[Loxiafan]

Purchased the book today, it is brilliant 
Does anyone know the recipes for his simple flies?

Hi Liam,

John I think mainly uses two hackled dry flies - a claret/red silk body with Badger hackle and a yellow silk body with a Greenwell type hackle. He gave me one of his claret ones and he seems to use quite long hackles for the hook size - you can also see this from the picture of flies in the book. Doesn't seem to negatively impact on catch rate - maybe the hackles 'spread out' appear like spent insect on the water ? ! Size 16 and 18 seem to be the preference and the hooks look like silver Alec Jackson NC Spider hooks ( or Kamasan B525 which I understand are the same hook !)

Hope this helps,

Lindsay

[Graham Nicol]

I likewise have purchased and read the book and enjoyed it immensely. What amazes me is John's tenacity to persist with the dry fly when conditions are generally not favourable. In addition he often refers to the decline of fly life which makes waiting for a rise often quite a challenge. I fished the Parkhill waters and various other beats in the late 70s and early 80s and can remember times when one fished in the evening in a sedge storm! I was fortunate in that my house overlooked the river and I could wait and see fish coming on the feed and there were long periods in May/June when this was almost guaranteed on a daily basis. Sadly this is no longer the case. We must remember though that the fly life decline is occurring on many rivers and not just the Don. It remains a premier river ; it's just it was fabulous back then for the dry fly pursit. He has to work harder now!

[TimTheFlier]

Inspired by this forum, I too have purchased a copy of John's book.

It has proved a valuable insight to fishing the Don and well worth the read - I recommend getting a copy.

I look forward to attempting some of John's advice and tactics in 2012.

Tim

[Loxiafan]

Great stuff guys, glad you liked the book and found it useful ! Although John is not 'active' on this Forum, he nevertheless does "lurk" and I am sure he will be made up by all the positive feedback for his book.

Cheers,

Lindsay