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HOPEDALE, La. — During the downtime before Day One's weigh-in of the Oh Boy! Oberto Redfish Cup in Hopedale, La., angler Bill Faulkner playfully asked an ESPNOutdoors.com writer how he and teammate Kevin Mihailoff could garner some additional press.

"You only get the love when you're at the top," Faulkner said, smiling. The Naples-area pro teamed up with Al Keller back in 2007 to grab serious headlines en route to becoming the first-ever winners of both the Anglers of the Year and Rookies of the Year.

But after their 17.11-pound stringer on Friday's first day of action, Faulkner and Mihailoff can now "get the love." The Florida duo leads a tournament predicted by most to come down to ounces by Sunday's final day.

In second place after Day One, Stephen Stork and Terry Thomas turned in 16.76 pounds by working jigheads through the grass.

Mark Sepe and Andrew Bostick, the winning team in Punta Gorda, finished the day in third place with 16.70. In fourth place, Louisiana's Charlie Thomason and Shane Pescay wrapped their Day One efforts with 16.28 and the father-and-son team of Kevin and "Cajun" Phil Broussard rounded up the top five with 16.21.

After two disappointing tournaments in Punta Gorda and Port Arthur, Faulkner left Naples to pre-fish early, with hopes of a stronger showing in Hopedale. Mihailoff, meanwhile, tended to his guide service back home until arriving in Louisiana the day before the tournament.

"He finds all of the fish," Mihailoff said, patting his partner on the shoulder. "Bill saw the fish in two spots and that's where we went."

But Mihailoff lived up to his end of the bargain as well. The former golf professional caught the pair's biggest fish of the day with a subtle twitch of his soft plastic presentation from high atop a step ladder.

"He flipped it, it sinks and I'm like he's going to eat it, he's going to eat it. He waited and then yanked it," Faulkner said, emulating how the fish took the hook. "I caught a lot of fish in practice but never caught anything like that."

Faulkner, an admitted neat-freak, typically doesn't care to strap cumbersome extension ladders to his boat's deck. But after Mihailoff's performance on Friday, the headline-grabbing angler certainly doesn't care anymore.

The tournament leaders intend to return to the same two spots on Day Two if the weather allows. Forecasts call for a 70 percent chance of rain on Saturday.