Brad Burns

Brad Burns grew up in a commercial fishing family in a small village on the coast of Maine. His focus then was saltwater fishing, especially surf casting for striped bass, until the late 1980s when he discovered fly fishing and became expert at taking large stripers on flies tied at his vise.

His first book, the L.L. Bean Fly Fishing for Striped Bass Handbook, was published in 1998, and was followed by Fly Fishing Saltwater’s Finest, which he co-authored with his late friend John Cole. Burns’ new love of fly fishing expanded to freshwater species like brook trout and arctic char and eventually to the Atlantic salmon which has been his passion for the past twelve years.

Burns lives with June, his wife of 41 years, on the banks of the Presumpscot River (once a great Atlantic salmon river) where he still throws flies for striped bass.

As a longtime fisheries activist, Burns has served on a number of boards and advisory commissions, was a national board and executive committee member of the Coastal Conservation Association, and is the founder and president of Stripers Forever. He is also a U.S. Director of the Miramichi Salmon Association. Burns has received many awards for conservation work from organizations like the Federation of Fly Fishers, Sage Fly Rods, and the Fisherman’s Conservation Association of New York.

More information about Brad Burns’ fly fishing adventures can be found at his website

www.BradBurnsFishing.com