Been fishing 3-4 times a week after work still . good bite these days early morning and when the sun is ready to set . Lots of large mouths , have never caught so many and in all the same spots where stripers are holding . 18 inch large mouth and 18 inch striper at the exit of a siphon with the lure hitting the exact same spot. Tried top water last night for the first time , looks promising had a large mouth chase the lure up to my feet. Using lures no bait at this time and plenty of nice size fish.Watch out for those crazy birds , flock of them flew over and it looked like it was raining crap...yea it was rain bird shit.

 

I see people talk about siphons & grates all the time. What are those & how do you identify them? I went Friday night around 9pm to 1am & not one bite. Man that was hard to drive along the MEndota at night. I only threw lures at Safeway & the Farm since that was the only areas I was famiiar with fishing there during the day. Guess I will have to explore during the day again

 

Still more of these bass . next fish from the exact same spot and I mean exact was a striper. Both were 16 inchers. Two days before it was a 19 18 and 16 inch stripers and bass in 15 minutes. This time change is cutting into the fishing time after work !

 

I wish I could find some largemouth up there. Been trying at clifton & no luck. Went up Friday & caught 4 stripers between 16-18" at the Mendota. No luck at the Ca Aquaduct.

 

What times do they seem to be hitting at Mendota. Ive been throwing lures but nothing seems to be hitting...?

 

I was using the 128 in american shad. It was my favorite one, but lost it when I got to lose to those floating buoys last time. The detail on those are crazy.
Try some Zoom flukes with a 3/4 jig head in white

 

Yea ok thanks a lot and how will the colder weather affect the bite?

 

Sounds good ...thanks for the tips!!!!

 

NP. Good luck & remember to concentrate before or after bends. Also gates & bridges right now since its still warm. Move on to the next gate after a period of no bites.

 

hey what aqueduct you fishing at like to meet up sometime bro

 

I generally go to the Tracy area. I actually only have another week or two of fishing since Im having surgery on my elbow in December. Trying to decide if my last fishing day or 2 is going to be the duct or should I go LMB in Byron.

What areas do you go to?

 

****** NOTICE ******

Went out this morning on the Mendota Canal, between Lammers and Hansen Rd. The Water Management guy stopped to tell me that they are going to enforce the NO TRESPASSING on the canal. He said the fine is $800 and is going to be enforced by the Game Warden.

I guess they've been having problems with people driving their cars onto the landings and they've had run ins where the police have been called.

Has anyone else heard of this? I don't want to find out by getting caught fishing beyond the yellow posts. Pretty expensive fishing

I've caught a majority of my fish on the Mendota and fish there 90% of the time. I guess I'll have to find "New Spots" on the Cali, which I still believe is ok to fish and ride my scooter on.

 

****** NOTICE ******

Went out this morning on the Mendota Canal, between Lammers and Hansen Rd. The Water Management guy stopped to tell me that they are going to enforce the NO TRESPASSING on the canal. He said the fine is $800 and is going to be enforced by the Game Warden.

I guess they've been having problems with people driving their cars onto the landings and they've had run ins where the police have been called.

Has anyone else heard of this? I don't want to find out by getting caught fishing beyond the yellow posts. Pretty expensive fishing

I've caught a majority of my fish on the Mendota and fish there 90% of the time. I guess I'll have to find "New Spots" on the Cali, which I still believe is ok to fish and ride my scooter on.

The water guy came up to me last week when I was at the farm. My buddy had driven his car on the road. He said we couldnt drive our car on the canal to fish. We took it as we can fish there, just not drive the car on the road.

 

On a high note. On my way back to my truck, caught 5 16" to 19" Stripers, going to miss the Mendota. I know that like the back of my hand.

 

Not sure if I want to fish on the Mendota and given a $800 fine. Hopefully I'll see a game warden on the Cali and I'll ask him. Caught 4 16" stripers on the Cali today

 

:flyfish:

 

Damn Spell check on my phone.

 

Parked between safeway and mountain house and was asked to move by the water dept. , not leave just to keep the road way clear. Previously was told to move my car from the levee at the farm and no driving was allowed ,that was about a year ago .Have had no issues when walking in and fishing. Was the fishing slower this week or was i just using the wrong lures?

 

Parked between safeway and mountain house and was asked to move by the water dept. , not leave just to keep the road way clear. Previously was told to move my car from the levee at the farm and no driving was allowed ,that was about a year ago .Have had no issues when walking in and fishing. Was the fishing slower this week or was i just using the wrong lures?

Went out yesterday evening to the gates at Bethany. Really slow, had 2 bites including the one 17" Striper I caught. Hopefully someone will run into a GW and ask if its ok to fish the Mendota. It seems I catch more fish there then the Cali.

 

I couldn't believe how low the water was at Bethany. I never seen it that low. The cove near the gates was almost dry. That might be the reason fishing in the Cali is slow. No Water, No Fish

 

5 stripers 12 to 19 inches in 40 minutes , gates were open half way and the water was moving. Lots of sun and stained water . Was approached by water management employee who informed me that the game warden is issuing tickets to those fishing past the yellow gates on the mendota. Any one actually heard from a warden yet ?

 

Was approached by water management employee who informed me that the game warden is issuing tickets to those fishing past the yellow gates on the mendota. Any one actually heard from a warden yet ?

I haven't been out there in a week. Spent the last week fishing in Hawaii. Caught at least one fish a day, standing on the reef in waist deep water is way different then standing on the edge of the canal. I'm interested if anyone has spoken to the GW as well. I heard the fine is $800

 

Hows the fishing been lately....Is everything starting to slow down????

 

The fishing has slowed for the smaller ones ,most are around 17 to 21 inches .The last three days have been catching keepers ,seems to be a better bite while the sun is out.Mendota has been flowing hard and heavier lures are hitting ,have gone to 1/2 and 3/4 ounce lures to deal with the extra water flow. Hit 2 sets of gates and nothing the third gate gave up 6 fish in 30 minutes with 4 over 18 inches .use to give up on the duct in the winter ,stopped using bait and found that they bite year round depending on the lures used. Hair raiser and swim shads .

 

I think I know whats going on! a few months ago someone blew up the new bathroom at Bethany with an actual bomb and it leveled the whole structure. The FBI even came to investigate so ever since then the sheriff has been patrolling Bethany. my brother got rolled up on a few nites ago there and they told them about it. so thats probably why they are cracking down on the mendota. been out to the cali a few times the last two weeks and no bites.

 

My brother was out on the mendota and some guy fishing on top of the gates was ready to fight the water district employee when told to get off the gates . Could be contributing as well to the sheriff dept limiting access since they are the ones that have to respond out there. Slow fishing over the last couple of weeks but the ones caught have been in the 18 plus size with fewer little guys.next week will worm up a bit ,hope it picks up the bite.

 

Leave it a few Knuckleheads to ruin it for everyone. Haven't been out in a while. I guess I better get used to the Cali.

 

I've fished Mendota before with no issues. It's always a few individuals that ruin it for everyone.

 

No bites lately on the mendota. Been hitting it after work for 10 to 20 minutes and only one little guy in 4 tries. Caught a 22 incher at los vaqueros while fishing for trout . So much for the fishing report for the lake ,it was 5 landed and 4 missed bites. Quite different fishing a lake for stripers than the aquaducts . And they dont fight nearly as hard from the lake.:flyfish:

 

Haven't been out for a long time. I too have been fishing for trout at Los Vaqueros and Shadow Cliffs. Few trout caught. I miss fishing the Mendota and Cali. Got to get back to it

 

Went back to an old spot next to work . Got a visit from the game warden while fishing the mendota past the yellow gates.All was good,he stated that walking in and fishing is ok . Told him about the sheriff running me off the mendota at bird rd .Apparently the sheriffs dept is the one that gets called in to handle those that tresspass on the gates and intimidate the water dist employees.So they enforce in a differnt manner to remove the possability of getting called out there. Anyway got two missed two more in about 20 minutes. The bites is coming back and the flow has slowed on the mendota.:icon_thumright:

 

went out to the mendota yesterday evening for about an hour and got bites on every cast and caught a 19 inch striper on chicken liver about 30 minutes in. also went to the cali a few days ago with no luck but a guy fishing next to me said him and his buddy limited out a few days earlier on chicken liver. seems like the action is starting to pick up!

 

Barn Thanks for the heads up. Makes it a little easier to fish on the Mendota. Went on Sat afternoon, caught one pretty slow though. Hope to go out next week

 

Fished a little on monday,with a flu raging .yea not to smart but i was going crazy sitting at home.Caught one LMB and missed a couple of bites . Really slow retrieve . The game warden that stopped by (yea 2 visits in 4 days ) said the bite is on between tracy and westly.

 

Sunday finally fished in the morning .started st 8:30 and finished at 9:30. Three stripers over 18 inches and 5 close to 18 inches. Found a school sitting at an old spot then they moved and could not find the school again. Will have to try again in the morning next weekend. Can't call in sick at work since I as actually sick last week.