Florida's George Kapiton caught an 18-02 stringer on day 1 to grab the initial lead at the Rayovac FLW Series Championship at Alabama's Wheeler Lake. He holds a half-pound lead over FLW Tour pro and Tennessee River stalwart Randy Haynes.
“I thought I could catch a good bag today,” said Kapiton. “I had a tough practice, but I stumbled onto something on the third day so I knew the potential was there.
“It could have been even better. I left my area when I had four bass and I had lost a big one. Then I stumbled onto a 6-pounder on a bluff on the main lake right before the end of the day.”
Despite changing weather conditions in the forecast, Kapiton was confident that he could carry his day-1 success forward.
“I have one area that I have to myself, but it is very small,” he said. “My other main area has about a half-dozen boats in it, but nobody is doing what I’m doing. It’s a long ride to my area – it took me 45 minutes to get there today, and it might take twice as long tomorrow. I‘m really trying to manage my fish each day. I don’t know how many fish are there and that is the only thing I have going.”
Kapiton was understandably coy about his presentation details, but did say that he caught all of his fish on one bait, though he used others throughout the day.
Here's how the early Top 10 stacks up:
1. George Kapiton: 18-02
2. Randy Haynes: 17-10
3. Koby Kreiger: 17-06
4. Todd Auten: 15-00
5. Casey Gallagher: 14-14
6. Joe Holland: 14-08
7. Scott Canterbury: 14-03
8. Adrian Avena: 14-00
9. Mark Tucker: 13-15
10. Mike Brueggen: 13-07
