Richard Walker (angler)

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

One of the first to apply scientific thought to angling, 'Dick' Walker wrote many books on the sport. He also wrote for the angling press, most notably for the Angling Times. He held the record for a carp in the UK for 28 years with a fish of 44 pounds (20 kg) caught at Redmire pool in Herefordshire.

Walker was born at 32 Fishponds Road in Hitchin, Hertfordshire 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. He was educated at the Friends' School in Saffron Walden and St Christopher School in Letchworth. He went to Gonville and Caius College at Cambridge University, but his studies were interrupted by the Second World War, during which he worked for the Royal Aircraft Establishment at Farnborough. He flew regularly over Germany and was deafened in one ear by a shell which exploded just outside the aircraft.

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.

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