As most of you know the CA aqueduct has become my albatross. I have fished it several times, hooked into 2 stripers but didn’t land them so I had a big fat Zero at the duct, until this past Saturday.
By the way, for those who don’t know, the CA Aqueduct is a 715 mile long cement river that serves as drinking water for a lot of California. It runs from the San Joaquin-Sacramento River Delta at the Banks Pumping Plant and heads south. The aqueduct then divides into three branches: the Coastal Branch in the Central Valley; and the East- and West-Branches after passing over the Tehachapi Mountains.
Anyhow, this past Saturday I hooked up with a couple friends of mine, Zoli, and Chris went out on yet another quest to attempt to kill my duct skunk. The weather was cold, cloudy with a little bit of rain and windy, striper weather as my friend Zoli calls so off we ventured.
We started out at the west end of the Antelope Valley at 280th and worked out way east. Throwing Zoom Flukes, Magnum Rattle Trap, Lucky Crafts and buck tail jigs we proceeded to beat the water to a froth. I had the first bite of the day on a 128 Pointer but after a couple seconds it came unbuttoned, very shortly there after Zoli hooked up and landed one. Then the bite died at that spot so we proceed east.
At the next spot I get bit, hookup and land my first duct striper! The skunk is finally dead! Then Zoli catches one, then Chris, then Zoli, then Chris. Me, I got bit a couple times but they came unbuttoned. The same thing happened to the other guys as the fish were hitting lightly. The fish are here! Then it just died so we continue east onto the next spots. Since we took Chris’s lifted 4 wheel drive Silverado, which proved tricky getting into with my recently replaced knee, we were able to get into a couple spots that I cant get my 2 wheel drive lowered Silverado Street truck into but at least on that day they didn’t produce.
Working quite a few more spots going as far east as Sierra Highway for nothing we decide to go back and give the hot spot we were at earlier another try so back westward we go and Zoli puts on a “How to catch Duct Stripers” clinic. The dude definitely has the duct dialed in. He caught 3 more while Chris and I continued to get bit but just couldn’t seem to hook them. Then just like before the striper just shut off.
By now the wind is picking up, that combined with the light drizzle its getting pretty cold so we decide to call it a day. I got 2, Chris got 3 and Zoli ended up with 6. Thanks to the guys I got to take home 8 for the freezer. After getting home I spend the next hour filleting and vacuum sealing the gonna be tasty fish. I forgot to take a picture of all 8 of them but I did take 1 of the 2 that I caught. I’m not sure how much they weighed, not even close to being DD’s, double digits, but decent fish. All of them were between 23-26 inches
Below is a picture of my 2 just before hitting the fillet board and knife!
Thanks for visiting my site. Be sure to tell all of your fishing buddies and come back soon.
Until Next Time, Good Luck and Tight Lines To Ya!
Just ground clearance in areas. As to the 8 fish, in the AV area, starting at Quail Lake, the limit is 10, not 2 like in Bakersfield, and there is no size limit, whatever you feel like cleaning you can keep, as long as you only keep 10 per person
D you need 4×4 or just the ground clearance? 3 guys 8 fish taken home?