I don't know how many times Walker has been criticised for taking his record carp to the London Zoo, but its many times, and by people who really do not understand the situation with a record carp at that time.
Although there are those who might disagree, but Walker certainly did not want to kill Clarissa. On the other hand, and because it was over 40lbs, he wanted to prove to certain scientists that carp could grow to be over 40lbs in England. That's why he offered the fish to the London Zoo.
First of all, if that fish had been returned, any record claim would NEVER have been accepted and the scientists would have called it another "fisherman's tale". No matter how many photos had been taken or affidavids made in courts of law, that fish would NOT have been believed.
You have to understand how the mind of a scientist works. A scientists believes nothing, unless he has it on the dissecting table of his lab. And in a tank at the London Zoo was the next best thing, and of course ultimately the fish became a record.
And in those days, the re-capture of large specimen fish was somehow frowned upon. I know because I was there at the time.
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While I wouldn't quite go so far as to venerate Walker as a 'god', I'll leave that to others- I would place him quite highly in the all time Angling Hall of Fame.
I use the term "Godfather" as a metaphor. Walker was certainly no angel and was a human being in every way. He was also a hell of a womaniser, a fault that at times could have resulted in his downfall.
But old ****, wherever he went, couldn't take his eyes off women.
He tried his hardest to get off with Eric Hodson's secretary, and at angling shows in London would often have an entourage of large breasted girls from Soho in attendance.
But that's enough!
