KISSIMMEE, Fla. – Since stepping out of New York, Alec Morrison has had a knack for doing big things. This week at the Toyota Series Presented by Phoenix Boats event on the Kissimmee Chain marked perhaps his biggest win yet.
In 2023, Morrison lapped the field on Sam Rayburn Reservoir, at the time setting a new record for margin of victory at a three-day Toyota Series event. This week, at the second stop of the season for the Southern Division, he shattered MLF/FLW weight records and won by more than 15 pounds. Blasting out a total of 90 pounds, 14 ounces, Morrison walloped 37-1 on Day 3. He pocketed $40,500 for the win. Finishing second, Brody Campbell weighed an even 75 pounds over three days.
Morrison’s winning total is the biggest in MLF history for five-fish limit tournaments on the Kissimmee Chain, surpassing Buddy Gross’ four-day total of 85-12 for the top spot. The second-biggest three-day total now belongs to Campbell; both he and Morrison unseated Ryan Armstrong, who hammered out 68-6 to win on the Kissimmee Chain last year. Morrison’s Day 3 weight also set the new all-time MLF record on the fishery. Jim Taylor and Mark Davis shared the previous high-water mark of 34-10.
Nationally, Morisson’s win is also very noteworthy. In MLF history, the young pro’s 90-14 three-day total is also third all-time, and the only catch greater than 90 pounds that came from a fishery other than Falcon Lake.
Perfect sonar sessions give Morrison the edge
The new rules allowing three hours of forward-facing sonar use at Toyota Series events certainly didn’t make things easier for the pros who are most adept with the technology. Still, as one of the best going in that realm, Morrison didn’t seem to have his style cramped much.
Targeting fish that had left the shallow spawning grounds or were held up on the way in, he waylaid big bags every day.
“I was hardcore ‘Scopin’,” said Morrison. “Those three hours a day were by far the most important for me.
“Beginning of practice, there were a lot of big fish up shallow, still in grass, spawning and staging. I caught like a 7 ½ prespawner staging in pads in practice. There were a lot of fish up there; a lot of guys were catching them. But it was very apparent that every single day of practice and this tournament, those big ones were leaving. They were leaving the spawning areas and moving out.
“A lot of guys this week were going back to the grass, and their fish were depleting,” he said. “I was staying out of the grass, and I had key areas, like highways those big ones were using to travel out and to stage. I really just did my best to stay around the biggest ones I could all week.”
On Day 2, Morrison’s main area didn’t produce – he had to bail and run brush and other isolated cover. On Day 3, he went back to the goods.
“This morning, I went back out to my main area, expecting more fish to be there considering they were moving out, and that’s certainly what happened,” he said. “I basically rolled up and had the weight I did within the first hour and a half – it was pretty magical.”
Fishing in less than 6 feet of water all week, Morrison used several baits, including a jerkbait.
“I had to have a lot of stuff on this week to stay on top of them,” he said. “A really cool one that is a killer is the new Megabass Vision 110 SR. It’s a shallow-water jerkbait, and the cool thing about it is no matter how hard you work it or how far you cast it, it’s only going to get down a maximum of 4 feet. That is gigantic for these fisheries in Florida. Even a standard Vision 110 diving to the 6-foot zone can be too deep of a jerkbait here.”
Morrison never weighed a bass he figured was spawning. His fish were a mix of plump prespawners and huge, depleted postspawn fish.
“It was definitely prespawn and postspawn – I caught zero spawners this week,” said Morrison. “The areas I was fishing there were prespawners staging on, and postspawners leaving the grass were using it as well. One of the biggest fish I had today was an 8-4, and she was super spawned out – a lot of length to it, but she was definitely postspawn.”
‘A culmination’
The last several years, Morrison has wintered in the Sunshine State – often staying with Garrett Rocamora, who was in second on Day 1 and finished sixth. Between the two of them, they unlocked new levels on the Kissimmee Chain this week.
“It was a culmination – the both of us, we’ve spent a lot of time on this lake,” said Morrison. “Him more than I, and over the last three years, he’s helped me out a lot with how these fish move. When, why and where – a lot of that has to do with the shallow water aspect and those Florida concepts that we all try to learn. On the flip side, I’ve been able to take my ability to ‘Scope and fish way offshore, and over the past few years, we’ve blended those, and it’s been something special. We’ve worked really hard, the both of us, to be in a position like this. We were hopin’ for the 1-2, but this is awesome.”
Qualified for the Toyota Series Championship on Pickwick with the win, Morrison is also eyeing a return to the Kissimmee Chain in the fall for the Tackle Warehouse Pro Circuit Championship. Currently, he’s sitting 25th in the points and has cashed in each of the first two events.
But for the moment, Morrison is content to bask in his first victory since 2023. Emotional on stage, he said this win was his biggest yet.
“It feels good,” he said. “There’s a lot of ups and downs. I basically live in my truck, and this certainly makes up for all the downs. I’m happy with the way things played out and feeling blessed to be able to get those big ones to bite this week.”
Top 10 pros
1. Alec Morrison – 90 – 14 (15) – $40,500
2. Brody Campbell – 75 – 00 (15) – $16,500 (includes $1,000 Phoenix Bonus)
3. Anderson Jones – 65 – 14 (15) – $12,000
4. Chad Mrazek – 62 – 14 (15) – $10,000
5. Bobby Bakewell – 62 – 11 (15) – $9,000
6. Garrett Rocamora – 59 – 08 (15) – $8,000
7. Andrew Ready – 58 – 03 (15) – $7,000
8. Kyle Cortiana – 56 – 13 (15) – $6,250
9. Dylan Quilatan – 56 – 07 (15) – $5,000
10. Aaron Yavorsky – 55 – 03 (15) – $4,000