By Todd Ceisner
BassFan Editor


It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.

That pretty much sums up the 2014 season for John Murray. The veteran pro from Arizona has no doubt experienced his share of ups and downs throughout his career, but this past season ranks near the bottom of the ledger as far as on-the-water results.

Off the water, though, he wouldn’t have changed a thing.

Murray came into the 2014 season charged up, motivated and excited for the possibility of a big year. He’d finished 2nd at the Toyota Texas Bass Classic in October 2013 and had secured a berth in the Bassmaster Classic at Lake Guntersville following a solid 2013 Elite Series campaign. What’s more, he knew this past season would be the last that both wife Amy and son TJ would be able to travel with him as TJ was due to start kindergarten in the fall.

“I felt like I was riding high,” he said, “so I went ahead and decided to try to the two-tour thing. In sum total, it was absolutely the worst year I’ve had as a professional, but it was also the best year of my life because it was the final year my family would be able to travel with me.”

He had a miserable FLW Tour season, finishing no higher than 92nd in six events. On the Elite Series side, he cashed two checks, but also had four results of 80th or lower, resulting in an 82nd-place finish in points.

“The only thing I’d change would’ve been I’d have made more checks,” he said. “It was enjoyable, though, because my son is old enough now to see and appreciate what I do, so in the scope of life it was a tremendous year.”

Needed Strong Start

After the runner-up showing at the TTBC at Lake Conroe to finish off 2013, Murray was hoping the momentum would carry over to the early portion of 2014 when the schedule was jammed up with tournaments, especially for the anglers competing on both circuits.

“I talked to (Randall) Tharp and (Jason) Christie and (Brett) Hite and they all said the same thing about fishing both tours,” Murray said. “You had to start strong. I had started weak and never got traction. It was a nightmare scenario and then you try too hard. You try to hit a home run and get back in it.”

He can trace the start of his frustration back to day 2 of the Classic.

“On day 1, I had one fish with 20 minutes left, then I made a move and caught 15 pounds real quick at the end of the day so I felt pretty good,” he said. “I figured out the fish had moved from the backs of the creeks to the bridges. On day 2, I ran back to where I caught them and there were a couple locals Power-Poled down on the spot and I see they’re releasing a 7-pounder. I asked if I could fish around there and they said, ‘No problem.’ I wound up catching a limit there, but in talking with the guys they told me I didn’t want to know what they’d already caught off that spot that morning.

“So I catch a limit there and I literally look across the way to the bridge where (Randy) Howell would win the tournament the next day and instead of going over there, I ran up the lake 10 miles. That epitomized everything for me there, but I’m used to it by now. I’ve had great years and bad years, but fishing-wise, this season was just maddening.”

In the FLW Tour events, he figured out some decent patterns, but never tapped into ways to catch the bigger fish. At a few of the Elite Series events – Lake Dardanelle, Lake Seminole and the St. Johns River in particular – he found himself fishing in crowds even though he typically tries to avoid those scenarios.

“I hated every minute of it, but I did okay,” he said. “I might have to change my mindset as far as that goes and just go try to catch some fish instead of going up here and trying to find fish people maybe haven’t found yet. That can work sometimes, but it’s not an all-the-time thing. You’ve heard it a hundred times, but I really need to get back to basics and put it in my mind that I’m going to catch ‘em every day.”

Anxious For Western Swing

Murray said he will fish only the Elite Series in 2015, citing the challenging travel logistics the two schedules would create. He’s most excited for the two western events on the Elite Series schedule as well as a return to the St. Lawrence River.

“We definitely needed a western swing just for nothing more but to stir interest out here,” he said. “I’ve won a few times at Havasu, but I haven’t fished there in quite a while and I’ve had a lot of success at the Delta as well. The Thousand Islands is a favorite of mine so the schedule looks great from that standpoint. I’m going to narrow my focus and just fish the Elites. Hopefully, that will allow me to put in enough effort to get back into the Classic.”

Murray also said he and Amy are strongly considering moving east at some point in the next year, likely next summer. The Dayton, Tenn., area is where they’re concentrating their home- and land-hunting efforts. Such a move, obviously, would alleviate a lot of the travel expenses that go with living in Arizona and fishing the pro tour.

He’s been a life-long resident of the Phoenix area, but with the bulk of tournaments now being staged in the eastern half of the country, he feels the time has come to pull up roots and head that way. He’s presently trying to sell some acreage he owns near Lake Mead in order to help the process along.

“I’m a native Arizonan and a westerner and I know it would be a huge adjustment to move east and live out there, but the culture around (Dayton) is all about bass fishing and the outdoors,” he said. “I want my son to be able to experience more of that as he gets older. I just want that option for him.”