Timeline for Oyster Bamboo Fly Rods

"I say, play your own way. Don’t play what the public wants. You play what you want and let the public pick up on what you’re doing, even if it does take them fifteen, twenty years."
- Thelonious Monk

You Go Where You Look

Handmade with the best intentions in Blue Ridge, Georgia

Oyster is a brick-and-mortar full-time bamboo fly rod making workshop in one of the south's most authentic mountain towns (Blue Ridge, GA).

Each Oyster Bamboo Fly Rod is intensely handcrafted. Oyster is the only professional bamboo fly rod making shop in the world that is dedicated solely to bamboo fly rods.

Oyster bamboo rods are hand engraved in-house.

The performance and aesthetics of each rod is truly remarkable. Oyster has been commissioned to make rods for many of the world's finest anglers including President Jimmy Carter.

Oyster has taught more people than anyone in the world to make a bamboo fly rod.

As the most prolific teacher of this rod making art alive today, Oyster draws students from as far away as England, Scotland, Australia and New Zealand as well as every corner of the US to this southern mountain town studio in beautiful Blue Ridge, Georgia.

Each year, Oyster introduces a little more of the world to this traditional craft and a look into the life of a bamboo fly rod maker.

Oyster Ecosystem

Oysters are a RESILIENT species that heartily cluster on the older shells. They fuse together as they grow, forming rock-like foundations that provide a stable habitat for others.

The relentless FLY FISHING COMMUNITY
BILL
SHANNEN
RILEY
CUTTER OUR HEART
The great state of Georgia
DADDY
Our beloved Oyster CLIENTS who become genuine friends
RONI OUR JOY
Our beautiful hometown of blue ridge, georgia
KASSIE, CHARLEIGH & WILLOW
PAXTON
QUINN
Fellow craftsmen, photographers, artists & filmmakers
Jacob
Dreamers
NIBBLES THE CITY KITTY
All Bamboo fly rod builders & BUSINESSES supporting the craft
PEPPER
PICKLES
Our incredibly supportive families near and far

Oyster Bamboo Fly Rods Blog

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Field & Stream features Oyster Bamboo

November 18, 2024
It’s hard to explain, yet it hints at infinity…limitlessness. That feeling the wild stirs within you is familiar, yet each adventure is always new.
4 comments

Field & Stream features Oyster Bamboo

November 18, 2024
It’s hard to explain, yet it hints at infinity…limitlessness. That feeling the wild stirs within you is familiar, yet each adventure is always new.
4 comments
Featured Oyster Fly Rod of The Month

November 18, 2024
Look close...it's a bear...if you look closer, you can see that bear's teeth.

Featured Oyster Fly Rod of The Month

November 18, 2024
Look close...it's a bear...if you look closer, you can see that bear's teeth.
Latest Hand Engravings by Oyster

November 15, 2024
Check out the most recent hand engravings by Oyster

Latest Hand Engravings by Oyster

November 15, 2024
Check out the most recent hand engravings by Oyster

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Deeper Dive?

Oyster is a small family business in the most classic sense. Shannen started cobbling together a clumsy blog in 2009. If you can overlook the atrocious grammar, there are some fun recollections (aka) challenges divulged. Here is a smattering from the “Bamboo Fly Rod Maker’s Widow”.

50 YEARS OF LIFE AND LOVE LAID OUT IN
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20 YEARS OF OYESTER
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MUD, BELONGING & THE BAMBOO FLY ROD
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ANATOMY OF AN ENGRAVING
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DO YOU REMEMBER THE DAY YOU REALIZED YOUR FATHER WAS NOT PERFECT?
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BEST LAID PLANS
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AMERICAN DREAMS
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ODE TO A BLUE MINIVAN
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BE PRESENT
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10 WAYS YOU KNOW YOU ARE MARRIED TO A BAMBOO FLY ROD MAKER
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Oyster showroom on main

Welcome to Oyster’s brick-and-mortar on Main Street nestled in the beautiful Blue Ridge mountains. Watch us make rods, hand engrave and “exit through the gift shop”.

Hats, apparel & items that may be hand engraved
Full line of fly reels, Filson & other goodies
Bamboo Fly Rods in Stock or Custom Order in person