Richard Walker was the most influential angler of the 20th Century; of that I think there is little doubt. I did not grow up with Walker - I started fishing in 1983 at about the same time he stopped writing about it. For the first few years I relied on the inferior wisdom offered in the 'Beginners Guide To Fishing' type of book, along with practical advice given by generous anglers on the bankside. Needless to say, I benefitted far more from the latter.
Then I discovered **** Walker. It was a moment of mixed emotions, because I only became aware of him when the Angling Times headline proclaimed '**** Walker is dead', that sorrowful day in 1985. There were extracts of his articles re-printed which I read and re-read. Suddenly I had found the guideance I had been looking for. I sought out his books in libraries and second hand shops and devoured every word.
Curiously, some of what he said concurred with my own limited observations; until then I assumed that, as the books all stated something quite different, I must be mistaken. But no, I was right all along - those first books were phoney. I began to trust more in my own judgement after that - and less in what other people told you was so. In many ways I owe Richard a huge debt, not just because my angling improved enormously thereafter, but because my whole outlook to life since then has been based on a reliance in my own assessment of a situation and less on received wisdom. Thanks ****.
Whether all this makes him the best angler is more difficult to define. Others have already posed the question: is the best angler the one who catches the most/biggest fish? Or the angler who is skilled in the greatest variety of techniques? Maybe the one who dominates in catching a particular species?
I suggest the best angler is none of these. The angler who truly earns the right to that title is the one who can do it all. The one who can catch big fish consistently - of all species and from all types of water, and develop tackle and techniques to suit circumstances rather than try to find suitable conditions in which to practice a specific type of fishing.
He should be able to write lucidly and intelligently about all aspects of the sport, enabling him to share his knowledge and ideas with as wide an audience as possible, so that the ordinary angler can learn and develop his own fishing. He should be approachable - able to discuss specific problems with individual anglers and help them not only to find a solution, but to cultivate a more thoughtful approach to their fishing.
Perhaps most importantly, he should demonstrate simplicity in his solutions to angling problems; no marks are awarded for over-complication.
I wonder who that might be?
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