Dick Walker on your licence?

Is this the iconic image that will be in the pocket of every UK angler?

That’s the question being asked this week as the Environment Agency considers printing Dick Walker’s British record carp, Clarissa, on the front of the rod licence.

The proposal came from Charles Walker MP, chairman of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Angling, and was made to the Secretary of State for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra).

It would mark the centenary of the birth of the godfather of modern angling and shows him with the famous 44lb record carp caught from Redmire in 1952.

And it’s an idea that’s been quickly embraced at the highest Government level.

Since the proposal, that was made in the form of a recent parliamentary question, Defra has been in discussion with the Environment Agency, which says it is ‘happy to consider the option’ of printing one of the most iconic specimens in angling on the front of the 2018 rod licence.

“We are happy to consider this option, as there’s no doubt the whole of the angling world will mark Dick Walker’s achievements in 2018,” said an Environment Agency spokesperson.

“We will be pleased to support that celebration where we can, whether that be on the rod licence or through other means.”

The proposal to commemorate the life of a pioneering angling icon whose work and fishing career have inspired generations of fishermen across the globe will undoubtedly be welcomed by ever angler who buys a UK rod licence.

It’s an idea that’s gained the full support of the most influential organisation in our sport.

“The Angling Trust is delighted to support this excellent suggestion from Charles Walker to mark the very real contribution that Dick Walker made to freshwater angling,” said Martin Salter, national campaigns co-ordinator for the Angling Trust.

“He was a true giant of our sport whose inventions and writings revolutionised the way we went about trying to outwit our quarry,” he added.