NEIL McKinnon has won the Totesport.com Fish'O'Mania XVII in the most dramatic style.

McKinnon had not been in front at any stage of the prestigious angling competiton but  a sensational last hour saw him sweep the glory.

It was heartbreak for former World Champion Tom Pickering who had been well ahead up until the last few moments but a late surge won McKinnon the title and earned him a place in Sunday's Fish'O'Mania Champion of Champions.

"With an hour to go I just stuck to my plan and fished my heart out and it has worked for me," said McKinnon.

"I knew there was a lot of carp there and I had to be patient to find them. But I perservered and perservered and I caught five or six fish in the last half hour and it has made all the difference.

"What a day. I missed a few bites near the end and I thought that might've cost me but it didn't. I might buy a new car or go to Las Vegas. Viva Las Vegas!"

McKinnon was 6.15kg behind with only 30 minutes remaining but then caught 10.25kg compared to nothing from Pickering, who ended on 23.88kg, while McKinnon claimed the victory with a total of 27.98kg.

Despite the disappointment of not winning, Pickering paid tribute to the winner.

"Neil fished a great match in the last hour and I couldn't catch anything in the last half hour," said Pickering.

"He deserved to win it and I'm pleased for him. I will just have to try again.

"Finishing second you might as well chuck yourself in the water and drown yourself. I'll be smashing up everything in the house tonight but full credit to Neil."

It was a thrilling day of fishing at the Cudmore Fisheries in Staffordshire with the event broadcast live on Sky Sports 2.

Neil Machin, the 2006 champion, was the early front runner in the race for the £25,000 top prize. Pre-event betting favourite Tommy Pickering, a former World Champion, started badly as he was in last position after the second weigh-in but soon made his way up the positions.

In the weigh-in at 2.30pm he had moved up to second and with a big fish in the bag was on the verge of moving from last to first inside two hours.

Pickering became the fourth different angler to be in front after Andy North, Rob Wootton and Neil Machin had been leading the competition but McKinnon took control when it mattered the most.

There was an added incentive for all the anglers as the biggest fish of the day would net them £2,500.

Tim Bull, brother of 2008 winner Mick, led that competition with a fish of 3.42kg, slightly ahead of Pickering's ghost carp which weighed in at 3.26kg.

However, that effort was later beaten by Andy Benwell's 5.05kg monster that looked to have won him the money. But there was to be a twist in the tale as Andy North caught a huge 6.08kg carp in the last few moments to claim the £2,500.

FINAL RESULT
1st - Neil McKinnon 27.98kg, 2nd - Tom Pickering 23.88kg, 3rd - Andy Benwell 20.27kg, 4th - Ray Hayward 16.71kg, 5th - Rob Wootton 16.37kg, 6th - Andy North 14.87kg, 7th - Neil Machin 14.75kg, 8th - Tim Bull 13.87kg. 9th - Kieron Rich 12.62kg, 10th - Stuart Ballard 2.07kg, 11th - Steven Seaborn 10.99kg, 12th - Sean Huggins 9.85kg, 13th - Luke Bamford 9.25kg, 14th - Richard Hoskins 8.07kg, 15th - Ben Emery 5.99kg, 16th Steven Bamford 5.36kg.

CELEBRITY RESULT
1. Darts 18.40kg, 2. Boxing 11.05kg, 3. Cricket 9.77kg, 4. All Stars 3.70kg

FULL CELEBRITY RESULT
1. Darts – 18.40kg
Simon Whitlock 6.10kg, Joe Roberts 8.50 kg, Phil Taylor 2.10 kg, Adrian Lewis 1.70 kg

2. Boxing – 11.05 kg
Mark Addy 4.60 kg, Tim Witherspoon 2.60 kg, Richie Woodhall 3.40 kg, Spencer Oliver 0.45 kg

3. Cricket – 9.77 kg
Owais Shah 2.25 kg, Ben Scott 3.50 kg, Dawid Malan 0.70 kg, Mark Eves 3.32 kg

4. All Stars – 3.70 kg
Cyril Brewster 0.50 kg, Barry Hearn 1.50 kg, Helen Dagnall 0.80 kg, Hollie Dowding 0.90 kg

Totesport.com Fish’O’Mania XVII – Ladies
1. Ann Yates (Doncaster) 37.00 kg
2. Samantha Sim (Steyning) 26.31 kg
3. Denise Hudgell (Reading) 25.36 kg
4. Karen Madeley (Leigh)  19.80 kg
5. Charlotte Gore (Edenbridge) 10.71 kg
6. Deana Wood (Lancing) 5.51 kg
7. Sue Arkell (Reading) 4.18 kg
8. Sophie Davis (Maidstone)            -------

Fish’O’Mania XVII – Juniors
1. Joe Kent (Wakefield) 4.96 kg
2. Jack Smethurst (Basingstoke) 4.92 kg
3.  Tom Potter (West Hallam 4.60 kg
4. Jamie Cowling (Hunslet) 1.95 kg
5. Jake Gallagher (Reading) 1.93 kg
6. Kyle Moore (Bradford) 1.74 kg
7. Matthew Ebbrell (Manchester) 0.84 kg
8. Josh Smith-Trow ( Manchester

MAIN EVENT AS IT HAPPENED...

4.30pm
1st - Tom Pickering 23.88kg, 2nd - Neil McKinnon 17.73kg, 3rd - Andy Benwell 15.27kg, 4th - Neil Machin 14.75kg, 5th - Rob Wootton 14.45kg, 6th - Ray Hayward 13.89kg, 7th - Tim Bull 13.87kg, 8th - Steve Seaborn 9.6kg, 9th - Stuart Ballard 9.13kg, 10th - Kieron Rich 8.86kg, 11th - Andy North 8.79kg, 12th - Sean Huggins 8.51kg, 13th Luke Bamford 8.23kg, 14th - Richard Hoskins 8.07kg, 15th - Ben Emery 5.99kg, 16th - Steven Bamford 4.80kg.

4pm
1st - Tom Pickering 18.78kg, 2nd - Neil McKinnon 13.43kg, 3rd - Neil Machin 13.21kg, 4th - Ray Hayward 12.34kg, 5th - Tim Bull 12.21kg, 6th - Rob Wootton 10.75kg, 7th - Andy Benwell 10.19kg, 8th - Andy North 8.79kg, 9th - Sean Huggins 8.57kg, 10th - Luke Bamford 8.23kg, 11th - Kieron Rich 8.19kg, 12th - Richard Hoskins 8.07kg, 13th - Steve Seaborn 8.05kg, 14th - Ben Emery 5.99kg, 15th - Stuart Ballard 5.8kg, 16th - Steven Bamford 4.8kg.

3.30pm
1st - Tom Pickering 16kg, 2nd - Neil Machin 13.21kg, 3rd - Tim Bull 12.21kg, 4th - Ray Hayward 11.11kg, 5th - Neil McKinnon 11.05kg, 6th - Rob Wootton 10.75kg, 7th - Andy North 8.79kg, 8th - Sean Huggins 8.57kg, 9th - Kieron Rich 8.19kg, 10th - Richard Hoskins 7.87kg, 11th - Steve Seaborn 7.55kg, 12th - Andy Benwell 6.84kg, 13th - Ben Emery 5.69kg, 14th - Steven Bamford 4.8kg, 15th - Stuart Ballard 4.75kg, 16th - Luke Bamford 3.41kg.

3pm
1st - Tom Pickering 13.85kg, 2nd - Neil Machin 12.41kg, 3rd - Rob Wootton 10.75kg, 4th - Tim Bull 10.33kg, 5th - Ray Hayward 9.61kg, 6th - Neil McKinnon 8.87kg, 7th - Sean Huggins 8.57kg, 8th - Andy North 8.28kg, 9th - Richard Hoskins 7.87kg, 10th - Kieron Rich 7.79kg, 11th - Andy Benwell 6.84kg, 12th - Ben Emery 5.69kg, 13th -Steve Seaborn 5.34kg, 14th - Steven Bamford 4.8kg, 15th - Stuart Ballard 4.75kg, 16th - Luke Bamford 3.41kg.

2.30pm
1st - Neil Machin 12.41kg, 2nd - Tom Pickering 9.5kg, 3rd - Rob Wootton 9.13kg, 4th - Neil McKinnon 8.87kg, 5th - Sean Huggins 8.57kg, 6th - Andy North 8.28kg, 7th - Ray Hayward 8.02kg, 8th - Richard Hoskins 7.87kg, 9th - Andy Benwell 6.84kg, 10th - Kieron Rich 6.81kg, 11th - Tim Bull 5.71kg, 12th - Steve Seaborn 5.34kg, 13th - Ben Emery 5.26kg, 14th - Steven Bamford 4.8kg, 15th - Stuart Ballard 4.75kg, 16th - Luke Bamford 2.67kg.

2pm
1st - Neil Machin 11.02kg, 2nd - Neil McKinnon 8.87kg, 3rd - Andy North 8.28kg, 4th - Rob Wootton 8.25kg, 5th - Sean Huggins 8.21kg, 6th - Richard Hoskins 7.54kg, 7th - Ray Hayward 7.03kg, 8th - Tom Pickering 6.37kg, 9th - Kieron Rich 5.75kg, 10th - Tim Bull 5.71kg, 11th - Andy Benwell 5.66kg, 12th - Steven Bamford 4.80kg, 13th - Steve Seaborn 4.71kg, 14th - Stuart Ballard 3.93kg, 15th - Ben Emery 3.42kg, 16th - Luke Bamford 2.67kg.

1.30pm
1st - Rob Wootton 8.25kg, 2nd - Neil Machin 7.93kg, 3rd - Sean Huggins 7.57kg, 4th - Andy North 7.4kg, 5th - Neil McKinnon 7.05kg, 6th - Richard Hoskins 6.65kg, 7th - Tom Pickering 6.37kg, 8th - Andy Benwell 5.66kg, 9th - Ray Hayward 5.45kg,  10th - Kieron Rich 5.39kg, 11th - Tim Bull 4.65kg, 12th - Steven Bamford 4.36kg, 13th - Steve Seaborn 4.21kg, 14th - Stuart Ballard 3.93kg, 15th - Luke Bamford 2.67kg, 16th - Ben Emery 2.46kg
1pm
1st - Andy North 7.4kg, 2nd - Rob Wootton 6.29kg, 3rd - Sean Huggins 5.45kg, 4th - Neil Machin 5.35kg, 5th - Ray Hayward 4.54kg, 6th - Richard Hoskins 4.22kg, 7th - Neil McKinnon 4kg, 8th - Steve Seaborn 3.84kg, 9th - Kieron Rich 3.67kg, 10th - Tim Bull 3.07kg, 11th - Andy Bemwell 2.86kg, 12th - Luke Bamford 2.67kg, 13th - Steven Bamford 2.32kg, 14th - Stuart Ballard 2.25kg, 15th - Ben Emery 2.01kg, 16th - Tom Pickering 1.97kg

12.30pm
1st - Andy North 3.9kg, 2nd - Neil McKinnon 2.64kg, 3rd - Ray Hayward 2.42kg, 4th - Richard Hoskins 2.15kg, 5th - Rob Wootton 2kg, 6th - Tim Bull 1.41kg, 7th - Tom Pickering 1.26kg, 8th - Sean Huggins 1.24kg, 9th - Steve Seaborn 0.94kg, 10th - Neil Machin 0.77kg, 12th - Stuart Ballard 0.55kg

Odds before the start
4/1 Tom Pickering
5/1 Kieron Rich, Neil Machin
6/1 Ben Emery
7/1 Stuart Ballard, Luke Bamford, Ray Hayward
10/1 Rob Wootton, Tim Bull
12/1 Sean Huggins, Neil McKinnon, Andy North
14/1 Richard Hoskins
16/1 Steve Seaborn
20/1 Steven Bamford
33/1 Andy Benwell

Peg draws
1. Stuart Ballard, 2. Sean Huggins, 3. Andy Benwell, 4. Neil McKinnon, 5. Andy North, 6. Rob Wootton, 7. Kieron Rich, 8. Tim Bull, 9. Steven Bamford, 10. Richard Hoskins, 11. Neil Machin, 12. Tom Pickering, 13. Steve Seaborn, 14. Luke Bamford, 15. Ben Emery, 16. Ray Hayward

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