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Northern Aqueduct Fishing?

171K views 431 replies 33 participants last post by  barnfield11 
#1 ·
Hi new to the forum and have read alot of the aqueducts from you guys here, but mainly the southern ducts. Seems like you guys got some good fishing down there. Read striper bill website thanks really helpful and informitive stuff you got there. I used to live and work in the Bakersfield area for a couple of years and never knew about the aqueduct system was only 30mins from me. If I only knew back then, Oh well, at least I can still fish the northern ducts. Any of you on the boards ever fish this area, 132 Maze blvd near I-5 near Modesto, Ca.? If any of you do can you give me some pointers or areas where the big ones could be. I've gotten alot of channel cats there and 1 baby striper last Sunday I was using chicken livers and mini night crawlers thats what I got the striper on. Still looking for more stripers. Any info would be helpful im new to this and would help lots.


thanks.
 
#121 ·
Gates were open all the way in the morning. Fishing was great!

Fish gods blessed me today. I caught a total of 7 fish today. But only 5 were keepers. Nice big stripers. I had to leave twice to drop my fish off at home and go back to be able to fish more. lol


These were my first 2 of the day. One big fat 22 incher. The other 18 1/2


Picture of the same two fish. You can see the size difference.


These were my next two of the day. a 20 and 19 1/2 inch catch.


Last one of the day. 18 1/2 incher

The two i threw back were id say about 15 inches.

On my last minnow i had today i had a big one hooked, but that bad boy snapped my line. I think the fish gods were telling me thats enough for the day.
 
#122 ·
I caught a total of 7 fish today. But only 5 were keepers. Nice big stripers. I had to leave twice to drop my fish off at home and go back to be able to fish more. lol.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but don't the 2013 CA striped bass fishing regulations state that there is "a daily bag and possession limit of two fish and a minimum size limit of 18 inches in length"?

Filling your daily bag limit, taking it home, and going back for more the same day is called poaching.
 
#124 ·
Nailed the big ones last night right before sunset . Fished off on of the bridges that let the creeks flow over the canal . Not even a bit off the cement creek. Then went to a spot with my brother that were referring to as the farm .Landed a 24 inch striper on a soft swim shad 3/4 ounce , it hit hard and ran with the current which made landing it hard with the gates 1/2 open on the delta mendota canal. Another 20 minutes later and the same soft bait nailed a huge catfish as soon as it hit the water. My brother tried to net it after ten minutes but missed. Fought it another 10 minutes with 10 lb line on the trout pole until it shook the hook. Great fight and i will try to get it again on monday before the weather turns again tuesday. I never saw the size but my brother said 4 foot when he compared it to the size of the net. Jaws is out there !!!
 
#129 ·
Oh yea it was a battle , the bite is on . Use to fish westley a lot when i lived in ceres , my favorite spot is the gates at the north side of town on the mendota . It's the place that got me hook on the aquaducts .. Good luck tomorrow and keep your toes out of the water ....that big one is still out there.bouncelol.gif
 
#131 ·
went out yesterday eve since it was full moon to see what was going on and it was the right time, 37 stripers hit the dirt and mist another 20, i got 20 my nephew andrew got 17....
we worked 4 gates and 1 siphon, heres some pic of our night nothing of size but fun.






we did have one double hook up



time to go to sleep going back tonight to hit some more zones.. 167 duct stripers YTD for me
 
#137 ·
Those gates being closed all week have really slowed the bite .Went out thursday afternoon and nothing even hit lures or chovies.Stoped after work last night for 20 minutes and landed a 21 incher on a soft crappie swim bait about 3 inches long.Slowed the retreive way down and they started hitting on the fall.Back to Fishermans warehouse for some more swim bait ,i'm thinking of something like a bluegill.
 
#140 ·
Look at the bottom of page 6 .there is a link that gives guidelines for the use of the aquaduct.I have never been asked to leave by any game warden , state employee or law enforcement patrolling the area . There is also bicycle access gates at every fence along the entire California Aquaduct .
 
#141 ·
been doing really good at the duct of late, no real secret just fish around the gates....
lucky crafts, traps and flukes

also don't pass up the irrigation canals that draw water from the delta,
got this one in a small canal. it went 5#


heres a video of the canal that I fished, you can stop watching after the 3rd cast.
 
#143 ·
Nice size catch. checked out your video -didn't look familiar are you fishing south of patterson ? started using lures heavily about two months ago and the amount and size of fish have increased 10 fold. noticed your lure retreive was as soon as it hit the water ? do your lures sink or are they the floating type .. i'm new to these bigger lures and have been trying all types of retreives and shapes .lots of fish in the 21 to 24 inch size and hit and running different spots have produced a loy of fish . Find them in one spot one day and they may be somewhere else the next day.:GrayWingSmiley:
 
#147 ·
Bites have really slowed down on stripers. Ive caught probably 5 keepers in the last 2 months. But the cats are biting now. Caught 3 channel cats and whole lot of bullhead cats. In my area gates have been up all the way in the mornings snd then close completely around noon. then open gradually after that until the night where they open up again.
 
#151 ·
Gates all the way up ,throwing chicken liver at the gates and getting nice fish from . 16 to 26 inch. . Nailed 16 stripers at one gate using liver with a 2 ounce weight. The biggest fish have been coming from the Westly area.only a couple on soft crappie lures,and a nice black bass was a treat to catch.
 
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