Interview with Jeff Morris

I first met Jeff through my wife who also teaches at Central. It didn't take us long to spring a friendship over many things we have in common; one of the biggest being (of course) fishing.

Jeff started the Paul Ann Fishing Club in about August of 07 as a way to gather fishermen in Paul Ann Baptist and to talk about Christ's teachings as well as better all of our fishing. Jeff is an interesting character in that he is a humble man, but will talk a lot of smack in a way that is humorous; never demeaning.

Jeff has been a member of a few of the local clubs over the years and has particpated in many area tournaments. With the PABC, he usually does well and has won a number of monthly PABC tournaments.

We caught up with Jeff at a monthly PABC meeting on 12-1 and pinned him down for an interview.

WTJB: Where are you originally from?

JM: Hereford, Texas but I have lived in San Angelo, Texas since 1983.

WTJB: Are you a member of any bass clubs?

JM: The Paul Ann Bass Club

WTJB: If you don’t mind, talk to me about your favorite area local lakes.

JM: Probably my favorite local lake, just because I don’t get out a whole lot, would be Twin Buttes. I do enjoy fishing from time to time on Nasworthy.

WTJB: Why?

JM: Just because I have fished it long enough that there are a number of places that I can go and very seldom NOT catch fish.

WTJB: (lol) Gotcha. If you don’t mind, what are your favorite techniques?

JM: Well, probably just because I like to be doing something I enjoy throwing a crank bait. If the conditions are right, I love to throw a buzz bait in the spring, summer and early fall. Watching a fish blow up on a top water is really fun! My 3 favorite lurers are spinner baits, a pretty good all-round producer that I throw just about year round and have a lot of confidence in. I also use a worm.

WTJB: Knowing that Scott and I are lagging in experience that you have, that’s some advice that you could give us to improve our fishing?

JM: Well, I’m not that experienced (Scott and I both roll our eyes on this one), but I think the things I do know is trying a variety of baits. Get to know a spinner bait, a crank bait, and a worm with the idea being to start at the top and work your way down until you find where the fish are or vice versa. Learn how to fish those 4 or 5 basic lures. Learn how to use them, what it feels like in the water and what a fish hitting it as opposed to hitting structure. Also, practice flipping, casting working it around rock ledges and trees. I remember when Wendell Ramsey, one of the best fishermen I knew, use to have all his tackle in a brown paper bag and he had just a handful of different baits in there. The guy could always catch fish, big fish and could win a tourney on any given day. For me, he showed that it was about technique and how you present a bait instead of having a huge tackle box full of baits and tackle. Spend your time fishing with a good reel and rod, but spend time fishing instead of accumulating a lot of lurers and worms.

Back when I got started and knew nothing, I met some guys through the local bass clubs that in their kindness showed me some things. I’m thinking of Jim Brown, Doyle Riddle, and Russell Smith who took me out and gave me confidence to fish these different baits and doing it in a variety of ways. Everytime I would go with one of these guys I would learn something new. One trip with one of them was worth more than hearing a hundred stories. I would ask a lot of questions about locations, conditions, and try to find places to apply those things. I think guys like them know this and can find ways to apply what they remember. They are like an encyclopedia of knowledge.

WTJB: What is your opinion on the conditions of the local fishing?

JM: Sadly, I think a lot of the clubs, and I’m not involved in the clubs like I was before, but the city club is not functioning and many of the local clubs are down. I’m really excited about the guys in the Paul Ann Bass Club because we are fishing 15 to 20 guys a tournament and we have a good group that shows up each month for the meeting. There’s a reason and a purpose in the club. It’s not just about the fishing. That excites me. But sadly, I think the low water conditions have really hurt the bass clubs but at the rate they are dropping Twin Buttes. I hate to think about what the fishing will be like in two years.

WTJB: I understand. If you don’t mind, what is your favorite true fishing story?

JM: After you have been fishing for a while you get a few fishing stories. One of my favorites involves Jim Brown and another friend of mine, Justin Brumley, who was making a TV commercial (for his business). They had this idea that they were going to film this Air Condition repairman who supposedly sold you this AC unit with the understanding that he would go to your home immediately to fix any problems but always seemed too busy to come fix it. In reality, he was out fishing and wouldn’t come out to make repairs whereas Justin’s company would come right out. We were going to play the other AC repairmen that were out fishing so we needed to catch some fish. There was a little pressure because we had to get up and go catch some decent fish before the TV shoot that was at like about nine o’clock in the morning. So Jim and I got up and went to Nasworthy and sure enough we caught a few fish with the largest one being close to 2 pounds. Well, we got ready to film so I took the big one and hooked him onto my hook and just kind of let out some line. When they were ready I would set the hook on the fish and be bringing it in as Jim was talking on the phone saying that we were too busy to get in to repair the AC unit. Well, we had to do like 3 takes so the fish was real lively the first time, not so lively the second time and the third time I just let some line out just hoping he wasn’t going to die. Well, as we were waiting for the film crew the third time I felt a tug on the line and all in a sudden that fish dove for the bottom. I was thinking “What the heck” and about that time the camera man said that he was ready so I set the hook and reeled him in. As I reached down to lip the bass, there was a crawdad in it’s mouth. A big old crawdad! That bass, even after being messed with as much as it was and with a hook in it’s mouth apparently saw the crawdad on the rocky bottom and hit it. I was like, “Wow!” There was some kind of basic instinct in that bass to make it do that. That was pretty weird.

We all got a good chuckle before we went on.

WTJB: Catch and release?

JM: Bass? Yes! That’s all we do with the club. We emphasize catch and release. I love to catch and eat crappie. Every once in a while I like to put out my jugs and catch catfish. We love a fish fry but it is mostly with crappie and catfish. My favorite recipe is to use Uncle Buck’s Fish Fry that they sell, I believe, at Academy. It’s pretty strong but I found that if you mix it 50/50 with corn meal that it is really good.

WTJB: Personal Hero?

JM: (Long pause) Well, you know, there are a number of people. I think one of the guys that have been a big influence in my life is Tim Russo. He’s a super Christian man with a ministry in town, “Winning Families”. I met him some years ago in church and we became friends. You know, he’s really been an example of how to live a Christian life. They’ve got 4 daughters that are super, neat young ladies. As we watched those girls grow up I was impressed about how he loved his kids and loved his wife. My wife and I thought that this would be a great model for us to raise our family like. I think “model” would be a better description than “hero”.

WTJB: In your opinion, who are the 3 best local area fishermen?

JM: This is a little tough as I have been out of the circuit a few years, but I would say easily Wendell Ramsey (Outdoors and Fishing writer for the San Angelo Standard Times). He’s unbelievable. I don’t think there are anyone better; maybe as good but not better. He’s one of the best all-round fishermen that I have seen. Also a guy I have mentioned a number of times in the interview is Jim Brown, a PE teacher in town. Just a super guy and a great fisherman. It’s amazing how he can catch fish. It’s hard to say a third, but if I could pick 2 guys to be on my team, it would be one of these two. Russell Smith, who use to do the local paper, is a wealth of knowledge. Charlie Becker and Doyle Riddle use to be great fishermen. I’d also like to say that in our club, the Paul Ann Bass Club, we have a pretty good bunch of fishermen. Last year, Justin Houk was unbelievable. He and Roy Cavaness were battling it out all year. They always brought in great stringers of fish. This year, Bryan Dorman has been on fire. He and Roy are fighting it out neck and neck. I’d say that these 2 guys in our club are 2 of the best fishermen we have.


We wrapped up the interview and stuck around for a bit more to try to pick up some tips.

I want to thank Jeff Morris for taking time out to talk to me. I count myself lucky for knowing Jeff as he has been a great guy and talks freely about fishing trying to help the novice/intermediate Angler of the Year wannabe to become a better fisherman. His easy manner makes him approachable and has helped a great many of us.

As I conclude this post, I just wanted to say that I hope you got something out of this and hope you check back as I conduct more interviews with local personalities.

Thanks for dropping by!