Holder & Marietta By Day - James & Grinolds By Night

OAK VIEW – Whereas it is common knowledge in the Southern California bass fishing community that Todd Holder of Ojai and Louie Marietta of Oxnard virtually “own” Lake Casitas during the daylight hours, it has become very apparent that Sean James and Tim Grinolds of Simi Valley are now the co-owners of the lake after the sun goes down. James and Grinolds collected their third J&T Tackle Night Team Tournament Series victory (out of the last four) by topping a field of 67 teams at the 2003 series opener at Lake Casitas on June 28th with a phenomenal five-fish limit weight 35.89 pounds.

Using tactics similar to that a gambler who always returns to the same slot machine that they once did well on, James and Grinolds returned to the same small stretch of Lake Casitas shoreline where they won back-to-back night tournaments last summer with record setting limits of 46.06 pounds and 41.84 pounds respectively. When they arrived at the bank, they only had two fish in the livewell, but not for long. In less than five minutes, and with only thirty minutes remaining in the tournament, James and Grinolds hit the mother lode… again. In three casts, they put over twenty pounds of fish in the boat, including a beautiful 10.65 pounder, the largest bass of the tournament.

“It was incredible!” said an excited James to the awards ceremony crowd. “We pulled up to the bank and Tim caught two five pounders on consecutive casts. Then I threw out and caught our ten-pounder. We did all of this at 11:45 (p.m.).” added James. “We spent the entire night throwing crankbaits, but we weren’t doing very well.” Grinolds told listeners. “Sean and I decided to go back to the same spot where we won the two tournaments last year and the big fish were there again,” he added. For their efforts, James and Grinolds won a total of $3,090, including a brand new Lowrance SONAR unit courtesy of Anglers Marine. James also received a brand new Phenix fishing rod for catching the largest bass of the contest.

Runners-up at the June 28th Lake Casitas night tournament were Dan Ingraham and Doug Tempo, also from Simi Valley, with four fish weighing an impressive 20.30 pounds. One of their fish was a healthy 10.01 pounder, the second largest of the contest. “We caught a 2 ½ pounder right off the bat and then we didn’t get another bite until after dark,” Tempo told the audience. “We started throwing Texas rigged Roboworm Zippers in the grass and caught three more fish, including the ten pounder,” he added. Ironically, Tempo and Ingraham did not enter all of the side options, which ultimately cost them an additional $940 in winnings. They did, however, enter the Big Fish option, which helped to bring their total winnings to $1,035.

Third place went to Steven and Brett Davies of North Edwards and Bakersfield respectively with three fish weighing 18.38 pounds and included a nice 9.37-pound kicker, the third largest bass of the night. “We caught our first fish dropshotting a seven-inch Oxblood colored Roboworm,” said Steven. “Our other two fish were caught shaking Roboworm Zippers in the grass,” he added. Unlike Tempo and Ingraham, “Team Davies” did enter all of the options and walked away with $1,745 in winnings.

Finishing in fourth place were Larry Reed of Mira Loma and Bob Alexander of Sierra Madre with four fish weighing 18.32 pounds earning them $860, and fifth place went to Ron Thompson of Acton and Rob Tomlin of Castaic with a limit weighing 17.11 pounds good for $380.

Of the 67 teams entered in the Lake Casitas night tournament series opener, 33 teams brought fish to the scales. Although there were only four 5-fish limits weighed in and only 77 total fish, the average weight per fish was a whopping 3.68 pounds. All but one of the fish weighed in were released alive, a 98.70% survival rate.

J&T Tackle wishes to extend a big thanks to the great co-sponsors of the 2003 J&T Tackle Night Team Tournament Series. They are: Anglers Marine, Shimano, Maxima, Phenix Rods, Harris GMC, Lucky Craft, Osprey Lures, Roboworm, Kaenon Eyewear, Bass Medics, Cul-M-Rite XL, and WON BASS. Thanks also to Senior Ranger Bill Waddlington and the rest of the great folks at Lake Casitas for their assistance with the event.

The second 2003 J&T Tackle Night Team Tournament Series event will be on Saturday, July 26th. On site registration (space permitting) will be at the Lake Casitas snack bar on Saturday afternoon from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. No entries will be accepted after 5 p.m., or once the 125-team field is filled. For further information about the 2003 J&T Tackle Night Team Tournament Series, call J&T Tackle at (805)527-7653, or stop by the store located at 1750 E. Los Angeles Ave. in Simi Valley.