I guess everyone knew who William “Doc” Skerlick was but me.
Betsy P. Kahn’s photo challenge last week showed a sign honoring the guy. I’d never heard of him — or seen the sign.
But tons of alert “06880” readers knew it hangs at the Saugatuck Trout Management Area on Ford Road. And most of those readers knew who Doc was too.
Michael Calise, David Sampson, Fred Cantor, Jill Turner Odice, Jonathan McClure, Peter Hirst, Mark Saboslai, Bill Blaufuss and Jeff Lea nailed it. Many added interesting details. (Click here for the photo and all responses.)
The best background info came from Peter Hirst (who got it from Dick Alley’s blog). Here is everything you need to know about Doc:
Doc fished both fresh and salt water, kept a daily journal on each and every trip and kept and froze many of his fish. He would fish trout from the beginning of every season until Memorial Day and then switch to another species. He had a goal of a designated number of snapper blues every late summer and early fall, and would end up cooking them for one or more of the many organizations he belonged to. Doc belonged to the Westport Striped Bass Club, Westport Fish & Game, Newtown Fish & Game, Trout Unlimited and many more and seldom missed a meeting. He would drive up to Hartford on any conservation issue.
Doc loved Country music and played a mean harmonica. He traveled to many music festivals and was popular among other attendee’s.
Doc was most of all a teacher. He loved teaching kids how to fish, especially those who ventured into the fly-fishing area which eventually bore his name. He tied flies and made lures and had displays of many of his creations which he was happy to show and talk about wherever anyone made a request.
For even more on Doc, click here.
This week’s challenge has nothing to do with fly fishing. But if you know where in Westport you’d see it, click “Comments” below.
(Photo/Larry Untermeyer)