About BenzieJo

BenzieJo Decoys is a husband and wife partnership: Fred and Jo Anne Campbell. Fred's talent with carving is complemented by Jo Anne's top-notch painting skills.


Fred carved his first decoy in 1996. After carving and painting 24 decoys, he decided that the painting part of it was just not something he enjoyed doing. About a year later, Jo Anne came across a few of the decoys from the previous year that Fred never finished. She decided to try her hand at the painting part. That is when the decoy partnership began...


The decoys are hand crafted and hand painted. BenzieJo Decoys takes pride in making sure they are correctly weighted and balanced so that the decoy will sit level in the water and swim in a circle.



Here is a brown trout decoy being tested for balance to make sure it sits level in the water and does not list from front to back nor side to side. He's a keeper!


All of the decoys are "working decoys." If you are an ice fisherman, these will work! If you are a collector, they work well for that too!


BenzieJo Decoys makes 95 different species and subspecies of trout, salmon, and pan fish. BenzieJo Decoys also makes many varieties of folk art decoys in various sizes ranging from 3 inches to 15 inches.


The fish decoys are at the specie level -- the highest level of carving -- and could pass for the real thing. Fred tests all of the decoys to ensure that they are properly weighted and balanced. Jo Anne then hand paints the decoys, including the eyes. A waterproof finish is applied after the decoys are painted.


BenzieJo Decoys has received the highest honors and awards for their fish decoy carvings. These include winning "Best of Show" at the Great Lakes Fish Decoy Association World Championships, for the past three years, winning awards at the Jensen National Fish Decoy Contest, and winning awards at the Northeast Michigan Sports Show Decoy Competition. Please visit the awards page to see more about the awards.