A 23-YEAR-OLD from Ellesmere Port has won the Cazoo FishOMania 2022 title at Westwood Lakes in Boston.

Kristian Jones earned himself £50,000 thanks to his 56.750kg haul from the venue’s Falcon Lake.

He won by just 410g – effectively one fish - over fellow North-West angler Andy Dyson, who came in 2nd place.

It was a mammoth 10kg final weigh in, which delivered the victory for the 23-year-old professional angling coach.

Drawn on peg 10, Kristian struggled with the consistency of front runners Artur Hilmi, Andy Power, and Andy Dyson early in the match with all three plundering the lake’s F1s with their shallow fishing tactics.

Kristian said: "My bank runner kept telling me I was too far behind and to fish for second.”

“I know the lake well and expected shallow fishing to play a part for me but during the lulls I kept feeding the edge and I started to see some fish come in, so I binned off fishing shallow and I concentrated on my edge.

“When I went down the edge, I started to catch some proper carp – the first fish in the sixth weigh in was a 6lb carp - and knew that if they kept coming, I could catch up with Art catching F1s.”

Wirral Globe:

Art Hilmi and Andy Power were the duo in the early rounds with Power taking the lead from Hilmi on several occasions by tiny margins.

Hilmi looked to have taken victory with just 5kg separating him and Dyson going into the final weigh in, before Jones knocked the pair out the park with his strong finish.

Kristian went on a run from the sixth weigh in to close the gap before sealing the deal in monumental style.

His 8.5kg got him going in the sixth weigh in and was followed by 6.4kg in the seventh, 5.3kg in the eighth, 8.50kg in the ninth and the final 10.325kg put the trophy and £50,000 cheque in his arms.

He said: “You don't think it's going to happen until it happens. I still didn't believe it when they told me at the end."