Nearly 30 years spent meticulously building bamboo fly rods has an impact. Bill Oyster’s dedication to precision craftsmanship has turned his workshop in downtown Blue Ridge, Georgia, into a bit of a pilgrimage site for a certain type of angler. Sure, the rods are some of the most sought-after in the industry, but the larger draw is Oyster’s passion in helping others build their own. He runs a popular workshop where anglers spend a week crafting their own fly rod with Oyster’s guidance.
“Most people never have the opportunity to make a functional thing from raw materials with their own hands,” Oyster says. “There will be no better rod to you than the one you built yourself.”
And there’s also no better fish than the one you catch yourself—especially if you’re using a bamboo rod.
“There’s nothing practical about fly-fishing with bamboo,” Oyster says. “If you want to catch fish, get a net or a can of worms. The whole point of fly-fishing, especially with bamboo, is to do the thing in a more complex and satisfying way. It’s the doing of it that makes it special.”
Here’s Oyster’s advice on how and where to start a style of fishing that favors craftsmanship plus time immersed in local waters, staying patient for a payoff moment. Go deeper with Oyster and the other Masters of Craft, a group of one-of-a-kind visionaries who transform nature’s purest elements with time-honored traditions and cultivated experiences.
Aberfeldy x Outside