new angler, seeking advice on striper...

[acidbath]

hi everyone. my name's will and i live in lemoore, ca (30 minutes south of fresno). ive been fishing for a few years now, if u call putting the nastiest stuff u can find on a hook, throwing it out, and waiting for a catfish to bite, fishing. ive been to the aquaduct a few times. my dad used to go out there all the time in the 80's. all ive ever caught out there was a bigazz catfish (16 lb), and that was over a year ago. i have 2 areas to fish in the duct...at the pump/gates/railroad tracks right next to huron, or in kettleman city. ive never caught a striper, and after seeing striperbill's pics, ive gotta catch one of these elusive beasts. i went out 8 times in the last 2 weeks, and got nothing every time. the pumps are on full blast, and the gates are wide open. i stopped by the kettleman city gates yesterday, and noticed that the gates are open, but the pumps are off. im curious if it is a good time to catch a striper when its like this, as that water is still moving pretty fast. i used a 4oz weight, and it still wont reach the bottom. i went out and bought a pencil popper (my first lure by the way), and either im not using it right, or nothing wants to eat it. also, is it "better" to fish after the gates, in the turbulent water, or before the gates where its more calm? and what kind of rig do i use. i use 2 poles, so ill "baitfish" with anchovies on 1, and ill use the popper on the other. any help is GREATLY appreciated, and ill post a pic if/when i catch my first one. thanks.

[MJM1955]

Acidbath, Fishing for striper in the aqueduct can be tricky especially when water is running so fast this time of year, check out FNN (fishing news network. Lot of us duct fisherman there . Lots of info that will help you. Tight lines, Mike

[yolo]

Fish before and after the gates. Fish the open water. Don't spend more than a half hour at one spot. You can walk and cast and work a mile of duct. For lures, use lipless cranks like Rat-L traps in 3/4oz to 1oz. Use hard and soft jerkbaits. Hard in the 4 to 6 inch range and soft rigged on a jig head in the same sizes. Jig heads can range from 1/4oz to 1oz depending on flow and what part of the water column you want to fish. Use bucktails in 1/2oz to 2oz with or without curly tail trailers. Cast, cast and cast some more. Fan cast from 45* down flow to 45* up flow. The key is to move and find the fish. Don't get bogged down in one spot for hours. Yes the duct will dish out lots of skunks but the hook ups are rewarding as no lake striper pound for pound fights like a duct striper. Good luck.

[acidbath]

thanks for the advice. Im gonna go buy a new ploe tonight, and im gonna hit it again this weekend. ill post what i catch.

[MJM1955]

Good luck, Tight lines and looking forward to your reports!