Reeltimeanglers Pro Staff Take Win and Big Bass On Delaware River Open

For the first time, Reeltimeanglers.com member Dale Gorrell and myself, Pro Staff Administrator Don McClure teamed up for an event and what a day it turned out to be. First, let me begin by saying I have never had a day on the water like this one. We fished extremely well together.

November 16, 2005 -- For the first time, Reeltimeanglers.com member Dale Gorrell and myself, Pro Staff Administrator Don McClure teamed up for an event and what a day it turned out to be. First, let me begin by saying I have never had a day on the water like this one. We fished extremely well together. Dale’s ability to concentrate on pinpoint casting and boat control made precision pitching and skipping easy for me from the back of the boat. We worked all day with him working power presentations from the front and me following with finesse.

The Delaware River (PA) Open, launched at 7:30 from Neshaminy State Park. The water temperature near the ramp was 58 degrees and the tide had just started to roll in. We made our first and longest run of the day first. We ran downriver to some very nice looking chunk rock with overhanging branches. Dale was throwing the spinnerbait up shallow while I used a Spotsticker jig-head tipped with a Yamamoto Kreature on the break line from the shallow to deep water (9-21 feet).

As we worked the shoreline started talking and since neither of us had been on this body of water for a while I made the change to a 4” Yamamoto Senko and set out to catch a small fish. I wanted to catch an easy, small fish with the intention of looking at the fish to see whether they were hanging close to structure or suspending.

Shortly thereafter I hooked into a small fish that took the Senko from just a couple feet off the shore from a small log. After getting the fish in the boat I saw what I wanted and decided to stick with the Senko. Oh, and the fish was legal size and went 1.1lbs but, would be culled out later. We continued working the same structure for sometime and ended up with a limit of fish by 10:00 AM.

As we worked out of our first spot, Dale noticed an area about 200 yards away that he said looked good as it used to be a large pad field. We scooted over to this area and Dale quickly nabbed three fish on the Terminator spinnerbait. We only made two passes around this small cove and we were off again to the next hole.

Throughout the day we checked many spots and Dale showed me many of his more productive areas for various times of year. In fact, the last spot of the day was one that proved to be the biggest producer of the day. Out of respect for Dale, I won’t reveal this spot, but those who know him probably know right where it is.

We started in this area and Dale grabbed a nice culling fish from a rip-rap shoreline using the spinnerbait. I immediately nabbed one on the Senko. As we worked up this shoreline we caught six fish.
We then started working our way out as it was getting close to weigh-in time.

As we worked our way out I threw out a Texas rigged Kreature to some underwater structure in about seven feet of water and BAM! I thought at first I may have been hung on a small branch but that branch then turned into a fish. Since we were catching two pound fish most of the day this felt big. Once in the boat I landed what would later be the winner of the Big Fish Award, a 3.05 lb largemouth.

We continued out and Dale picked off another with the spinnerbait that was legal size but too small to cull. We departed the area with thirty minutes remaining in the event, and made it to the ramp with nine minutes to spare.

At weigh-in time we ended up with a bag of five fish for 12.19 pounds and we caught approximately sixteen keepers throughout the day.

We won the event by over seven pounds, so I think the key to the day was Dale’s ability to have the locations planned ahead of time and we both fished well throughout the day giving the fish the exact presentations they wanted.

Lastly, just as a note to those who may be scratching their heads in amazement and wondering how an event can be won with only twelve pounds, the answer is simple. The Delaware River is a tough fishery and through years of contamination by encroachment and oil spills, the fish are just now starting to make a comeback. If you do a search on events held there in the last couple of years you would find that some events are won with bags of seven to eight pounds.

Bob Murray of Delaware Valley Outdoors was in the tournament as well, but we didn't see him weigh in.

Reeltimeanglers showed what bass fishing in tough situations is all about. Steve vonBrandt, Co-owner of Delaware Tackle, Reeltimeanglers, and Anglers Radio preped us for the tournament with all the right techniques and baits, along with the strategy that won the tournament and took big bass.

To fulfill sponsorship obligations, I must let you know that all of the tackle we used was from Delaware Tackle (www.delawaretackle.com) and if you’d like specifics, don’t hesitate to shoot me a private message via email or via the Reeltimeanglers.com web site.

www.reeltimeanglers.com
www.anglersradio.com

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