Dave and Mary Ann Dozer (Sisters) serve the thriving community of fly fishers visiting or living in the area. Dave grew up with the sport and now builds traditional bamboo fly rods with the same tools and materials used 100 years ago. Mary Ann works as a casting instructor and fishing guide and helps organize meet-ups and skill-shares, especially for women fishers.
Bio
After working as engineers for several decades, married couple Dave and Mary Anne Dozer changed courses and delved into full-time fly fishing occupations in Sisters, Oregon. Dave, who grew up with the sport in California, channeled his passion into mastering the art of bamboo rod building. Using the same tools and materials, “we still build bamboo fly rods the same way that they built them over 100 years ago.” Mary Ann is an active member of International Women Fly Fishers and works as a casting instructor and fishing guide, organizing local meet-ups for women fishers at all skill levels to make the sport more accessible to women. The waterways of Deschutes County make Sisters a hub of fly fishing culture. With so many fishers around, it’s a perfect environment for the sport’s oral traditions to flourish. “It’s a huge social thing,” Mary Ann says. “So much of what you learn about fly fishing is not from a book. It’s from a teacher. It’s from a friend. It’s from a spouse. It’s from a dad it’s from a mom. It’s from a grandparent. So there’s this real tradition of passing it down […].”
