Hook Size 6
The General Practitioner is an old Atlantic Salmon fly pattern that was developed in the
early 1950’s. Lt Colonel Esmond Drury originally designed the fly as an imitation of a
shrimp. It was first used on the River Test. It was common for anglers to use live shrimp to
fish for salmon back then and before long, land owners didn’t permit the use of live bait.
Drury developed the fly to imitate the native Northern Shrimp.
At first Mr. Drury called this fly the G.P.because of the golden pheasant feathers that
went to make up most of the fly It is a good fly to use during low stream levels during late
Summer. The General Practitioner has proved very effective on many different streams
from all around the World. It’s popular in America, Scandinavia, Britain Sweden and
Iceland. The name changed to General Practitioner because of its effectiveness.
The General Practitioner imitates a shrimp or prawn. You will find this is a very popular
and effective fly in dingy waters. It is fished using the traditional wet swing method.
