
Rod & Line
I recommend 7' medium to heavy rod
Minimum 15 pound line (mono or braid)
For TW I use 30 pound braid
That pretty much covers everything I know about the duct. Again this is what works for me people are successful using other methods and tackle go out there and get em.
Most important people please pick up your trash we don't want the state to run us out.
If you have any questions please feel free to contact me publicly or private message and please send me pictures of your catches.