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Fran (Francis) Betters passed away last week at his home in Wilmington NY near the banks of the West Branch of the Ausable. Most of you probably never heard of Fran Betters but he was a giant in fly fishing circles. Fran was the owner of the Adirondack Sports Shop.

I met Fran for the first time in the late 70's when I wandered into his shop. I was a young man down from Canada with little money. Fran set me up with a rod/reel/line/leaders/floatant/flies and a license. He must have given me half of it. He gave me some tips and pointed me in the right direction.

That afternoon was a watershed moment for me. Here I was wading a famous, incredibly beautiful river catching trout. I knew this was something I would do for the rest of my life.

For many years I fished the Ausable perhaps a dozen times a year and every trip I would make a point to stop in, buy some flies and stay at his Bunkhouse. It was my way of saying thank you. Many people thought Fran to be cranky but he wasn't. He was a bit gruff, a real character, innovator and salesman. He also had a heart of gold.

Fran was a throw back from another era, the Ausables golden years of the 30's and 40's when the best flyfisherman made a point of fishing there. An outdoor writer once said the past and present convened in his shop. It was true, whenever I visited him it was like witnessing a part of fly fishing history.

Fran was the inventor of the Haystacks and Usual dry flies, the Ausable Wulff. He was probably the first tyer to popularize the parachute style. He took the Muddler Minnow and put it on small hooks for the mini muddler. His flies spawned others like the Comparaduns, Sparkle Duns and rabbits foot emerger patterns. He popularized the use of deer hair, rabbits foot and woodchuck in patterns.

I can add little to what ganman has written, but this thread deserves many more posts. A couple of years ago, I put one of Fran's Ausable Wulffs in a special box of flies that are for saving and not for using. It belongs there. Ganman's desciption of Fran applies well to my own experience when I first met Fran almost thirty years later.

Manfred I used to teach people how to tie and it was always difficult explaining Frans flies to new tiers who were used to the slick flies of modern flyting manuals. By comparison his flies were sloppy but they were functional, they were meant to catch fish. They're from the time before yuppies and mass merchandizers discovered fly fishing.

A modern tyer would over complicate his simple and efficent flies like the Haystck and Usual. A friend calls them "guide flies". There is beauty in function.

Fran tied over 30,000 flies in an average year. I know he never used a hair stacker. With modern materials and tools I can replacate perfect patterns I see in books but I was always liked of his stylish sloppiness and the flies I tie now look more like his than the perfect ones in books.

The Adirondacks lost another well known local tyer named Ed Bendl. Ed had shop near the Hudson's headwaters in an area noted for its trout ponds. He tied some pretty neat flies for fishing in the Adirondacks.

http://www.timesunion.com/AspStories/st ... ory=SPORTS

Fran Betters definitely had a big influence on the sport. I first heard about him in a fly tyer article many years ago. When I learned the Ausable was only 3 hours away I wanted to go there to meet him and to check out what sounded like a "world class trout stream." I bought his big red book and read it front to back. Although it was fairly out of date it taught me a lot, and I have caught many fish on his patterns. Like Ganman said, his flies are sloppy, thread hanging down, dubbing loose, hair uneven, but he was smart enough to know that in the dark, fast waters of the ausable the fish dont care. I find bushy flies like his very effective in the pockets and I also tie them fast and bushy. His use of orange thread on nymphs and dries were also the first "hotspots" which are getting to be more popular. I was at the Ausable in the summer and saw how run down his shop was in comparison to a couple of years before, I hope they survive.

I find a fly tied with uneven tips floats better, has better balance and has a more realistic profile than one with stacked ends. Plus you can tie them faster.

Fran could tie perfect flies if he wanted but likely never saw the sense. He was that practical. As he got older he became sloppier. I have some Hornbergs he tied in the late 70's that are extremely well tied.

Some of his thoughts were out of date and inaccurate. Maybe. He would say the acidic Ausable was a very rich trout stream. A biologist would tell you otherwise and they'd be correct. The lead bioligist who did an exhaustive study of the Ausable was at a loss to explain the hold it has on so many anglers. It made no sense. It was an infertile over fished, over stocked trout stream.

What he found to his disbelief was it had the fastest growth rate of any stream in the state. He thought it was due to a high mortality rate. There were very few older trout. His electro shocking survey had confirmed that. So he thought.

The first time he fished it with rod and reel he caught several wild trout in the 14"-17" range in an area he was certain only held stocked tiddlers. He was at a loss to explain why.

I remember walking into Fran's shop for the first time about ten years ago, and it felt like walking into a museum! He sold me a few of his prefered patterns and pointed me in the right direction. An hour later I was doing battle with the most beautiful 22" brown I ever!
At the time He was a living legend now he truly is a legend!
I really hope his shop gets preserved in some way! It would be a shame to loose this piece of fly fishing history!

Sorry to hear of his passing. Ganman introduced me to his shop a few years ago.

RIP Mr Better.

Yes, Fran was a legend, not just on the stream but in the hospitality biz.

Fran made everything "Betters" including accomodations.

Who could have resisted the Bunkhouse back the in the day. Not much better place to retire to with a fine single malt, telling tall fish tales by an old boiler furnace. Even more special was the luxurious upstairs bedrooms with a great view of not just the majestic Adirondacks, but your buddies in the adjacent room, through the slits in the sheet panelling. The rustic, yet elegant, charm was only amplified by the communal baths where the aroma of raw brown trout tempted the palette for a a hearty meel on the porch beside the washers and dryers from yesteryear.

What an experience! RIP, Fran.

Hahaha...yea it was quite the place. I think I paid $10 to stay there one night although the normal fee was only $15. The place never had a lock on the front door.