Dream cast
Whether your Fly fishing or building a rod, the challenge is the point
Bill Oyster first got into bamboo fly fishing rods because he thought they looked cool. He was an art student at the university of Georgia, after all, and he had always believed in aesthetics - inform for forms sake.
"Fly-fishing in general is just a more artistic and thoughtful way to go fishing," says Oyster. "You catch more fish with a cast net or a can of worms. But you fly fish because of the nuance. It's about more than the end result."
Oyster takes the same approach to crafting the custom rods that have made his Blue Ridge business, Oyster Fine Bamboo Fly Rods, world-renowned.
And that's also how the master teaches students from all over to build their own rods in his popular six-day class.
Each class consists of 10 students who start with nothing but a 2.5-inch stalk of raw bamboo and a dream. With Oyster's help, each pupil splits, tapers, triangulates, pieces together, finishes, and customizes their own fly-fishing rod. But what each angler ends up with is more than a piece of wood-they have a story.
"They're surprised by how hard and intricate the work is," says Oyster of the class, which despite its intensive nature is open to would-be craftspeople of all ages and abilities. "Everyone thinks they'll be our first failure, but in the end, we always get there."
The course isn't all hard work. Oyster says bonds form as anglers work together, go out to dinner with each other, and sometimes stay in the Oysters' upstairs inn. The teacher also keeps a beer tap flowing to make sure everyone has a good time. That's why a lot of "graduates" keep coming back, often bringing family and friends. "The class comes to mean more than the rod itself," says Oyster. "The blood, sweat, and tears they put into that thing mean something. I can make you the most beautiful rod you've ever seen. But it won't compare to the one you make yourself. The challenge is the reward."