FLORENCE, Ala. (Oct. 30, 2014) – Pro angler George Kapiton of Inverness, Florida, brought a five-bass limit to the scale Thursday weighing 18 pounds, 2 ounces to grab the lead after day one of the FLW Series Championship at Wheeler Lake. Kapiton now holds a 7-ounce lead heading in to day two of the three-day event, hosted by Florence/Lauderdale Tourism, that features 140 anglers from across the country casting for a top cash award of $50,000 plus a Ranger Z518C with a 200-horsepower Evinrude or Mercury outboard if Ranger Cup qualified.
Right behind Kapiton in second place is fellow Walmart FLW Tour pro Randy Haynes of Counce, Tennessee, who weighed in five bass totaling 17 pounds, 10 ounces.
“I thought I could catch a good bag today,” said Kapiton, who just finished his sophomore season as a professional. “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,” Kapiton said of his 18-pound stringer. “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 being forecasted, Kapiton was confident that he could carry his day-one 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. The top 10 boaters after day one on Wheeler Lake are:
1st: George Kapiton, Inverness, Fla., five bass, 18-2
2nd: Randy Haynes, Counce, Tenn., five bass, 17-10
3rd: Koby Kreiger, Bokeelia, Fla., five bass, 17-6
4th: Todd Auten, Lake Wylie, S.C., five bass, 15-0
5th: Casey Gallagher, Pulaski, Wis., five bass, 14-14
6th: Joe Holland, Jefferson, Maine, five bass, 14-8
7th: Scott Canterbury, Springville, Ala., five bass, 14-3
8th: Adrian Avena, Vineland, N.J., five bass, 14-0
9th: Mark Tucker, Kirkwood, Mo., five bass, 13-15
10th: Mike Brueggen, La Crosse, Wis., five bass, 13-7
Overall there were 585 bass weighing 1,121 pounds, 14 ounces caught by 140 boaters Thursday. The catch included 97 five-bass limits.
Boaters are competing for a top award of $50,000 plus a Ranger Z518C with a 200-horsepower Evinrude or Mercury outboard if Ranger Cup guidelines are met. Additionally, 10 boaters will qualify for the 2015 Forrest Wood Cup – the top five tournament finishers as well as the top five finishers from each division. The 2015 Forrest Wood Cup will be in Hot Springs, Arkansas, Aug. 20-23 on Lake Ouachita. The winning angler in that event will win $500,000.
Carl Gillespie of Old Hickory, Tennessee, leads the co-angler division with four bass weighing 10 pounds, 13 ounces followed by Richard Predmore of Bainbridge, Georgia, and Dante Ray of Sparks, Nevada, who are tied for second place, each with five bass weighing 10-1. The top 10 co-anglers after day one on Wheeler Lake are:
1st: Carl Gillespie, Old Hickory, Tenn., four bass, 10-13
2nd: Richard Predmore, Bainbridge, Ga., five bass, 10-1
2nd: Dante Ray, Sparks, Nev., five bass, 10-1
4th: Sunny Hawk, Salt Lake City, Utah, five bass, 9-15
5th: Mitch Reynolds, Petal, Miss., five bass, 9-10
6th: Randy Govier, Fennimore, Wis., five bass, 9-1
7th: Casey Smith, Musella, Ga., five bass, 8-14
8th: Gabriel Scott, Stanardsville, Va., five bass, 8-13
9th: Brett Rachal, Monroe, La., five bass, 8-10
10th: Corey Bechtel, Macungie, Pa., four bass, 8-7
Co-anglers are casting this week for a top award of a Ranger Z117 with 90-horsepower Evinrude or Mercury outboard and $5,000 if Ranger Cup guidelines are met. Additionally, 10 co-anglers will qualify for the 2015 Forrest Wood Cup – the top five co-angler finishers as well as the top five finishing co-anglers from each division.
Anglers will take off from Joe Wheeler State Park located at 4601 McLean Drive in Rogersville at 7:30 a.m. each day of competition. Friday’s weigh-in will be held at Joe Wheeler State Park beginning at 3 p.m. Saturday’s final weigh-in will be held at Walmart located at 2701 Cloverdale Road in Florence beginning at 4 p.m.