Background
Mark has spent over 30 years fly fishing the fabled rivers of the Catskill Mountains. When he was just 14, as is so often the custom in fly fishing, some of the local masters took him under their wings.

These were some of the leading figures and thinkers in the world of fly fishing and fly tying. For years, Mark had the privilege to draw upon their collective experience and expertise. This allowed him to grow exponentially as a tyer and angler at an early age.

They conferred to him a pedigree rich in history and tradition. Mark learned to dress flies with materials that came off the desk of the legendary Harry Darbee; a desk now enshrined behind glass at the Catskill Fly Fishing Center & Museum (CFFCM).

The late Ralph Graves was Mark's first fly tying mentor. Over several years, Graves honed Mark's early fly tying skills. Graves shared his expertise on wet flies and his wisdom on catching large trout. Mark's love of wet flies is a direct influence of Graves' early teachings.

Later, Mark spent four years apprenticing with a close friend, neighbor, and angling disciple of Ray Bergman. This is where Mark was encouraged to endeavor upon creative and artistic fly tying. Here he learned the importance of unique fly patterns and unorthodox techniques of presentation. It was at this time and through these lessons that fly fishing transformed from method to art. This apprenticeship was profoundly influential in shaping Mark's fly tying and angling worldview.

(Donegal's was the center of creativity in the Catskills. Everyone knew it, not everyone liked it. It was a countercultural oasis in the fossilized desert of American angling's birthplace. I was a fly on the wall as local authors, Art Lee and Poul Jorgensen, would come in to talk about their latest ideas, or exaggerate their latest accomplishments.

The atmosphere was elegant and refined. The pedagogy was an inspired, spontaneous crucible of applied curiosity, oscillating between classic salmon dress and trout fly redress. When Paul held court, he was a magnet for spirited discussion, as complex and nuanced as the background Vivaldi.

Paul Filippone remains one of angling's most innovative and charismatic icons. Aside from Edward R. Hewitt, more novelty, heart, and uninhibited experimentation came out of that hub, thanks to Filippone, than the regional tying history that preceded it. Paul was an artist while his predecessors were archivists.

If you're not careful, the emerald Catskills can become a quicksand for creativity. Learning from Paul was like learning to dance from Zorba...at the steps to the gilded cathedral. When Donegal's closed, so did the life of the party in Roscoe. A relieved community of Gordonian monks returned to the familiar quiet of their recursive canon.

Rarely is history recognized in the moment. I did not have the length of perspective to describe the ideological lines that were being drawn. But I was there and watched them form. These fault lines could only emerge under pressure to the status quo by a waning orbit-of-influence. Convention holds that the tradition dictates the method. But for a brief period in Catskill fly fishing history, Donegal's flipped the script. The old guard felt threatened by the irreverent and divergent spirit that Filippone represented.

You could see it in the social fragmenting at events and gatherings. You could hear it in the careful diplomatic-speak of rhetorical hubris. Later you could read about it as a procession of anglers lamented online about the void Filippone left behind. Fly fishing courses through the veins of Rosconians the way the freestones innervate their mountains. Their historical grasp is strong, as are their opinions. The "Cooks Falls Ire" is bestowed upon perceived disrupters to the established order.)

By the time Mark was just 16, his talent as a fly tyer had not gone unnoticed. He received the distinguishing honor of being asked to be a guest fly tyer at the Catskill Fly Fishing Center and Museum. Mark continued to be a guest tyer at the museum until he began college in the late 90's.


One of the pitfalls of fishing in an area so hallowed with tradition, is the natural inclination to follow in the customs of the past. Despite his training steeped in the classics, you will not find Mark fishing with traditional Catskill flies.

Instead, he will probably be experimenting with one of his new impressionistic patterns. Mark continues to innovate with new fly patterns and materials. He continues to believe in the importance of showing "educated" trout unique patterns. Another of Mark's passions is black and white street photography.


Mark's Fly Fishing CV

	1992 - 94	Studied under Catskill legend Ralph Graves, Old Glory Fly Shop. Roscoe, NY
	1994 - 97	Apprenticed with renowned classic salmon fly tyer Paul Filippone, Donegal's. Roscoe, NY
	1994 - 97	Member: Catskill Fly Tyers Guild (CFTG)
	1995 & 96	Guest Fly Tyer: Catskill Fly Fishing Center & Museum (CFFCM)
	1995	New York State Dept. of Environmental Conservation: Guide License # 3010
	1996	Ramsey Outdoor: Fly fishing specialist & casting instructor. Ramsey, NJ
	2003	Binghamton Univeristy. BA Psychology, Minor Biology. Concentration in Evolutionary Studies, Under David Sloan Wilson
	2015 -	Member: Friends of the Upper Delaware River www.fudr.org
	2019	Fly Tyer magazine: Feature Article. The Emu Epiphany Autumn Issue 2019

(As much as Filippone influenced my angling worldview, David Sloan Wilson informed my global one. I studied psychology because I wanted to understand the motivations that underlie behavior. I found the answer in the Biology Department, in what would soon become the prestigious—first in the Nation—Evolutionary Studies (EvoS) Program.

An interdisciplinary, unifying framework was being actively pioneered by DSW. I know a thing or two about recognizing a Sage when I see one. I latched onto Wilson's 'evolutionary toolkit' just like I invited myself to travel with Paul to the symposiums.

Many know Richard Dawkins for his outspoken views and provocative titles, such as "The Selfish Gene." DSW provides the intellectual rigor to counter Dawkins' reductionist interpretations. Dawkins fails because he declared conclusions before the epigenetic mechanisms were understood. He advocates a view of selfishness, while Wilson illustrated the presence and advantage of altruism.

DSW is an intellectual and academic Titan. He is also one of the kindest, humble, genuine personalities in academia. Despite finding Wilson late in my tenure, I continued to take graduate classes and seminars with him well after graduating. Finding a human wellspring of new-knowledge is the hard part; following them is an immense privilege.)