The Legend of Muskie Joe, the Man Who Searched His Entire Life for a 6-Foot Fish

This story, “The Legend of Muskie Joe,” appeared within the Could 1983 challenge of Out of doors Life.

Muskie Joe Stamper was a residing legend alongside the tree-lined banks of Kentucky’s Kinniconick Creek. For practically 50 years, the devoted angler pursued the muskies that this stream is famed for. He was the primary full-time muskie fisherman anybody may keep in mind in japanese Kentucky, and was maybe the oldest lively muskie fisherman within the nation till he died of a sudden sickness within the late winter of 1981. In his lifetime he in all probability caught as many as 300 legal-size muskies and was thought of the all-time champion muskie angler all through this rugged hill nation. His fame as a muskie fisherman was widespread. Few are the fishermen within the tri-state space of Kentucky, Ohio and West Virginia who haven’t heard the legend of Muskie Joe. Many thought he was simply that — a legend. However in reality he was actual — very actual. That is the story of Muskie Joe:

Espresso was a dime a pound, good bacon value 8½¢ and you may purchase a 25-pound sack of flour for 30¢ when Muskie Joe Stamper first caught muskie fever. That was simply after the tum of the century and Joe was only a “barefoot boy” — as he all the time referred to his youthful days — when he acquired in on the final, huge crosstie float down the Kinniconick.

It was on that journey, whereas working as camp cook dinner, tie jam breaker and common ginhand, that Joe was to see his first 3-foot muskie. The good silver-sided fish swam underneath a tie jam and, when Joe stepped onto the blockage, he spooked the fish which, in tum, got here up via the stacked-up ties, hit him throughout the knees and virtually knocked him into the chilly waters of the spring-running stream.

He was born Joe Edward Stamper on March 13, 1887, on the Head of Grassy, Kentucky, on the headwaters of the Laurel Fork of the Kinniconick. His father, the late Taylor Stamper, was a barrel maker and crosstie drifter. The Stamper household was recognized for its nice 35-mile tie floats down the Kinniconick. Every spring they routed as many as 150,000 hand-hewn crossties throughout a float that required six weeks and 20 males to finish.

Joe’s recollections of Kinniconick muskies actually went again to when he was only a toddler wading within the clear waters of the Laurel Fork. The “huge pike,” as they had been recognized within the late 1800s, got here to the clear water and gravel backside of the little stream every spring to spawn. Joe recalled that he and his pals had all the time tried to gig the massive fish with pitchforks.

Early muskie fishing strategies alongside the Kinniconick included stout strains tied to swinging limbs, trotlines, pitchforks and rifle bullets. Sometimes, somebody would even style a large seine to web them or discover just a few sticks of dynamite to convey sufficient fish house to fill a “90-gallon picklin’ barrel,” Joe mentioned.

Joe turned a severe muskie fisherman within the late Thirties when he and his brother Commodore constructed a small cabin on the banks of the Buckeye Spring eddy on the Kinniconick. There they operated a small sawmill for awhile.

“It acquired so we didn’t get a lot sawin’ finished,” Joe defined. “Commodore was a household man and owned a giant farm, and I couldn’t function the mill on my own so I simply began doing a bit of fishing to kill a while.”

By this time, Joe had acquired a casting outfit and a few plugs his uncle had given him. One of many plugs was damaged off by a giant muskie the second time he solid it. His uncle later shot the fish, considering the plug would nonetheless be in its mouth!

For a number of years Joe lived a laid-back life-style in his small cabin alongside the clear waters of the Kinniconick. He made some boats from huge yellow poplar bushes.

“Why son, I’d fish one eddy within the mornin’, come house and have a giant dinner of cornbread and beans and exit and fish one other eddy within the evenin’. Generally I’d exit an catch me a three-footer within the evenin’ after a giant supper of cornbread and beans. I’ll let you know fellers, I ate an terrible lot of cornbread and beans again in these days,” Joe recalled, chuckling.

He lived off the land throughout these early years on the Kinniconick. Meals from the backyard, wild geese off the creek and loads of squirrels, rabbit and grouse from surrounding woodlands saved him match and wholesome. Surprisingly sufficient, he by no means cared for the style of fish till his later years.

Joe was one of many only a few native residents who picked up a rod and reel for sport. There was little or no cash for sportfishing within the aftermath of the Despair years and, when World Conflict II broke out, all of the younger males alongside the Kinniconick went off to warfare. By this time, Joe was 53 years outdated and too outdated to return into the service. He had served honorably throughout World Conflict I, preventing in three main battles, and was later honored as a sharpshooter.

“I used to be a sniper and a darned good one in addition,” he mentioned with a gleam in his pale, blue eyes. “Had numerous follow huntin’ squirrels alongside Kinniconick.” Throughout World Conflict II, Joe was about the one fisherman to be discovered on the Kinniconick.

Throughout his boat-building years, Joe constructed greater than a dozen picket johnboats that he rented to visiting fishermen for $1 a day. It was a Cincinnati group of sportfishermen who hung the title of”Muskie Joe” on the longtime muskie angler.

He remembered when the primary rod and reel was seen on Kinniconick Creek. Joe was solely about 10 years outdated when his uncle, G. W. Stamper, introduced a casting outfit up from Cincinnati together with a giant spoon. In line with Joe, G. W. instantly went out and hooked a five-footer.

Joe all the time referred to the muskie he noticed, hooked or caught, as being so many “toes” lengthy. He by no means used inches for measurements of the massive gamefish. He was all the time speaking concerning the legendary six-footers that he claimed lived within the deep holes of the Kinniconick.

“Why me and a girl was fishing the Armstrong eddy someday when a six-footer got here as much as solar himself awhile,” Joe reminisced. “I had loads of time to measure the fish — utilizing a seven-foot boat oar for comparability. Yep, no query about it, that fish was a superb six toes.”

Joe by no means caught a six-footer. The very best he may ever do was a four-footer that weighed 32 kilos. The fish was saved and eaten on Joe’s birthday.

The very best muskie that Joe remembered being taken from the Kinniconick was caught by Previous Doc Bertram. He introduced a brand new casting outfit and a few lures up from Cincinnati and caught eight muskies that ranged in dimension from 12 to 19 kilos — all on the identical day.

It’s tough to say simply what number of legal-size muskies Muskie Joe caught in his lifetime. “Me and Previous Charley Rose saved observe of the fish he and I caught whereas we fished collectively, and it was greater than 100!” Joe as soon as mentioned. “Course, you bought to recollect, me and Previous Charley solely fished collectively for about 15 years.”

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Joe did all of his muskie fishing from the massive, 16-foot john boats he made within the late ’30s. He by no means preferred aluminum and figured fiberglass boats had been too costly. Moreover, he felt that commercially constructed fishing boats had been too skimpy on house. “You’ve acquired to have some room in a ship to battle a giant creek muskie,” he all the time suggested.

The muskie man’s deal with field wasn’t something to brag about, both. He by no means owned greater than a dozen lures and didn’t determine he wanted any extra.

“It ain’t the lure, boys. It’s the time that’s most vital once you’re muskie fishing,” Joe would say.

Joe claimed a muskie on the prowl would “hit a corncob however wouldn’t be fooled by one of the best piece of {hardware} that ever got here down the pike if it ain’t on the prowl!”

Despite the fact that Joe fished on and off for muskies most of his life, it wasn’t till he moved to the cabin on the banks of Kinniconick that he turned a full-time muskie fisherman. In these early days, one among his favourite tips for fooling muskies was to nail some brush to the aspect of his boat.

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“I’d reel a plug in and a muskie would come after it,” he mentioned. “When it thought the plug was gettin’ away within the brush on the aspect of the boat, it might hit, 9 occasions out of 10.”

Within the greater than 40 years that Joe fished for muskies, he noticed that the fish are like a lazy man: “They’ll keep within the shade each time doable!”

He additionally famous that muskies are deepwater loafers however will take two-thirds of their meals from the floor. “Ain’t no use to throw a bottom-bouncer for a muskie, as a result of it ain’t even lookin’ that manner,” he’d say.

Throughout his observations of muskie feeding habits on the Kinniconick, Joe seen that the water tigers would feed as soon as each 9 days and fewer than that in the course of the warmth of summer time. He all the time claimed that one of the best time to hook a muskie was throughout April and Could. Fishing throughout September and October was his second selection with November and December his third selection.

“I’ve caught a muskie on each vacation of the yr and needed to make just a few up of my very own,” Joe would brag.

His favourite time of the yr to fish for muskies was throughout October, when there have been plenty of leaves on the water. “Minnows conceal within the leaves within the fall and an outdated muskie watches the open-water locations,” he defined. “That’s the place you need to place that plug, boys.”

Joe additionally seen that muskies feed when the temperature rises from its low at evening to a excessive in the course of the day. “When it frosts in the course of the evening after which warms as much as about 65° in the course of the day, it’s a doggone good time to be muskie fishing,” Joe claimed.

Joe additionally preferred to fish for creek muskies earlier than a significant storm entrance moved in. “A creek can get excessive and keep that manner for every week or extra when heavy rains come,” he mentioned. “A muskie is aware of that, and can feed as much as the final minute. Boy, it’s a superb time to be tossin’ {hardware}. I’m a-tellin’ ya, these muskies certain preferred that water.”

Joe all the time suggested anglers to fish in a shaded space, whether or not the solar is shining or not. “Even at evening, the shaded areas are the place the muskies will lay,” he mentioned.

A foul time to fish for muskies is anytime throughout July and August, when the air temperature is falling, after a flood, when the stream is falling and on brilliant sunny days.

“I’ll fish proper on so long as I’m ready and I’m going to catch that six-footer sometime,” he mentioned. “I do know the log that he’s laying underneath!”

If Muskie Joe Stamper would have lived 11 days longer, he would have made it to his 94th birthday. “You understand boys, it’s the winter that will get us outdated people. If I could make it via March, I’ll catch that fish this summer time!”

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Paradoxically, true to his observations, Joe by no means made it via March. On one of many only a few occasions he had left his Kinniconick cabin, Muskie Joe Stamper died whereas on a go to to Indiana. For 40 years, the spirited muskie fisherman from Kentucky’s famed Kinniconick Creek was a residing legend. Joe’s gone now, however the legend he instilled within the hearts of muskie males down via the years will stay on for so long as stout-hearted anglers float the twisting stream, trying to find the fabled six-footer that Muskie Joe knew was there.

“You understand boys,” he would usually say, “I’ve acquired a sweet-water spring in my entrance yard, a superb, heat cabin, loads of fishing deal with and muskies in my yard.

“What else may a person need in his lifetime!”