St. Cloud angler ninth among co-anglers
For a change, the weather was ideal for a pro fishing event last weekend on the Kissimmee Chain of Lakes, and Peru, New York pro Alec Morrison took advantage of not having to bundle up or face stiff breezes like competitors in other recent events in town.
This week at the Toyota Series Presented by Phoenix Boats event on the Kissimmee Chain Presented by Suzuki Marine, 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.
Pro Brody Campbell of Oxford, Ohio, weighed an even 75 pounds over three days, which would be good enough to win most other Major League Fishing events, but he was 15 pounds in the rears over three days to take second.
Morrison’s winning total is the heaviest in MLF history for five-fish limit tournaments on the Kissimmee Chain, surpassing Buddy Gross’ four-day total of 85-12. 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.
Targeting fish that had left the shallow spawning grounds or were held up on the way in, he brough big bags to the scales 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 pre-spawner 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.
“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.”
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.”
In the co-angler division, Travis Cato of St. Cloud placed ninth with 12 bass weighing in 37 pounds, 3 ounces for a $1,500 win.
The three-day Toyota Series Presented by Phoenix Boats at the Kissimmee Chain of Lakes Presented by Suzuki Marine was the second of three regular-season tournaments for the Toyota Series Southern Division. The series heads to Lake of the Ozarks in Osage Beach, Missouri this weekend. Visit MajorLeagueFishing.com for series details.
