"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 syndicated debut in 1985, usually airing Saturdays in most television markets. 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. Each show ended with the tagline for next week..."until then, hey...good fishing!"
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.
Read more about this topic: Babe Winkelman