Brian Burnett - Scotland

The Red Sandy

The Carnegie Near Side


Wickhams Fancy

I live in the North East of Scotland and have always been extremely interested in the history of the old Traditional Trout wet/dry flies and Classic Salmon patterns from Britain and Ireland. 

My passion for fly dressing and fly fishing goes back to my early school days when on a small Burn (small stream), I was first introduced to fishing and the interest or obsession has stayed with me ever since.  Traditional flies were the order of the day and names such as Greenwell’s Glory, Peter Ross, Mallard and Claret later to be followed by The Green Highlander and Thunder and Lightning to name but a few, held a special magic for me.

Traditional up-winged dry flies dressed with natural dubbing materials are fascinating and still capable of catching their share of trout.   For me, the collection and dying of the natural materials as used in the dressings of these flies is an extremely interesting hobby on its own.

Today we are spoiled by the wide variety and quality of fly dressing materials available to us fly makers/dressers, especially when you consider the magnificent range of dubbing materials available.  That said, I am always drawn back to natural materials and enjoy the challenge of trying to re-produce the colours as detailed in the old reference books.

I like to study the work of past masters in Classic Salmon Flies such as T.E.Pryce-Tannatt and G.M Kelson and admire the way they communicated and documented everything in meticulous detail. Without their books and records a lot of history would be lost to the passage of time.

b.burnett802@btinternet.com