This article deals with Richard Stuart Walker, English angler. For other Richard Walkers, see: Richard Walker (disambiguation).

Richard Stuart Walker (29 May 1918 – 2 August 1985) was an English angler.

Walker was the first angler to apply scientific thought to angling and wrote many books on the sport. He also wrote for the angling press, most notably for the Angling Times, Trout & SalmonTrout & Salmon magazine April 1970 issue page 21 and Fly Dressers' Guild Newsletter.Fly Dressers Guild Newsletter October 1979 issue He held the record for a carp in the UK for 28 years with a fish of caught at Redmire pool in Herefordshire.

Biography Walker was born 29 May 1918, at 32 Fishponds Road in Hitchin, Hertfordshire; he lived there until 1928. His father was a professional soldier, and his mother an employee of the Post Office. He started fishing at an early age, being taught by his grandfather in Hertford. He was educated at the Friends' School in Saffron Walden and St Christopher School in Letchworth. He went to Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge, but his studies were interrupted by the Second World War, during which he worked for the Royal Aircraft Establishment at Farnborough.

After the war he joined Lloyds and Co, manufacturers of high quality grass cutting machinery as technical director. His inventions included the electronic bite alarm, and the arlesey bomb weight, and he was instrumental in the development of the carbon-fibre fishing rod. Considered by many to be one of the best fishermen of the twentieth century, his books are now collector's items. One of his personally handmade Mark IV carp split cane rods is worth some thousands of pounds.

He lived by the River Ivel in Biggleswade from 1978 until his death in 1985, after a long battle with cancer. A biography by Professor Barrie Rickards was published in 2007.Richard Walker: Biography of an Angling Legend by Barrie Rickards, Medlar Press (2007)

A blue plaque was unveiled on his birthplace in June 2011.

Walker's British record fish On 13 September 1952, Walker landed the then British record Carp (Cyprinus carpio) at Redmire Pool The Fisherman's Bedside Book edited by 'BB' (Denys Watkins-Pitchford), The Boydell Press (1945) paperback edition pages 161-165 which weighed 44 lbs. After the fish's capture, he decided to contact London Zoo to verify its weight. After collection the fish was transported to the zoo's aquarium and put on public display. Walker had named the carp Ravioli but the fish was renamed Clarissa. Walker's British record held to 1980, when it was beaten by the 51 lb 8 oz mirror carp caught by Chris Yates.

Walker at one time held the British record for the largest ever Rainbow trout (Onchorhynchus mykiss), caught in Great Britain at the time, which was a fine 18lb 4oz specimen caught at Avington Trout Fisheries on 2nd April 1976. Although not recognised by the BRFC, because Walker never made a claim, the record stood for one year before being beaten with a fish of 18lb 7oz caught by Alan Pearson at the same venue in April 1977.

Fly fishing

Walker was also an innovative fly angler fishing chalk streams, small stillwaters and reservoirs.Dick Walker's Fly Fishing on Rivers and Stillwaters edited by Peter Maskell, Swan Hill Press (1997) Preface With the opening of Grafham Water in 1966 Walker concentrated his efforts in addressing the new problemsStill Water Fly-Fishing by T C Ivens, Andre Deutsch (1952) revised and enlarged third 1970 edition chapter 16 'Grafham: a new reservoir with new conditions and new problems' faced at what was at that time the largest man-made stillwater in England. As a result, he was instrumental in the design of many reservoir fly patterns including Walker's Midge Pupa, the Chomper,Reservoir and Lake Flies by John Veniard, A & C Black (1970) page 111/112 Longhorns,The Super Flies of Still Water by John Goddard, A & C Black (1977) pages 57/59 Mayfly Nymph, Red Sedge, Dambuster,Bob Church's Guide to Trout Flies by Bob Church, Crowood Press (1987) page 100 Polystickle,Reservoir Trout Flies by Adrian V W Freer, Crowood Press (2010) page 143 Mrs Palmer, and Sweeney Todd.Lures for Game, Coarse and Sea Fishing by Taff Price, A & C Black (1972) page 96 In August 1969 he began a series of regular monthly articles in Trout & SalmonTrout & Salmon magazine August 1969 issue page 15 on new fly patterns entitled Modern Fly Dressings which were subsequently collated into Fly Dressing InnovationsFly Dressing innovations by Richard Walker, Ernest Benn Ltd (1974) and Dick Walker's Modern Fly Dressings.Dick Walker's Modern Fly Dressings by Richard Walker, Ernest Benn Ltd (1980) His later years, which were marred by ill health, were spent fishing smaller stillwaters.Stillwater Flies how and when to fish them by John Goddard, A & C Black (1982) page 193

Published works

The Book of the Flemish Giant Rabbit, Idle (c1947) Stillwater Angling, David & Charles (1953) Walker's Pitch, Angling Times/Allen & Unwin (1959) Kapitale Fische Reiche Beute (Walker's Pitch) How Fish Feed: Facts on how, when and where, Angling Times (1959) Rod Building for Amateurs, Angling Times (1963) Carp Fishing, Angling Times (1963) No Need to Lie, Angling Times/Allen & Unwin (1964) Fly Dressing Innovations, Ernest Benn (1974) Successful Angling, Stanley Paul & Co (1977) Pesca Deportiva (Successful Angling in Spanish) Dick Walker's Trout Fishing on Rivers and Stillwaters, Swan Hill Press (1977) The Shell Book of Angling (Editor), David & Charles (1979) Dick Walker's Modern Fly Dressings, Ernest Benn (1980) Dick Walker's Angling, Angling Times (1980) Catching Fish, David & Charles (1981) Dick Walker's Coarse Fishing, Patrick Stephens (1983) The Best of Dick Walker's Coarse Fishing, David & Charles (1988) The Carp Catchers' Club, Medlar Press (1998) Drop Me a Line: Being Letters Exchanged with Maurice Ingham on Trout and Coarse Fishing, H F & G Witherby (1989) The Stone Walker Letters 1956 - 1983, The Medlar Press (2006) Spin Me a Line: Fishing for Fun with Dick Walker, Little Egret Press (2007) Walker's Pitch II, Little Egret Press (2008) Be My Guest, Peter Maskell Publishing (2010)

Notes

References

External links Dick Walker Website dedicated to Dick Walker Richard Walker on BBC Desert Island Discs