From industry insider to full-time pro

Slim Jim unveils new wrapped boat

Last September, FLW Outdoors announced that Slim Jim, a ConAgra Foods brand, had come on board as its newest sponsor. At the time, it was also made known that Slim Jim would sponsor a pro angler, someone who would embody Slim Jim’s young, energetic demographic.

That angler turned out to be pro Michael Murphy of Gilbert, S.C. How Murphy got to this point though, is quite a tale.

Murphy grew up in what he described as a fishing family. Flanked by his grandfather and father he was doing something called “prefishing” at the age of 10. At 13, he won his first local tournament. The first-place purse in these events was somewhere around $500. For young a man in junior high school, $500 was a heap of change.

After high school, Murphy worked at the original Galyan’s store in his home state of Indiana. Managing the fishing department was how he his first learned about the marketing side of the industry.

Murphy eventually enrolled at Purdue University, focusing his scholastic efforts on engineering. He claims his life changed forever when he found out Purdue had a fishing team. In West Lafayette, Murphy’s passion for angling continued to grow – as did the team’s membership. Veteran members of the team recognized Murphy’s name from local tournaments (it was frequently near the top of the leaderboard) and quickly anointed him team captain. In fact, Murphy claims his Boilermakers won the Big Ten Championship under his direction.

He enjoyed his time on the water so much that he began to have thoughts about changing majors. Rather than spend days behind a desk, Murphy yearned for a career that would allow him to enjoy the outdoors. The career that kept calling was fisheries biology. Add to that degree several courses in sales and marketing and Murphy was beginning to mold an education that would serve him well in the world of fishing.

“I did everything I could to keep my name out there,” Murphy recalled. “I kept building and building a resume that would suit a career in the fishing industry.”

After college graduation, his next adventure took him to SPRO, a well-known lure company, where he worked as both a designer and salesman. There he teamed up with such pro anglers as Dean Rojas and Roland Martin. Murphy maintains to have even helped in the design of the famous Rojas frog.

In March of last year, David Simmons, then a Yamaha promotions manager, contacted Murphy to see if he’d be interested in fishing the FLW Series Lake Lanier event under a Yamaha provisional agreement. After all, Murphy had been living in the area since he started working at SPRO, which is headquartered in Kennesaw, Ga. In his spare time, Murphy would guide on Lanier and also occasionally teach spotted bass seminars. Simply put, this was a golden opportunity to prove himself on his home lake against some of the best bass anglers in the world.

In his first tour-level tournament of any kind, Murphy calmly whacked 13 pounds of spots on the opening day and went on to cash a $10,500 check. Not bad for a 25-year-old completely devoid of big-time tournament experience.

Murphy’s next major move was to South Carolina for a job with Shakespeare as public relations coordinator. He enjoyed his duties with Shakespeare but the Lake Lanier event gave him a taste of something bigger. His wife (he got married in the middle of all of this craziness) already held a steady job as a pharmacist. With her blessing and encouragement, he made the decision to try his hand as a full-time professional angler.

He made the switch from Champion to Ranger and shortly after his wrap deal with Slim Jim fell into place. While it’s still a very young season, the initial results have been extraordinary.

At the season-opening Stren Series Southeast Division event on Lake Okeechobee, Murphy finished in 10th place, earning a check for $4,000.

“I couldn’t have written it any better,” said the young pro. “I’ve finally figured out what I want in life. I’ve got more confidence than I can even express. You can’t beat confidence; confidence is such a major factor in this mental sport.”

Murphy said his sponsorship with Slim Jim solidified his difficult decision.

“For them to turn around and help me tells me they believe in my vision. Slim Jim was just a match made in heaven. Being young is perfect for their demographic. They really want a young angler who can communicate with a younger audience. Plus, my new boat looks really hot.”

Murphy’s new Slim Jim-wrapped Ranger Z-Comanche boat will be unveiled at the upcoming FLW Series BP Eastern Division event on Lake Okeechobee. The tournament will run from Jan. 24-27 in Clewiston, Fla. Currently, he’s en route to picking up his new rig, which he’ll run this season on the FLW Tour, FLW Series and Stren Series Southeast Division.