By Lee Tolliver
The Virginian-Pilot
VIRGINIA BEACH
Bill Dance stood in a sea of well-wishers at one of last week's weigh-ins for the eighth annual Mid-Atlantic Rockfish Shootout - his celebrity punctuated by his signature white hat with the orange 'T' of his home state of Tennessee.
Johnny Morris stood on the outside, unassumingly shaking a few hands and talking to anglers as his buddy posed for pictures and signed autographs.
Morris is no less famous than his friend. He's certainly richer. He's just not a TV fishing show host.
But figuring out who Morris is should have been a little easier for those mingling around the weigh-in scales.
Dressed head to toe in Red Head brand apparel - camo jacket, plaid shirt, jeans and Bill Dance boat shoes - Morris' graying hair was topped with a red Bass Pro Shops hat.
A walking billboard for the chain of mega outdoors stores, Morris is Bass Pro Shops.
But Morris doesn't mind being in the shadows when he's with friends such as Dance. His laid-back attitude is a reflection of a humble, down-to-earth persona despite being the owner of one of the biggest networks of outdoor gear stores in the world.
Morris and Dance played around on the Waterman like a couple of school children, joking in front of two video cameras taping for a future Dance show.
With a lull in the action, Morris saw one of the fishing rods jumping up and down. He dashed to the stern, nearly knocking Dance to the deck.
'I saw it first, Bill,' he shouted to his stunned friend. 'This one's mine. Let me show you how this is done.'
But when Morris realized the striped bass tugging at the other end of the line probably wasn't bragging-rights size, he tried to pass the rod back to Dance.
'I feel bad, Bill,' Morris said with a wry smile. 'Here ... you take this one.'
Such antics between two old friends are part of the fishing life, especially between these two.
'I'm 9,' Morris said when asked his age. 'He's 7.'
It doesn't take long to realize that Morris isn't a stereotypical Fortune 500 business executive who, according to several trade publications, saw his company do about $1.25 billion in business last year.
He comes from a simple Missouri upbringing. Throughout the rise of Bass Pro Shops, he managed to keep a lock-tight grip on his roots.
'He's the same guy I knew 40 years ago when we were fishing tournaments and he was thinking about what he was going to do,' said Dance, a former professional bass fisherman who hosts nationally televised shows on freshwater and saltwater angling. 'He's the most humble guy you could ever meet.
'He loves his family and friends, and he loves fishing.'
Watching Morris catch his first saltwater striped bass, it's easy to see his love for the sport.
It was that passion that forged the beginnings of Bass Pro Shops - a big-box outdoors shopping experience with 56 locations across the country and three more planned.
After graduating from Drury College with a business degree, Morris spent a few years on the Bassmaster Tournament Trail before diving into the retail world.
With many anglers traveling to fish the lakes in his hometown of Springfield, Mo., Morris was able to take advantage of the early 1970 s bass fishing boom.
He started by selling lures favored by local anglers in the back of his father's liquor store near Table Rock Lake.
'My intention at first was to avoid work and fish, so I never ever would have dreamed that things would have grown to this,' said Morris, 62. 'It was the right time and interest was growing. There weren't many places to get the lures that bass anglers wanted.'
He targeted only professional bass fishermen and those who wanted to be pro bass fishermen, when he incorporated the small business as Bass Pro Shops in 1972.
'That was real descriptive of who we were and what we wanted to be,' Morris said of the name. 'We started pushing over his beer and putting in more lures' at the liquor store.
As interest grew, anglers began calling to see if Morris could ship them the lures they wanted. A visit to a fishing trade show prompted Morris to start a catalog. These days it's mailed to hundreds of thousands of homes and often is more than 700 pages thick.
'Everything eventually got to be too big for the space in the liquor store,' Morris said. 'It just grew and grew.'
Morris eventually opened his first Bass Pro Outdoor World location in Springfield. Big Cedar Lodge and an adjacent lake soon followed.
As things exploded, he founded American Rod and Gun and Tracker Boats.
It seemed as if all his ideas were sewn with gold, as more locations opened across the country and sales skyrocketed.
Each Outdoors World is designed with a flavor that reflects its location. All are 'destination' shopping experiences; they feature huge aquariums and are filled with animal and fish mounts from around the country. They sell clothes and camping gear, fishing, boating and hunting equipment, boats and trailers, and a variety of items that pertain to each. Many have in-house restaurants. One in Florida has a fresh seafood market.
They host seminars for fishing and hunting, featuring national and local experts. Special events are held for children.
'People spend time there when they go,' said Morris, who is dedicated to and donates plenty of his earnings to conservation causes. 'They can't wait to see what's around the next aisle.
'It's an experience.'
Kind of like fishing with Morris and his lifelong friend.
While Dance is an intricate storyteller, Morris is more low-key and sharp-witted.
When the stripers weren't biting, the two told stories about similar trips gone by, sharing their kinship of fishing and love of the outdoors.
'It's about creating memories,' said Morris, who added the success of his company has afforded him the opportunity to fish all over the world and with some of the best anglers. 'It's about being with friends and family.
'It's about having fun.'
Sometimes it's serious.
When a fish is on and the cameras are rolling, Dance dives into host mode. Morris, who fished a Bassmaster Classic when it was held on North Carolina's Currituck Sound, knows his role in front of the lens.
But sooner or later, he can't help but show off his youthful playfulness.
'Geesh, Bill ... how long you gonna fight that fish,' he asks, turning to smile at one of the cameras. 'It's taking you forever. I think I'm gonna go inside, have some more pie and take a nap.
'Wake me up when you've caught that thing.'
Lee Tolliver, (757) 222-5844, lee.tolliver@pilotonline.com
CAPTION(S):
Lee Tolliver | The Virginian-Pilot
Johnny Morris' Bass Pro Shops did about $1.25 billion in business last year. Lee Tolliver | The Virginian-Pilot
Johnny Morris, 62, spent a few years on the Bassmaster Tournament Trail before entering the retail world. He incorporated a small business as Bass Pro Shops in 1972.
