Babe Winkelman

“Good Fishing, great mustache: the Minnesota angler who taught a generation to read water.”

87STACH SCORE

✂ Walrus Celebrity Era: 1980s 🏆 HOF Inductee

Is this a Legendary Stach?

Stach Stats

Stash Power89

Ruggedness90

Curl Factor25

Legend Status84

Stats are for entertainment purposes. The mustache committee's decisions are final and occasionally arbitrary.

Style: Walrus
Peak Era: 1980s
Hall of Fame: Inducted 2026
Fan Votes: 0 legendary · 0 meh

The Story

About Babe Winkelman

Babe Winkelman is a Minnesota angler, hunter and broadcaster best known as the host of Good Fishing, one of the longest-running syndicated fishing programs on American television, and later of Outdoor Secrets, a companion hunting show. Working out of the Brainerd lakes country, he built his programs around teaching, breaking down structure, seasonal patterns and presentation so that a weekend angler could actually go out and catch more fish.

Before television he fished competitively and guided, and his shows, books and videos grew into a full outdoor-media business. Generations of walleye, bass and muskie anglers in the Upper Midwest learned their fundamentals from his calm, plain-spoken lessons.

And throughout, there was the mustache: a thick, full walrus that rolled over the lip and became as much a part of the show's look as the boat and the lake.

The Verdict

Why the Stach Became Iconic

Winkelman's mustache is pure north-woods: heavy, full and unfussy, often paired with a beard and always with a cap. It is the facial hair of a man who spends his mornings on cold water, and it gave Good Fishing a warm, trustworthy face long before outdoor TV became a polished industry.

Ask anyone who grew up watching Saturday-morning fishing shows in the 1980s and 1990s to describe Babe Winkelman, and the mustache is the first thing they mention.

On the Record

Appearances

Good Fishing — long-running syndicated fishing television series
Outdoor Secrets — hunting television series
Fishing and hunting instructional books and videos

Fun Facts

He is based in the Brainerd lakes region of Minnesota, one of the heartlands of American walleye fishing.
Good Fishing is widely cited as one of the longest-running fishing shows on television.
His shows were built around instruction first, with seasonal patterns and structure fishing explained for everyday anglers.
He has been inducted into fishing and outdoor halls of fame in addition to this one, which is, of course, the most important.