The Traditional Fisherman's Forum

Not sure if in the right place - but there was some months ago talk about a Richard Walker spreader block. Well today, when uncovering a few more books in my loft, I found "Still Water Angling" by Richard Walker, (1953 1st Edition - didn't even know I had it!) and within it was this illustration of his landing net. I add it in case it may be useful to some.

A pretty close copy of the original - hole diameter slightly smaller and block straighter.

Has this project died a death, if so are there any spreader blocks available from elsewhere?

Thanks
BB

Hello BB.

Yes, I'm afraid this project did die. My ambitions for this group endeavour were not viable, for many reasons. Reading back through the thread will give you a flavour. It went off piste, onto triangle nets, Walker nets, and alternative home-mades; which were all very nice, but nothing to do with the original idea of a TTF cast spreader for a teardrop net - of the Barder type.

I haven't heard of an alternative source. My own solution was to engineer my own spreaders at the Works. They're not as wonderful as Barder's cast spreaders, but they still look pretty good, and will last for yonks. Most members will not have access to such facilities, so the cast spreader would have been just the ticket.

The reality is, it would have been all down to one person, his time, his funds, and his patience. A big ask.

W.

I haven't had occasion to make any nets until recently. In the absence (so far as I know) of a production cast spreader, I engineered this one for a new carp/pike net - 36"x27". It was a heck of a lot of work, and certainly not as good as the original Farlow type, which was later copied for the excellent Barder version. Still, it's very strong, and will do for now. It does seem odd that a small go-ahead firm hasn't made a Farlows-type spreader for general sale.