You’ll find more than just fishing celebrities in this list. One can make a significant impact
on the lives of many without ever being well known. It is important to honor all of
those who had a great influence on the great sport of fishing, whether famous or not.
Corporate advances tend to be much more visible to us. For it’s their products that
shape the evolution of the sport of fishing.

These are some of the highlights and should give you a bit more insight into what we are about.

Started fishing in 1955

Started guiding in 1965

Started fishing tournaments in 1970

Started writing fishing articles  in   1972

Started seminars on fishing in 1973

Went full time in fishing in 1975 tournaments, guiding, seminars, promotional fishing for Lindy’s, Field Editor for Fishing Facts, wrote for many magazines including Field and Stream, Bassmaster, Infisherman , Fins N Feathers and numerous others

Introduced Deep Woods  Off to the world via television commercials starting in 1978 thru 1982.  Ran on most stations in all markets that have biting bugs.. in prime time targeting the heavy users (outdoor folks)

Started Babe Winkelman Productions in l980

Started with Good Fishing Tips on television in l1980  as part of the sports block on the 6:00 and 10:PM news

Produced the only fishing teaching system  as a four cassette audio tape set in 1982

Started Babe Winkelman’s Good Fishing television series, the half hour series,   in 1983

Wrote my first book On Fishing Canada in 1983

Produced the first How-To fishing videos series, call “The Facts of Fishing” in 1984 and went on to produce over a 100 titles over the next several years.

Bought half interest in Lindy/Little Joe tackle company in 1985 and served as chairman of the board for the next ten years, then sold my interest in the company

Established Babe Winkelman Productions Inc.  in l985

Trademarked “Teaching America to Fish” in 1985

Wrote several more books including Walleye Patterns,  Bass Patterns, Jig and Live Bait Fishing, Guide to Fish Lokators and a book with an audio cassette on understanding sonar between 1984 and 1990

Feature article on me in the  “Saturday Evening Post” in 1986

Brought Hunting back to television with the debut of Outdoor Secrets in 1987

Trademarked “ Mastering the Patterns of Nature” in 1988

Feature article on me in “People Magazine” in 1988 for calling me Television’s Hottest Fishing TV Angler

Was inducted into the Fresh Water Fishing Hall of Fame in 1988

Feature article on me in “Midwest Living” as America’s most celebrated angler in 1990.

Award from Inc 500 for the 88th fastest growing  small business in America

Starting serving {around 1988} as Ontario’s US Ambassador to the United States on Fishing.

The NFL contacted me  in l992 to do the Brian Piccolo Foundation for them as a celebrity, one of the two benefits the NFL does directly.  Turned out to be a golfing event where they brought in the 65 top players in the NFL and me and foursomes bid on us to be their celebrity 5th.  I raised $1,000 more than even the MVP of the year the first year.  Participated in the event for 7 years and raised the most amount of money for them 6 0f 7 years.  Strictly because of fishing, the only celebrity that wasn’t a football player.

Was the ONLY Fishing person ever to be inducted into the Sports Legends Hall of Fame (a global Hall of Fame for athletes) in 1992 for Fishing, along with 32 other athletes from around the world, including two others from the USA, Pete Rose from Baseball and Evander Holyfield from boxing.

Inducted into the Minnesota Fishing Hall of Fame in 1994

Spoke for President George Bush’s presidential campaign in 2004

Appeared as America’s premier fishing celebrity on the “Donnie and Marie Osmond”  TV show in 2005

Received OWAA’s Excellence in Craft Award, their highest honor, in 2007

Was featured on “Married With Children” on at least 3 different occasions

Was featured on NBC’s Sunday night movies of several occasions over the years

Was inducted into the “ledgends of the Outdoors” Hall of Fame in 2015

Won several hundred awards for television production excellence for commercials and shows including the New York Film Festival, the Houston International Film Festival, Teddy’s, Addy’s, etc.

Through the course of the years I have been a spokesman for GMC, S. C. Johnson, Chevrolet, John Deere, Johnsonville Brats, Ray-o-Vac, Jack Links Jerky, Ziploc, Bass Pro Shops, Target, Gold Eagle Chemical, Dow Chemical, Cabela’s, Ontario, Gerber, Polaris, DuPont, Leatherman, Loctite, Johnson Controls, Coleman, True Value hardware and a host of fishing and hunting companies.   Still am in many cases.  One company, ERTL, even produced a series of Babe collectable dolls!