Press-Republican

Local News

Discussion

PLEASE NOTE: There is a 150 word maximum for comments. All comments greater than 150 words in length will be deleted in their entirety.

ALSO NOTE: Derisive name-calling of an individual or group will result in the entire comment being deleted. This includes the terms "stupid" and "idiot" and similar references.

Welcome to our new online comments feature. Before you can join the discussion, you must first register with Disqus and verify your email address.

Once you do, your comments will post after they have been reviewed by a moderator.

We welcome your thoughts and your opinions, including unpopular ones. We ask only that you keep the conversation civil and clean.

Not all comments are deemed printable. Some are disqualified, at the newspaper’s discretion, for a number of reasons. Here are some typical practices to avoid in trying to get your comment printed:

There is a 150 word maximum for comments. All comments greater than 150 words in length will be deleted in their entirety.

Don’t state as a fact something that is unsubstantiated or that our editors wouldn't know to be true.

Don’t presume someone’s guilt in a case when it hasn't been established by a court.

Don’t assail or impugn an identifiable individual or group. If you have that kind of criticism, sign your name and submit it as a Letter to the Editor. (There is some leeway on this in connection with public officials, but it is not unconditional.)

Don’t use profanity. This includes the term “tea bagger.”

Don’t be incendiary or tasteless. Those qualities are subjective, of course, and our editors will be the arbiters.

Do not identify yourself in the main content area of the article content form. Only by enforcing this rule can the moderators prevent unscrupulous commenters from falsely identifying themselves as someone they are not.

Don't type in all caps. It is considered the Internet equivalent of shouting.

In sports articles, do not criticize officiating.

Remember, moderators are not allowed to edit any article comments. If an article comment fails any of the above criteria, the entire comment will be deleted.

We monitor comments Monday - Friday, 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, 2 p.m. to 8 p.m. Approval of comments outside these times may be delayed.
comments powered by Disqus
September 9, 2009

Fishing legend dies

By DENNIS APRILL

Fran Betters, renowned area sportsman and fly-fishing expert, died Sunday.

The call came that night from his wife, Jan, and I knew from her initial tone that my old friend had passed away. Fran, who was 78, had been seriously ill for months, and the call was not unexpected.

He was not only a remarkable person but a fishing legend, creating such timeless fishing flies as the Ausable Wulff, the Usual and the Haystacks — all listed in Field and Stream magazine’s top 10 all-time fly patterns.

Fran also authored many books on the genre, among them “Fran Betters’ Fly Fishing — Fly Tying and Pattern Guide” (a how-to), “Something’s Fishy in the Adirondacks” (a collection of poems), “Fish Are Smarter in the Adirondacks” (a collection of short stories) and “Meet the Animals of the Adirondacks” (children’s educational book).

In recent years, his column “Focus on Fly Fishing” was a regular feature on the Outdoors Page in the Press-Republican.

Last fall, he was inducted into the prestigious Catskill Fly Fishing Hall of Fame, which includes the likes of fishing legends such as Lee Wulff and Theodore Gordon.

Fran was born in Wilmington in 1931. His mother died shortly after giving birth, and he was adopted by Margaret and Victor Betters, the latter an expert fishing guide who was friends with writer Ray Bergman, author of the classic book “Trout,” and fishing great Red Wilbur.

Fran learned fishing from his father and his father’s friends. He turned that love into a business, opening the Adirondack Sports Shop on Route 86 in Wilmington in 1961. He would sit in that small, often-cluttered space, tying flies and telling fishing stories for hours.

In 2006, the Adirondack Sports Shop moved up the road to a more spacious room next to the Evening Hatch Restaurant.

I first met Fran Betters in the late 1970s, but didn’t get to know him until 1989, when I was hired to write and edit “Good Fishing in the Adirondacks,” a book that would cover the northern half of the state. Who else better to author the Ausable River chapter than Fran.

By then, he was a larger than life figure on that river, and his map showing all the pools and runs found there was, and still is, a classic. On the map, he named fishing hot spots after land features and old friends, so there was “Ski Jump Pool,” Bergman’s Run” and “Betters Pool,” the latter named in honor of his father.

Maybe someday we will have “Fran’s Pool.”

I was proud to share space with him on the Outdoors Page all these years.

Besides his wife, Jan, he leaves a daughter, Peggy; a granddaughter; and two great-grandchildren.

A memorial service for Fran is in the works and will be scheduled for early October. It will be a celebration of Fran’s life and the river he loved to fish.



Text Only | Photo Reprints
Local News

Recent Article Comments
Albany Round-up

Photo of the Day
Strange News
Videos: Editor Picks
Greece Passes New Austerity Deal Amid Rioting Coroner: Houston Autopsy Results Weeks Away Raw Video: Greek Rioting Ahead of Austerity Vote Raw Video: Child Rescued After Kosovo Avalanche Pop Music Superstar Whitney Houston Dies at 48 Whitney Houston's Church Mourns Her Passing Reaction to Houston's Death at Clive Davis Party 79 Turtles Seized at Shanghai Airport Severe Cold Wreaks Havoc in China Fuel Removal Under Way on Capsized Italian Ship Police: Houston Found Dead in Her Hotel Room Paul Suffers Narrow Loss to Romney in Maine Palin Brings Anti-Washington Message to CPAC Obama Scraps Birth Control Mandate Navy Names Ship for Gabrielle Giffords Uzbek Man Pleads Guilty in Plot to Kill Obama Marines: No Punishment for Nazi-like Flag Vets Look to Translate Military Skills Into Jobs Raw Video: School Bus Burst Into Flames Pentagon: Allow Women Closer to Front Lines