Calif Aqueduct Striper 12-21-14

caught just south of Forebay near Los Banos...this is a fishing partner of a guy I work with, no more details

Um ...
Uh ...
Geez ...
Holy ...
Wow.
 

... That's pretty damn incredible. Just waiting for my turn.   

  Holy crap!!!

Dang! That looks like a giant Asian carp!

Wow!

Dear mother of god...had to be an epic battle, especially pulling that thing up the wall of the aqueduct without dying. Must've had a net

Did they release it??

Is it blind or dead?

What was the weight. The state record is like 64 or so.  That looks up there .

WOW and them some

I resized the photo for the forum, in the original it has dirt on its eye...Im trying to find out if he weighed it, what bait, etc. Im guessing it was kept, but still need more details.

Looks like a solid 25-30lbs, which is one of the biggest I seen pulled from the 'ducts in recent memory. Very nice striper and no reason to release it back into the ducts.

Very nice striper and no reason to release it back into the ducts.

Why not?

PS - Honest question. Not trying to be a pot stirrer...lol.

Mainly because they can't breed in the aquaducts. Plus a constant influx of little stripers getting stuck in there. So it's not like the survival/productivity of stipers in the ducts is dependent upon big breeders, compared to other systems like San Luis Res or Del Valle...where big mamas are much more important.