Babe Winkelman

Babe Winkelman is a world-renowned Minnesota-based professional fisherman, first coming into the national spotlight with "Babe Winkelman's Good Fishing" television program, which was first syndicated nationwide in the mid-1980s. The program airs nationally on the Versus cable network and syndicated on over-the-air local television stations nationwide.

Early life

Winkelman grew up on a small farm near the tiny town of Duelm, Minnesota, where on Stoney Brook he was fishing, hunting and observing wildlife. He learned the value of hard work through his labors on a family farm. He learned by the example of his parents on how to run a business and get your fingers dirty at the same time.

From the time he was crawling, Winkelman lived the outdoor life, in constant contact with the natural processes of life and death, and the cycles of nature. Through endless hours of hunting and fishing, he polished his skills. During the 1960s, every possible moment was spent at the family cabin on Hay Lake near Brainerd, where he taught himself a "pattern" approach to fishing that he continues to teach others today. At the same time, beginning at age eight, he was developing his skills as a hunter of birds, small game, and deer.

"Hey, Good Fishing!"

After helping build a successful construction business with his father, Winkelman listened to his true calling and in the early 1970s took a huge risk by starting Babe Winkelman Productions. It would be a company bearing his name and his personality, its mission to teach others how to be successful when fishing and hunting while always remaining respectful of the natural world.

The public got to know Winkelman as a fisherman because he has been at it full-time, since 1975, and began appearing on TV back in 1978 on commercials for Deepwoods OFF. In 1980 he started producing television on his own.

Babe's efforts at TV would finally pay off when "Good Fishing" made its national debut in 1985. The show, produced in Brainerd, Minnesota near his home, contained a great deal of stock video footage from the past and present, not just educating anglers, but entertaining families as well, with Babe's easygoing style and the integration of his family on the shows.

One example was the addition of his then-wife Charlie, who demonstrated simple and easy to prepare fish dishes for the family. Winkelman's current wife Kris, hosts a similar feature called "Kris' Kitchen" on "Good Fishing" and on Winkelman's companion hunting show "Outdoor Secrets". Another was the inclusion of his two daughters on his fishing trips and their own proficiency as anglers. And yet another was his brother Dave, who wrote, produced, and sung the opening and closing theme songs in the show's early years.

External Sources

* [http://www.winkelman.com/default.php Babe Winkelman Productions]
* [http://www.bogfrog.com/ Dave Winkelman, environmentalist]