Jose Castillo was born in 1948 and lives in Leesburg, Florida.
Joe stated in a October 2008 eBay auction the following:
“My decoy carving do not come up for sale often, most of my work has been sold at shows in Levonia Michigan or thru Langs auction house. I have been carving since the early eighties as well as collecting. This is a beautiful Rainbow trout, working decorate decoy with a fabulous paint scheme. When you hold this decoy in your hand the realism is such that you think its a real live Rainbow! My competitive and carving time has been put on hold temporarily, although I will continue to carve. The decoy is signed. Condition Excellent, never used. If you need further info or pictures of my other wood sculptures let me know. Put this fish under the ice and watch it work!”
Gary Miller got a reply from Jose and that reply is as follows: “Thank you for your comments. Its unusual for a native Floridian to be involved in Ice Spearing, however I found my first fish in a store in Florida. I thought it was an Isaac Goulette, but it turned out to be a factory Mikko! by then I was heavy into wood carving[Fish] so I decided to learn about these Decoys, went to all the shows in Livonia Michigan, Minesota etc. Entered competition, never won a world title. I became disenchanted with the competition circle because it seemed somewhat one sided.
Met most of the great carvers learned a lot specially from Jim Nelson and Sonny Bashore. Collected a lot of great fish. My warm Floridian blood could not stand the shanty temperature. I have carved over 300 decoys all have sold. I only carve now maybe one or two a year by special request. I still do Fish sculptures, and collect antique fishing tackle. My hobby is full the full time practice of Medicine.
Regards,
Joe”
Jose signs his decoys with a JC and his eBay ID is gmgfish.
His address is 12302 Pine Island Drive,
Leesburg, FL 34788-2950
Phone number is 352-589-2446