I met John at last year's Clearwater Junction tying show, which benefited the Theodore Gordon Flyfishers' conservation cause. As I watched him finish up a Female Adams I thought, "This guy can really tie". I knew of John from some flies he had shown on the Classictrout.com Catskill site, and had always been quite impressed, but seeing him do one in person told me he was really a master of the Catskill style. I was really hoping he'd do some flies for my site, and luckily he's consented. John doesn't like to talk about himself much, but he wrote me the following information, and as you'll see, he comes by his nickname "Catskill John" quite honestly.

"ELA"


"A bio huh? Hmmm... I used to go to the Catskills from 1974 to 1982, my family had a summer house in Sullivan county [Jeffersonville] and I fished Callicoon Creek at age 12 with a fly rod and my first home made "flies" every summer. When I got my drivers license, I lost my interest in fishing and drag raced for 20 years. Around 6 years ago, I sold all my racing equipment, cars, everything and took up tying and fishing again. Couldn't be any happier! I really love the history of the Catskills, and enjoy tying the classic patterns from that area. Like most tyers, I am a big collector of materials, but really love old hooks and am always looking for the pre-war Allcocks and Mustads to replicate the classic patterns with. I am married to a lovely girl named Andrea who encourages me in my hobby, and we have 2 great kids, Carina [10] and Johnny [8] who love the Catskills as much as I did when I was young. We live in Pennsylvania, and have a small summer- house in the same town [Jeffersonville] as the one we had when I was a kid. I still fish Callicoon Creek, but now with my children."