"Do you remember the day you realized your father was not perfect?"

circa 1971 “Do you remember the day you realized your father was not perfect?” That was the question posed to me on a mountain bike ride years ago and it has nagged me ever since. I will protect this friend’s identity but she went on to tell me about that “fateful” day in her youth […]

10 things we can not live without at Oyster Bamboo Fly Rods

Sometimes all of the time I feel like we live in a bubble here at Oyster Bamboo. Really…if you have taken a class, picked up your bamboo fly rod or even visited for more than a few minutes…this becomes evident. sub·cul·ture ˈsəbˌkəlCHər/ noun noun: subculture; plural noun: subcultures; noun: sub-culture; plural noun: sub-cultures a cultural group […]

Bamboo Fly Rods, Blue Ridge and the Five Year Itch

Bamboo Fly Rods and the Five-Year Itch Five Years. Five years ago today, we moved to the mountains of Blue Ridge, Georgia. Within the confines of my family…much has changed (we moved, relocated our bamboo fly rod shop downtown Blue Ridge, Veronica was born, Cutter “grew up”, we built a new building on Main Street…oh, […]

Bamboo Fly Rods and my Baby Boy.

This past week, Bill took my baby boy our son on his first camping trip on the Davidson River in North Carolina. Sometimes less is more in the words department. Pause. slo

Facebook, oversharing and bamboo fly rods

POST! Okay…these photos belong on Facebook…my children and Kory with their bamboo fly rods and huge trout! For years, Oyster Bamboo Fly Rod’s marketing department (me) has deliberately “opted out” of the Facebook phenomenon. Deliberate or not…and among other reasons, this marketing department (me) prefers oversharing the old fashioned way (face to face with a […]

Mother’s Day, Bamboo Fly Rods and the "Best" Lifestyle

It’s Mother’s Day. Naturally, I am feeling proud, content and superior to all other mothers full of self doubt! In the weeks leading up to this sacred day, our culture inundates us with the images of “perfect mothers” by showering them us with accolades, flowers, perfume…blah,blah, blah. Sans the perfume…that’s how my day began as […]

My Bamboo Fly Rod, a Can of Worms and the Sentimental Nature of it All

My class was on March 3rd and through all of the ups and downs…I successfully made another bamboo fly rod without crying impaling anyone. About a month before my class, I sent out an email asking for advice concerning my new bamboo fly rod. I asked Oyster clients to help design it…I did it…it was […]

Shooting in Pajamas, Bamboo Fly Rods & letting go of the Martyr

When I woke up this morning, I had no intention of shooting. With Bill on the other end of the planet on his annual trip to Argentina for a few weeks, my schedule goes from hectic to quasi insane…not to mention lonely (days are good…nights stink…see reference to my co-dependent nature). Self admittedly, I could probably go a […]

Oyster Bamboo Fly Rods…2012 Year in Review…The Best Laid Plans of Bamboo and Fly Rods

“If it were easy…everyone would do this.” Those are the words that Bill whispered in my ear almost daily in the beginning of 2012. As the year wore on, Bill’s whisper grew into a dull roar and those words’ final resting place became my mantra. At the end of 2011, we had a plan for 2012. What’s the expression…no good deed, […]

Bamboo Fly Rods, Change and the Accidental Retailers

“If you limit your choices only to what seems possible or reasonable, you disconnect yourself from what you truly want, and all that is left is compromise.” – Robert Fritz Late night in the shop…my class! Over three years ago, we had outgrown our “cottage” inspired home workshop after a decade plus and needed more […]