Those We Honor

You’ll find more than just fishing celebrities in this list. One can make a significant impact
on the lives of many without ever being well known. It is important to honor all of
those who had a great influence on the great sport of fishing, whether famous or not.
Corporate advances tend to be much more visible to us. For it’s their products that
shape the evolution of the sport of fishing.

William “Billy” Dougherty

William “Billy” Dougherty

Inducted 2018

Billy Dougherty’s career as a legendary guide on Rainy Lake includes his youthful 1965-
1975 stint at his grandparents’ Kettle Falls Hotel, plus his work at Rainy Lake
Houseboats from 1985 to the present. Aside from his own guiding there, Billy and fellow
guide Bob Jornlin mentored and trained 22 younger guides. Billy’s multi-species angling
expertise has been featured by In-Fisherman TV, Babe Winkelman’s Good Fishing,
Backroads with Ron and Raven, Butch Furtman’s Sportsman’s Journal, Lindner’s
Angling Edge, Midwest Outdoors, North American Fisherman, and In-depth Outdoors.
Billy Dougherty proudly notes that 2018 marks the centennial of his Williams/Dougherty
family’s deep involvement with fishing-related tourism on Rainy Lake.