Marc Beitia’s focus was miles away from his duties as the mayor of American Falls Saturday morning. He was too busy spinning a small fan of hackle onto the shaft of a hook at Portneuf River Outfitters in Pocatello.

    With the concentration of a surgeon, Beitia wound the finishing touches on a work of art designed to fool trout. Fly fishing and tying flies are his passions. Teaching agricultural science to youngsters in American Falls and helping guide the small Power County city are healthy distractions.

    “My fly tying has been curtailed significantly,” Beitia confessed about the time constraints of serving as mayor since July of last year. Time on a stream has also suffered.

    “My free time is not as much as it once was,” he confessed.

    Beitia took over as American Falls mayor after Amy Manning resigned to move to Pocatello. The city was in the middle of a major facelift project for the downtown area, along with upgrades to its water and sewer system. When the reins were passed to Beitia they came with a solid foundation laid by Manning and talented city employees.

    “Despite my efforts, things are going OK,” Beitia said with a smile. “There are great supervisors working for the city and I’ve got a really good city council.”

    The American Falls mayor said he is excited that the final draft for the downtown improvement project is almost completed.

    “It will give downtown a completely new look,” Beitia said. “I’m hopeful it will make a difference in the long run.”

    Bids for the new water tank storage and booster system in American Falls came in lower than expected and work on the wastewater treatment plant is going smoothly.

    Beitia said he is grateful he doesn’t have to spend all his time focusing on dilemmas associated with city hall. He is also busy as advisor to the Future Farmers of America chapter at American Falls High where he teaches three dual-enrollment college classes in plant science, animal science and leadership in addition to welding and greenhouse management. He started the Ag education program from scratch at American Falls in 1990.

    And there are fish to catch.

    As Beitia was growing up, his father was a U.S. Forest Ranger stationed in Ashton.

    “When I was young my dad would drop me off at Porcupine Creek for the day,” Beitia explained. Armed with a nymph and a fly rod, Beitia began honing his skills early.

    As his skills improved, his desire to create his own flies grew.

    “I thought I would save money, but that didn’t happen,” he said.

    Watching him pack his vice and bags of hackle, thread and synthetic fly tying materials back into a travel case following a live demonstration at the North Main fly shop, it was easy to appreciate the hobby comes with a price tag.

    The real reason he took up tying is own flies is two-fold.

    “I got tired of buying flies and having them blow up on me,” he said about their limited durability. “And I like creating variety.”

    Beitia said the fish in streams like Silver Creek south of Sun Valley and the Henry’s Fork see a lot of imitations float over their lairs and Beitia said variations with a twist can mean the difference between a strike and a refusal.

    During his tying demonstration Saturday, he showed how placing a small bead in the body of an emerging caddis pattern can help break the surface and allow the fly to float below the film about 18 inches below the surface. That makes for a deadly dropper fly.

    With deft moves of his fingers, he brought several patterns to life starting with a variety of bare hooks. And he shared an important piece of advice for both tying flies and helping to manage a city.

    “There’s no going back once you commit to a mistake,” he said.

    An eye for detail and years of experience have made the mayor American Falls less likely to make one.