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

Richard Walker (disambiguation) Richard Walker, Rick, Ricky, or Dick Walker may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Richard Walker (baritone) (1897–1989), English singer and actor Law and politics * Richard Walker (MP) (1784–1855), British Member of Parliament for Bury, 1832 ...

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

angler Angler may refer to: * A fisherman who uses the fishing technique of angling * ''Angler'' (video game) * The angler, ''Lophius piscatorius'', a monkfish * More generally, any anglerfish in the order Lophiiformes * '' Angler: The Cheney Vice Presi ...

. 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 The ''Angling Times'' first printed in 1953 is the UK's largest angling newspaper A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. ...

'', ''Trout & Salmon'' and ''Fly Dressers' Guild Newsletter''. He held the record for a

carp Carp are various species of oily freshwater fish from the family Cyprinidae, a very large group of fish native to Europe and Asia. While carp is consumed in many parts of the world, they are generally considered an invasive species in parts of ...

in the UK for 28 years with a fish of caught at Redmire pool in Herefordshire.

Biography

Walker was born at 32 Fishponds Road in

Hitchin Hitchin () is a market town and unparished area in the North Hertfordshire Districts of England, district in Hertfordshire, England, with an estimated population of 35,842. History Hitchin is first noted as the central place of the Hicce peopl ...

Hertfordshire Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is one of the home counties in southern England. It borders Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire to the north, Essex to the east, Greater London to the south, and Buckinghamshire to the west. For govern ...

in 1918; 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 Hertford ( ) is the county town of Hertfordshire, England, and is also a civil parish in the East Hertfordshire district of the county. The parish had a population of 26,783 at the 2011 census. The town grew around a ford on the River Lea, ne ...

. He was educated at the

Friends' School Friends schools are institutions that provide an education based on the beliefs and testimonies of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers). This article is a list of schools currently or historically associated with the Society of Friends, reg ...

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 The Royal Aircraft Establishment (RAE) was a British research establishment, known by several different names during its history, that eventually came under the aegis of the Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom), UK Ministry of Defence (MoD), bef ...

Farnborough Farnborough may refer to: Australia * Farnborough, Queensland, a locality in the Shire of Livingstone United Kingdom * Farnborough, Hampshire, a town in the Rushmoor district of Hampshire, England ** Farnborough (Main) railway station, a railw ...

. 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 A bite indicator is a mechanical or electronic device which indicates to an angler that something is happening at the hook end of the fishing line. Types There are many types of bite indicators. Which ones work best depends on the type of ...

and the arlesey bomb weight, and he was instrumental in the development of the carbon-fibre

fishing rod A fishing rod is a long, thin rod used by angling, anglers to fishing, catch fish by manipulating a fishing line, line ending in a fish hook, hook (formerly known as an ''angle'', hence the term "angling"). At its most basic form, a fishing ...

. 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 Professor Richard Barrie Rickards (1938–2009), was Emeritus Professor in Palaeontology and Biostratigraphy at the Department of Earth Sciences, Cambridge University and Life Fellow of Emmanuel College. He was best known for his work on Grapt ...

was published in 2007. A

blue plaque A blue plaque is a permanent sign installed in a public place in the United Kingdom and elsewhere to commemorate a link between that location and a famous person, event, or former building on the site, serving as a historical marker. The term i ...

was unveiled on his birthplace in June 2011.

Walker's record carp

On 13 September 1952, Walker landed the then record

at Redmire Pool which weighed 44 lbs. After the fish's capture he decided to contact

London Zoo London Zoo, also known as ZSL London Zoo or London Zoological Gardens is the world's oldest scientific zoo. It was opened in London on 27 April 1828, and was originally intended to be used as a collection for science, scientific study. In 1831 o ...

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 record held to 1980 when it was beaten by Chris Yates' 51 lb 8 oz fish The current BRFC recognized record currently stands at 68 lb 1 oz held by Dean Fletcher caught in 2016

Fly fishing

Walker was also an innovative fly angler fishing

chalk streams Chalk streams are rivers that rise from springs in landscapes with chalk bedrock. Since chalk is permeable, water percolates easily through the ground to the water table and chalk streams therefore receive little surface runoff. As a result, ...

, small stillwaters and reservoirs. With the opening of Grafham Water in 1966 Walker concentrated his efforts in addressing the 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'', ''Longhorns'', ''Mayfly Nymph'', ''Red Sedge'', ''Dambuster'', ''Polystickle'', ''Mrs Palmer'', and ''Sweeney Todd''. In August 1969 he began a series of regular monthly articles in ''Trout & Salmon'' on new fly patterns entitled Modern Fly Dressings which were subsequently collated into ''Fly Dressing Innovations'' and ''Dick Walker's Modern Fly Dressings''. 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 {{DEFAULTSORT:Walker, Richard 1918 births 1985 deaths Angling writers Alumni of Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge British fishers English mechanical engineers Royal Air Force personnel of World War II People educated at St Christopher School, Letchworth People from Hitchin People from Biggleswade Deaths from cancer Royal Air Force airmen Military personnel from Hertfordshire