John Horrocks (fisherman)

John Horrocks, ( born June 29, 1816 in Edinburgh, † June 13, 1881 in Weimar) was the founder and innovator of modern fly-fishing in Europe.

He is the author of the book The art of fly fishing for trout and grayling in Germany and Austria. He is buried in Weimar, Thuringia.

1835 Horrocks fished for the first time with the fly in the Ilm and other German waters. In 1842 he moved to Weimar. After that, he wrote the standard work and had therefore the greatest impact on the spread of fly fishing than the "art of fishing " in Germany. Horrocks was married three times and widowed twice in Weimar. The first wife was Caroline Hahn ( † 1847); the second was Isabella Zwierlein (1825-1853); and the third, Maura Diehme.

In his book, which first appeared in 1874, portrays the English sports fishermen Horrocks the condition and then decline of fisheries regarding overfishing and inadequacy of the dominant fishing laws. He called for the abolition of medieval customs and outdated methods of fishing and demanded laws to protect the fish.