Cape angler wins bass tourney
Joshua Morfis of Cape Coral weighed a five-bass limit totaling 34 pounds, 14 ounces last Saturday to win the 4th Walmart Bass Fishing League Gator Division tournament on Lake Okeechobee.
The victory earned Morfis $6,336.
“It feels great to win a tournament,” said Morfis. “I love fishing on Lake Okeechobee and to see all of my hard work finally pay off is really nice.”
Morfis said he headed 35 miles south to his first spot where he targeted fish that were moving in shallow to spawn.
“I flipped the Kissimmee grass and bulrushes where the fish were sitting in four to five feet of water,” Morfis said. “I used a green pumpkin colored Gambler Otter with a black and blue colored Eco Pro Honey Badger Punch Skirt.
“On my third cast I caught a nine-pound fish,” Morfis added. “After that the bite slowed down.”
After filling out his five-bass limit with smaller fish, Morfis said he knew he’d need more weight to win.
He decided to make a move to his second spot where he stuck an eight-pounder shortly after arriving.
“Five minutes after the eight-pounder, I caught a seven-pound fish and then a six-pounder just 10 minutes later,” Morfis said. “I got eight big bites in the second spot and put seven of them in the boat.”
Morfis went on to say he caught approximately 25 to 30 fish during the course of the tournament.
“The key for me was stumbling on those prespawn fish while searching for the postspawn fish,” Morfis said. “I knew my two spots I targeted had the potential to produce a top-10 finish so I put my hat down, grinded it out and it worked out for me.”