Went whipping the California aqueduct this morning and caught a few stripers. Chased the birds and was rewarded with instant action. This was my first experience seeing seagulls diving down on baitfish in here. It was pretty cool.....also, very short-lived. It was a blast, but unfortunately, no keepers. Maybe next time.

777

Where on the Aquaduct were you fishing?

I started by Hwy.33 and worked my way south a mile or so.

777

Where are you based? I hit this area atleast once a month if I can and could use a buddy in the area. I drive over from Morgan Hill or after work from Hollister.
What did you get the ones you caught on?

Tight lines,
Wade

Tight lines,
Wade

Wade, thanks for the fishing advice regarding the DM. I'll definitely apply them as soon as I get a chance to return there. Although I used to mainly baitfish the aqueduct, lately I've been luring it religiously using 1/4-3/8 oz. shad swimbaits. Do you know if these aqueduct Stripers can be caught on lures in the Winter? I'm sure their metabolism slows down in the cold, but It's been so much fun using plastics that I feel reluctant to switch to baitfishing. I'm just beginning to learn the aqueducts after fishing it for so long.
I live in San Jose and hope to fish th DM next Saturday. Because my wife is 5 months pregnant, I kinda have to play it by ear and if I do go I'll be fishing it just as the sun comes up until about noon.

777

instead of the aquaduct or DM, come to Coyote Lake with the Bass-n-Tubers. You can borrow my round tube or maybe somebody elses Kickboat. You can also borrow my waders, but they leak badly. I'll be there, but I'll be shore bound with my daughter. This is a good lake with lots of Largemouth Bass.
If you're determined to hit the canals for Striper instead there are a few things you should know. 1) Stripers love the cooler water of fall. Being an Anadromous(sp?) fish by nature, they evolved to live in cooler Atlantic ocean waters and actually suffer all summer long in our freshwater. 2) They will hit lures if they're nearby and the size is right. Try a bigger lure if you're getting dinks. If you don't get hit after going bigger try to find something in between. A good starting point would be a lure that crosses your palm, but isn't as long as your hand.

Tight lines,
Wade

Tight lines,
Wade

Wade, are you all doing a tournament on coyote? If so, let me know how it goes, o.k? Thanks for offering the tools of the trade (float tube & waders), but I do have them already. I just never really used them so much because of the fact that I've had so much success fishing from the banks. Not to say that there were times when they really worked to my advantage, though. Actually, a great advantage, but that's another looong story.
Wade, I need to finish this post before I get logged off. Hey, have fun at Coyote and make sure to let me know how you all do.

777