The king of the West moves to the East

Johny Murray, the "King of the West," is moving to the rolling, green hills of East Tennessee and a new home on the shores of Watts Bar Lake.

John Murray took one last glance into the Arizona sun. He filled his lungs with a great breath of the dry desert air atop his favorite hiking peak. Murray, the 51-year-old Bassmaster Elite Series pro, and Phoenix native, was saying goodbye to home.

Before packing up and heading out, Murray recorded a video and shared it with his fans on Facebook. Hundreds of views later, he’s wrapping up a 1,700-mile journey away from a desert home that raised him to the precipice of the million dollar club at B.A.S.S and the title “King of the West.” Murray, along with his wife and son, are moving to the rolling, green hills of East Tennessee and a new home on the shores of Watts Bar Lake.

Murray has recorded 23 Top 10 finishes at B.A.S.S events; only two of them have been on Tennessee River lakes. “TVA lakes have always kind of kicked my butt,” he laughs. “That’s why we’re moving. It’s the next step up in my career. It’s tough because I grew up in Arizona, and it’s always been my home.”

Murray’s new home, the 61-square-mile Watts Bar Lake straddles mega-fishery Lake Chickamauga to the south and Fort Loudon Lake to the north. And there, Murray – universally respected as a deep water finesse fisherman – hopes to hone his skills on the river system that ranks as one of the most heavily fished waterways on the Bassmaster Elite circuit. “In Arizona,” he says, “you’re talking about depths from zero to 100 feet, but 20 to 25 feet is pretty deep for a TVA lake…the water column is just a lot narrower. But I do think the amount of schools of big fish is just so much greater than what we have out west, so that’s a situation that I really need to understand better.”

Despite his wistfulness for the desert sun, Murray says he’s excited about the move. He’s excited for new challenges, shorter road trips and more opportunities for his family to see him fish. And he’s not exactly heading east unarmed.

Stuffed in a moving box alongside an armory of tackle, Murray is carrying a new, larger version of his signature Tattle Tail worm from Larew. This one is an 8-inch model that should hit store shelves this spring. “We built it specifically for the TVA lakes,” he says. “I think this is going to be a weapon that helps me transition and gives me an edge.”

When John Murray kicks off the 2016 Bassmaster Elite Series at Florida’s St. John’s River, he’ll be about eight hours from his new home. That’s 21 hours closer than his old one out west. “I think the longest drive I have this year is about 13 hours. It’s a huge difference,” Murray notes.

“I’m ready for a new challenge. That’s the way I am looking at the move. I think I just got too comfortable the last decade or so out West, and I wanted something to push me.”

Now that he’s located in the heart of the Bassmaster Elite Series circuit, Murray is poised to do some more pushing of his own. Perhaps, even, into the million dollar club.