Teaching, tackle and tales: meet Mark Roberts

For a good while now, I have really wanted to bring Mark Roberts into our merry band.

Marks brand of enthusiastic fun – let alone his angling skills – aligned to a rich educational tapestry, makes him perfect for Fishing for Schools.

The thing I love about being associated with Mark is his sense of order, aligned to unflappability. While that probably requires a degree of explanation, I am too embarrassed! He knows the story, as do I – and indeed, the entire audience at Wey Valley FDG. Beyond that, you won't get it out of me –you'd have to ask him in person!

Welcome, Mark! When did you start your fishing adventure and where?

I get asked this all the time and as I look back, I realise how lucky I was. I grew up in Cardiff and was always somewhere that had a river or lake nearby. I was 11 when I first saw someone fly fishing. It fascinated me, so my father took me to our local reservoirs in Cardiff – Llanishen and Lisvane.

The local club was Cardiff Reservoirs Fly Fishing Club and some of my fondest memories are of attending club nights in the winter. In an upstairs room, which was part of Welsh Waters Bailiffs offices, the club would meet weekly and tie flies, share stories and pass on the knowledge of generations.

Two mates and I were effectively ‘adopted’ into the fly-fishing family. We learnt to tie flies properly, with precision and skill, cast, catch fish and have fun. We didn’t have any money and the wonderful guys in the club would donate and gift kit to get us going. I still have much of the fly-tying kit that I was given and keep it in a memory box.

I often wonder what happened to many of the guys – if anyone wants to get in touch I would love to share some stories!

What style of fishing did you prefer when you started and has that changed?

At the very beginning, anything fishing-related was the target! Growing up on the coast, our dads were sea fishermen. So that was what we did. I lost track of the number of times my mum found old ragworm packets in the bottom of my wardrobe!

As soon as fly fishing and tying was on the radar – something clicked. A piece of the jigsaw puzzle slotted into place. From then on it was catching fish on the fly.

In recent years I have developed a love for float fishing and I would love to catch a big tench one day.

You went into education and become very prominent in the South, becoming a senior leader in secondary schools and running teacher training programmes. Was fishing a release from that world, or did you sideline angling to follow your career?

As a youngster, fishing was everything to me. As always, growing up throws other distractions and challenges that change your direction.

For years I put my fishing to one side and had to concentrate on my future. I also discovered I had a passion and talent for skiing and spent 15 years chasing snow wherever I could.

I never forgot about Fly Fishing, though, and as my career in education rocketed, I found myself staring at water with my rods and flies in hand. It became my release valve from the pressures of working with young people and literally saved my sanity.

You attained a very senior position in education and lecturing and then stopped. Was this because you wanted to retire? Or was it because you wanted to follow another path entirely?

Great question! I completed 25 years in secondary schools, of which 10 years were at a senior level. Working in schools during the Covid pandemic was exceptionally challenging and put many things into perspective. I was heading towards 50 and I decided that I wanted to do something a little bit different.

So, with the help of my awesome wife Sarah and the support of my wider family, I formed Lost Lake Fly Fishing. The initial premise was very simple: use my skills in teaching and coaching to bring fly fishing and fly tying to as many people as possible. Little did I know that it would bring the opportunities that it has.

I now run a successful online outfitters shop and spend over 100 days a season guiding and coaching clients. We diversified into event management too and support groups who wish to celebrate on the water.

With degree qualifications in Environmental Biology and Education, a proven track record in school leadership and an overriding passion for fly fishing, it all seems to fit together quite nicely!

You are respected fly tier and fly fisher – but do you coarse fish as well?

Yes, I do! I love to get my float rods out and spend a few hours on the lake or river. Last year I worked on developing my skills and knowledge of feeder fishing. My eye is always looking out for an opportunity to fly fish though!

You work closely with Orvis and run courses for them, I believe. What advantage does this approach – formal courses – offer people?

Working with Orvis is a dream come true. Reading magazines as a boy and seeing Orvis adverts and seeing their kit being used, it always felt far beyond a small boy from South Wales.

Yet here I am! As an Orvis Endorsed Guide, I have been exceptionally fortunate to be able to help design the new Orvis Fly-Fishing Beginners and Improvers courses that launch this summer. I also help deliver the Orvis FF101 and FF201 courses from the Stockbridge store, here in Hampshire.

These courses are a great opportunity for people to experience fly fishing with the help, support and guidance of coach educators. The experience and knowledge we bring allows everyone to achieve. Our mission is to break down barriers and rewrite the expected paradigm, to ensure our sport has a future. Plus you get to play with the best fly-fishing kit on the planet!

You are very structured in your approach to learning. Do you see this as a vital component to how you teach your fly fishing?

Absolutely. Meticulous planning is key: cover every eventuality and have back-up plans for back-up plans. Being able to troubleshoot and problem-solve quickly and efficiently is exceptionally important.

Learners of all ages like to be taken on a journey, to feel that each part of a lesson, course, or day has a connection. This is where my education background really is my trump card!

You have recently become involved with Fishing for Schools – as an educator, where do you see its worth and the value of its reach to young people, especially in terms of scalability and facing an increasingly urban-minded populace?

I firmly believe that young people need and deserve opportunities that are not catered for in mainstream education.

F4S is delivering programmes that allow young people who do not flourish in the classroom to achieve success. Impacting the lives of young people who are often on the margins of social exclusion is a mission that deserves the highest level of support.

What do you feel Fishing for Schools should incorporate that it is not embracing now, if anything?

I’ve thought hard about this and twelve months ago I would have said there was a real need for pathways for young people to access level 2 qualifications.

The new F4S qualification programmes at Level 1, 2 and 3 are addressing this, and it really is the shot in the arm that schools need to further support their vulnerable learners. It is so exciting and I am really looking forward to helping drive the programmes forward.

For the future, I believe that the biggest challenges are yet to be revealed to us, so embracing the changes needed in a rapidly changing world and educational environments will be paramount.

What's your favourite style of fishing?

I absolutely love nymph fishing! My dry fly-hungry friends and I always laugh about it. My personal take is that tying a nymph is harder than tying a dry fly and that long-line nymph fishing and short-line nymph fishing are far more skilful than dry fly fishing.

Do you prefer to fish on your own, or in a group?

I love the camaraderie of being in a group, particularly on a weekend away or a planned holiday. I love fishing in Northern Italy and the people I have met there have become lifelong friends. But once I am on the water I adore the solitude, me against the environment and the fish. My best mate Kieren and I joke that when we fish together on the river, we only speak at the beginning and the end and ignore each other for at least six hours!

You have one day left to fish… what for and where would it be?

Grayling, Alaska – no explanation necessary!