Let's pour one out for Muskie Joe Stamper — the man, the myth, the legend. You may never have heard of him, but if you visit certain parts of Kentucky then you may have heard of the fisherman.
Muskie Joe spent nearly 50 years of his life fishing for muskies in Kentucky's Kinniconick Creek. The avid fisherman spent most of his life trying to capture the elusive 6-footer fish. But he had a lot of fun along the way, catching more than 300 legal-size muskies and cementing his name in fishing lore.
Although he has been dead since 1981, the legend of Muskie Joe lives on. The tale of the fisherman lives in all of our hearts and featured in the magazine edition of Outdoor Life back in the day. Ultimately, the fisherman ended up fishing as most of us do — for fun and to pass the time.
Fisherman Tales
"It got so we didn't get much sawin' done," Joe explained. "Commodore was a family man and owned a big farm, and I couldn't operate the mill by myself so I just started doing a little fishing to kill some time."
It was also a way for him to spend time with his friends, one in particular. The fisherman had many memories."Me and Old Charley Rose kept track of the fish he and I caught while we fished together, and it was more than 100!" Joe said. "Course, you got to remember, me and Old Charley only fished together for about 15 years"
Through the years, he learned the best times to fish for muskies and how to increase his chances of a catch. The fisherman always liked to fish before a storm and also to fish in shaded areas as well.
"A creek can get high and stay that way for a week or more when heavy rains come," he said. "A muskie knows that, and will feed up to the last minute. Boy, it's a good time to be tossin' hardware. I'm a-tellin' ya, those muskies sure liked that water."
However, there's one thing that he never managed even though he fished until he was 93. And that was getting that elusive 6 footer.
"I'll fish right on as long as I'm able and I'm going to catch that six-footer someday," he said. "I know the log that he's laying under! You know boys, it's the winter that gets us old folks. If I can make it through March, I'll catch that fish this summer!"
Sadly, he died before summer came.
