Joe was born in 1950 in Litchfield, Minnesota area.
Joe carves decoys under the handle of Jackpine Joe and signs decoys ‘JJ’.
He started carving decoys in 1983 because he enjoyed the satisfaction of using his own gear. He has taken thousands of walleyes up to 31 inches with his own hand-tied snells and hand-poured jigs. For many years, Joe was an active outdoor writer/photographer. His work has been in Fins & Feathers magazine, Muskies Inc. magazine and he was on the masthead of Outdoor Outlines for several years. For six years, he hosted a fishing show on Radio 1340 KWLLM in Willmar, MN.
Joe likes to use the best examples of the most outstanding carvers as starting patterns for his Old School decoys, although he adds his personal improvements to the originals. He made his first decoy in 1983, a 13-inch piece patterned after the excellent Bru-ell decoys manufactured by Bruce & Helen Wakefield that were local best sellers in the 1970s and 1980s.
Many of his latest works incorporate the asymmetry of the collectible decoys carved and sold in Northern Minnesota by the well-known master carver Clarence Peterson (Brainerd, MN, 1913-1998). Joe says the 6-inch and 8-inch Peterson decoys outperform anything else he has used. But for his decoys under 5-inches, he duplicates the fine lines of the asymmetrical originals of another master, Jim Kelson (Mt. Clemens, MI, 1888-1968).
However, Joe’s decoys have many unique,upgraded features, including what he considers better profiles. His high-end fish decoys include many made with exotic woods that are hand-rubbed in clear finishes. The natural beauty of the wood provides the eye (and fish) appeal. Woods include many exotics such as curly koa, padauk, curly maple, feathered walnut, cocobolo and satinwood. Yet, he still likes to build some from cedar, and those are hand painted. All of his decoys are working decoys properly weighted and balanced.
In addition to creating stunning decoys with a natural finish, many of Joe’s decoys are also unique in the way they are weighted the lead weighting is done internally with a hidden cavity and no lead is visible on the outside surfaces. The secret lies with the use of a seam with wood pairings that complement one another. The seams may be straight, or they may be highly decorative with a running box joint. Needless to say, Jackpine Joe’s works are uniquely recognizable in the world of hand carving & finishing fine fish decoys
You can contact Joe at joeegge@gmail.com
Information provided by Joe Egge