Bill is what you’d call a “citified” country boy. He was raised in rural Oklahoma and cut his teeth fishing farm ponds with a cane pole for bream or anything else that would eat a crawdad or minnow, including snapping turtles – that’s another story you’ll have to ask him about.

When the fishing got slow he’d take his .22 rifle, .410 shotgun or bow and arrow and hunt bullfrogs, rabbits, squirrels or just about anything else that moved. It’s important to note that from an early age Bill was a hunter, a damn good hunter, but now days he hunts with a fly rod in hand. Soon there wasn’t much to hunt (he’d shot everything), so he turned back to fishing and quickly mastered the art of baitcast and spincast fishing. Bill was destined to be a professional fisherman and by his early twenties built his first fly rod, out of bamboo. He still fished his Ambassadors and fiberglass rods well into his forties, but fly fishing was Bill’s religion, and he wanted to serve.

Bill landed his first fly-caught steelhead on the Stillaguamish River in Washington with a bamboo rod he made from scratch, in a class taught by Seattle rod maker Dawn Holbrook in the early 70’s. That steelhead, forty years ago, put Bill over the edge. He devoured every book he could find on fly fishing and managed to teach himself some lifelong bad casting habits, to which he stubbornly adheres.

Bill has fly fished for just about every fish that swims, including a catfish he tricked into eating a #12 Adams – on the surface. Bluegill, carp, gar, salmon, char, grayling, trout, bullfrogs (unbelievably strong), trout, bass, bonefish, tarpon, permit, snook, sailfish, marlin, tuna, trevally, jacks, shark, redfish, mutton snapper…let’s see, did we leave any fish out? If it swims and will eat a fly, Bill will fish for it.

His professional career in fly fishing started at REI’s Seattle store, running their fishing department. But Bill wanted, needed more, and soon found himself a production manager at a small rod manufacturing company in Carnation, Washington. Building rods commercially wasn’t doing it for Bill, so he started his own guide service and built custom fly rods on the side. Art was always a part of Bill’s persona and in the mid-70’s he and his brother made a 16mm film called “Angler’s Autumn”. The film won many awards and today still makes the hair on the back of your neck stand – testament to the depth this film reaches in a fly fisherman’s soul. Check it out!

Bill started working at a local fly shop in Bellevue, WA, in ‘78 and was there until ’82, when he became director of fly fishing schools at Sage, teaching fly fishing schools all over the US. During the 80’s he continued to be involved with film art and worked with Bennett-Watt Productions on several fly fishing videos, in addition to writing several fishing articles for a local fishing periodical.

Of course, we had heard the name Bill Marts for years; his contributions to and accomplishments in fly fishing were often the topic of fly fishing trade talk…but it wasn’t until 2004 that we worked with him directly, on a hosted trip to French Polynesia for bonefish. At that time Bill owned two fly shops in Washington; was in the process of closing them up to search out new waters; and we were looking for a seasoned fly fishing professional to head-up our saltwater travel program. The timing was perfect and in January of 2005, Bill sat down at his desk and started sharing his 40-plus years of fly fishing with our friends and customers.

There’s not a facet of fly fishing Bill hasn’t dabbled in or obsessed over, and his enthusiasm and tireless pursuit of fly fishing is an inspiration for the rest of us here at The Fly Shop. He’s an avid fly tier; one look at his innovative, masterfully-constructed and well-thought-out flies and you’ll immediately realize Bill is as much an artist as he is a fly fisherman. Our fly bins are stuffed with Bill’s fly patterns.

His travels have taken him from the remote, trout-laden waters of the Kamchatka Peninsula to the sparsely-populated atolls of the Cook Islands. The man has no fear when it comes to fly fishing – and no boundaries…He’s a modern-day fly fishing Renaissance man with his life priorities straight. He is a loving husband to his wife Judy (she must be on the fast track for sainthood) of 40+ years, and a loving and dedicated father and grandfather. Bill’s generous to a fault, a terrific listener, a wonderful travel partner and will share everything he knows about fly fishing and international travel with you. We’re happy he is on our team.

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