Charlie Meyers Photo The Denver Post 4/4/2007
John Betts
John Betts is a life-long angler, fly tier, author, artist, philosopher, inventor, and truly a Renaissance man. He was a pioneer in the use of synthetic materials for fly tying in the 1970s, builds wonderful strip-built wooden rods, invented a unique fly line that is inexpensively and easily made, and hand-crafts fly reels. He was chosen as Fly Rod and Reel's "Angler of the Year" in 2006, a well-deserved recognition of his unique contributions to angling world wide.
John's books are all hand-written and illustrated in his inimitable style. Each book is a work of art unto itself. Here are a few of the many interviews and articles written about John:
John Betts is a life-long angler, fly tier, author, artist, philosopher, inventor, and truly a Renaissance man. He was a pioneer in the use of synthetic materials for fly tying in the 1970s, builds wonderful strip-built wooden rods, invented a unique fly line that is inexpensively and easily made, and hand-crafts fly reels. He was chosen as Fly Rod and Reel's "Angler of the Year" in 2006, a well-deserved recognition of his unique contributions to angling world wide.
John's books are all hand-written and illustrated in his inimitable style. Each book is a work of art unto itself. Here are a few of the many interviews and articles written about John:
- Fishing For History Blog, "My Fishing Heroes: The Great John Betts", Dr. Todd Larson, 5/16/2012
- Denver Post, "Artist at work", Charlie Meyers, 4/4/2007
- Fly Rod + Reel, "Angler of the Year 2006", Darrel Martin, 1/2006
- www.FlyAnglersOnline.com, "Fly Tying at the End of the Millennium", Chauncy Lively
- Washington Post, "Gotcha! Hook, Line And Lingerie", Robert Boyle, 5/4/1981
Books
- Reels & Making Them, Limited Edition (Sold Out) and Softcover, September, 2011
- Synthetic Flies, Flies with an 'Edited Hackle' and Match the Hatch, Limited Edition and Softcover, November, 2012
- Remarques, Limited Edition, March, 2012
- Catch The Hatch, 1984
Other Work
John has self-published four books - three of which have been re-published by Reel Lines Press (Synthetic Flies, Flies with an Edited Hackle and Catch the Hatch) and the fourth (Making Strip-Built Fly Rods from Various Woods on a Lathe) by Frank Amato Publications. He has written countless magazine articles and was a pioneer in the use of synthetic materials in fly tying. John was honored as Angler of the Year by Fly Rod and Reel Magazine in January, 2006.
