Melton eyeing win-AOY double at the Delta
OAKLEY, Calif. — Cristian Melton came to the final event of the Western Division Presented by Tackle Warehouse season with an eye on taking home one trophy. He’s one more strong day at the California Delta event sponsored by Suzuki Marine away from leaving with two.
Melton, who entered the Toyota Series Presented by Phoenix Boats event leading the Fishing Clash Angler of the Year race after a pair of top-five finishes at Clear Lake and Lake Havasu, vaulted to the top spot on the leaderboard with a 22-pound bag on Day 2. The second-biggest limit of the event, it brought his total to 40-10.
Lurking close behind him is the angler who caught the heaviest bag, Christian Ostrander. Ostrander’s 24-2 Day 2 sack brought his total to 39-6. The two have created a bit of separation from David Valdivia (third place with 35-9) and the rest of the pack, but there’s always the potential for the Delta to produce a mid-20s or better limit and shake up the standings.
On the Strike King co-angler side, Deanna Moreno backed up a 15-0 bag on Day 1 with 12-14 to jump into the lead. Her 27-14 total leads Rachel Uribe by 2-6.
Melton gunning for two trophies
Entering Day 1, notching his first professional win wasn’t really on Melton’s radar. He knew how difficult it can be for anglers less familiar with the labyrinthine Delta to compete with the locals. Plus, an illness kept him off the water for one full day of practice. As a result, his focus was solely on finishing high enough to protect his AOY lead.
“My mindset was it’s hard for an out-of-towner to come win at the Delta — very, extremely hard,” Melton said. “I don’t think it’s been done too many times. So, obviously you want to win, and I’ve seen the fish that could win it, I’ve hooked them, caught them in practice. But I wasn’t coming into it thinking I’m going to win this tournament. I wanted to do good enough for the Angler of the Year points.”
Even as recently as Thursday morning, it would have been difficult to envision himself leading the tournament. Melton started the day in the area that produced most of his 18-10 bag on Day 1 but struggled to get bit. Deciding the spot “wasn’t feeling right,” he made a move to a different area and only got one bite, but it was a 5-pounder.
Melton said that fish “shifted the momentum.” He continued to explore new water in the same stretch of river and happened upon a honey hole that produced a 6-11 kicker plus another bass around 4 1/2 pounds.
Melton described the hot spot as an area that, for reasons unknown to him, was “teeming with life” — bluegill, baitfish, carp, even raccoons. Finding such stretches has been key to generating bites from bigger bass this week, which have proven elusive for much of the field.
“There’s so much dead water where you’re going to just catch 1-pounders, and then you come into that little hot zone and it’s a better grade fish,” Melton explained. “It’s just been like little stretches, like a little hot zone. It’s weird. A hundred yards up or 100 yards down, it’s completely dead. But that little honey hole is just teeming with life.”
Melton did his damage power fishing, but not flipping or punching. He plans to return to the same spot to start the final day, then continue to explore new water nearby in hopes of finding another bountiful zone.
“A little bit upriver is where I caught them yesterday and where I practiced, but it seemed like that wasn’t as friendly,” Melton said. “I also could have hit it on a wrong tide, so I might keep that honest. But most likely, I’m going to start where I finished the day off today and just kind of work down that stretch. … I’ve never been there, so hopefully I can pull into one of those little areas and it’s teeming with life.”
With each of the three anglers trailing him in the points also making the Top-25 cut (including Valdivia, the three-time defending Angler of the Year), Melton can’t afford to go for broke on Day 3. He figures he needs about 15 pounds to assure himself of an AOY crown.
While that will be his primary objective, he’s also now set his sights squarely on claiming the debut victory that narrowly eluded him last month, when he finished second at Havasu.
“I was close at Havasu, and it was a crazy feeling,” Melton said. “But I was really hard on myself for not sealing it, because I had the winning fish that came off that Day 3, and it hurt. So, it would mean a lot to me.”
Seven-pound pair anchors Ostrander’s big bag
A 24-2 bag on Day 2 launched Christian Ostrander into second place. Photo by John Zeolla.
Ostrander felt he had “too much water on my mind” on Day 1, feeling like he devoted too much of his time to running from spot to spot. He continued his run-and-gun approach on Day 2 but focused on more proven, concentrated areas.
It didn’t take long for the adjustment to pay off. “Right off the bat,” a bass over 7 pounds ate his punch rig. He spent the rest of the day throwing a ChatterBait and added another 7-pounder to his livewell.
“Somehow I caught two 7s, so that was super cool,” he said.
Fishing the central and southern Delta, Ostrander is optimistic he left enough fish in his spots to weigh a winning bag on Day 3. However, he also noted that the final day is always the toughest, particularly on the Delta, where fish don’t tend to reload in the same areas like they might on a reservoir.
“I think it will be pretty good tomorrow,” he said. “I don’t think I need much to win. I think I only need to catch 17, 18 pounds, and I’ll win it. It’s going to be way tougher tomorrow.”
Ostrander has already tasted plenty of success in his young career (this marks the 25-year-old’s fourth season fishing the Western Division schedule). Assuming he keeps his spot among the Top 10, it would mark his fourth such finish in six career Toyota Series events on the Delta. He also finished seventh at the Toyota Series Championship last fall.
However, he’s still looking for his first win as a pro. If it arrives this week, he’d be elated.
“I’d be pumped up,” Ostrander said. “It’s been a long time coming.”
Top 10 pros
Cristian Melton – 40-10 (10)
Christian Ostrander – 39-6 (10)
David Valdivia – 35-9 (10)
Rodney Brinser – 35-5 (10)
Mark Cobey – 34-15 (10)
Robert Cloutier – 34-9 (10)
Louis Fernandes – 33-15 (10)
Hunter Schlander – 32-6 (10)
Micah Jones – 31-15 (10)
Brett Leber – 31-9 (10)
Complete results
The post Melton eyeing win-AOY double at the Delta appeared first on Major League Fishing.
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