A SLICE OF OXFORDSHIRE – IN LANCASHIRE!

Alan Harrison could’ve been forgiven for forgetting where he was fishing after slipping his net under a mirror seemingly more at home in the waters of Oxfordshire than his Lancashire syndicate!

Yet Lancashire was indeed the location of the capture of this very special fish known as the Oxford Lin, one of the most-sought-after fish in the Keer Lake syndicate up at Clearwater Fisheries.

Alan said: “I found a lovely area which to me felt right for the time of year and proceeded baiting with some chopped and crushed Bug boilies, pellets and a smattering of corn. A few hours after baiting, I was away and it felt great to be attached to what I thought was a carp, but actually turned out to be an upper-double pike! Unfortunately, that ruined my chances and the rest of the night was pretty quiet.

“The next morning felt more optimistic, as there were fish in the zone. At around 8.30am, I managed a 17lb mirror, before topping up the area with four more Spombs of bait for the final few hours.

“Just as the last cup of tea had been made at around 12.30pm, I received a bite from what was clearly a powerful fish that tried to get me into some reeds down the left margin, but eventually I got it coming my way. Even at the first glimpse I knew exactly what it was and started whispering to myself, ‘It’s the Oxford Lin; it’s the Oxford Lin!’ In the net it went and I was absolutely buzzing!”