Welcome to Brad Burns Fly Fishing
This website offers the books On the Cains and Closing the Season, and shares with my fellow Atlantic salmon devotees information about the Miramichi River’s Atlantic salmon fishery. Other books by me such as Maine to Montauk and Black Spruce Stream can be purchased through my “author’s page” on Amazon at this link.
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Do you have any questions for me about the Miramichi or Atlantic salmon fishing in general? Just e-mail me at bigbass@maine.rr.com. To read Miramichi salmon blogs and fishing reports select Miramichi Salmon Blog from right side of the menu bar near the top of the screen.
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Fishing Friends – Good news from the Miramichi! Just a few days ago it seemed that very few people were fishing for salmon, but for those who have had a line in the water the results have been surprisingly good for so early in the season. Jason Curtis began fishing for bright salmon near the end of May, and has spent a little time at it most days, though it was June 6 before he, …Read More →
Fishing Friends – The month of May went by without me hearing of a single bright salmon being caught on the Miramichi, though that has never been unusual, and it doesn’t mean that someone didn’t connect. I hear that the occasional, of what Pete Dube of the Motel Restigouche calls “giant brights” has been taken on the Restigouche since early in May, and that includes this lovely specimen held by Matapedia guide Peter Firth. , …Read More →
Fishing Friends: Spring fishing season doesn’t close for a few days yet, but how long the kelts actually stick around Miramichi River seems to depend on a number of factors. These may include water temperature, water height – strength of flow – and how long it has been since ice out. I haven’t made any attempt to research it, but it seems that even going back 25 years or more to my springs on, …Read More →
Fishing Friends We are now one week into the Miramichi Atlantic salmon season, and it has two hallmarks so far. The first is that the fishing has been very good. Some say the best in many spring seasons. The other is that with the early ice out, and the woods empty of snow, the river started out at the relatively low level of 2.5 meters in height, and got down to 1.7 by mid-week. , …Read More →
Fishing Friends – All of a sudden the Atlantic salmon season on the Miramichi is open, and by all reports that I have opening day was a welcome success. In addition to the great fishing reported the weather was sunny and comfortable and the river was at an excellent fishing height. Jason Curtis took Bryan Burgess and his wife Mary Jane – new owners of Red Pine Camp down at Hell’s Gate – up, …Read More →
Fishing Friends – while the season on the Miramichi won’t be open until April 15, and from everything we hear the border probably won’t be open until at least some time in the summer, it is uplifting to note that the season is progressing, and the ice is running out of the Miramichi. We still have a way to go before the rivers are completely empty of ice, and even longer until the banks, …Read More →
SAVE THE DATE! FEB 20 7:00 PM MSA USA SALMON CELEBRATION 2021 A FREE livestream evening of Miramichi River Atlantic salmon fishing. Short films and video clips by more than a dozen special guests including: Excerpts from a historical film “Memories of the Miramichi” with footage of Lee and Joan Wulff, Ted Williams, and Charles DeFeo will also be shown. Register here free of charge to watch the Salmon Celebration. You will be e-mailed, …Read More →
The activity, including the just plain chatter, that normally accompanies Miramichi fall salmon fishing was the quietest during 2020 that I can remember. Certainly a lot of that has to do with Covid and the lack of non-resident anglers. Normally the fly shops in Doaktown and Blackville are buzzing with people that you see every fall, as well as new faces on the river. I wasn’t there to see for myself, but from all, …Read More →
On October 15th the remainder of the Miramichi River system closed to fishing for the year – the headwaters closed on September 30. There are bodies of water like the Bartibog and Tabusintac that are open until October 30th, but everything on both branches of the Miramichi system is now closed. It was for all Americans, as my fishing friend Ralph Vitale said, the season that never was. But even though we couldn’t witness, …Read More →
Two fishing friends e-mailed me in the last couple of days, and each said the same thing. Here’s one quote from Byron Coughlin at Country Haven: “Brad, there are so many big salmon from Black Brook to Quarryville now that in a way I don’t like to tell you since you can’t come up, but I know you will be happy that there are lots of fish in the river. Kenny said tonight that, …Read More →