Lake Erie Readies For YETI FLW College Fishing Event presented by Berkley

Cory Johnston Photo by Sean Ostruszka. Angler: Cory Johnston.

August 28, 2018 • FLW Communications • Abu Garcia College Fishing

SANDUSKY, Ohio – The YETI FLW College Fishing season will continue with an event next week, Sept. 8., at the YETI FLW College Fishing on Lake Erie presented by Berkley. The tournament, hosted by the City of Sandusky, is the third and final regular-season event for college anglers in the Northern Conference and will award a top prize of a $2,000 club scholarship and an invitation to compete in the 2019 College Fishing National Championship to the winners.

“It’s been an extraordinary summer fishing on Lake Erie and I think the college anglers are going to have a blast in this tournament,” said Power-Pole pro Cory Johnston of Cavan, Ontario, a two-time Forrest Wood Cup qualifier. “Erie is so fun because of the sheer number of fish that you can catch. I don’t expect largemouth to be a factor at all, but the smallmouth are plentiful and they’re big.”

Johnston said that the majority of anglers would be targeting deep isolated rocks with tubes, drop-shot rigs and ned rigs.

“The hardest part is finding the right isolated rock piles with the right sized fish,” Johnston said. “They’re going to really need to be comfortable with their electronics – fishing deep and video-gaming them up. Good electronics will be key.”

Johnston said that he expects the winning team to bring 23 to 25 pounds to the scale.

“We’re going to see multiple limits weighing more than 20 pounds,” Johnston said.

Competitors will take off from Shelby Street Public Boat Launch, located at 101 Shelby St. in Sandusky, at 7 a.m. EDT Saturday. Weigh-in will be held at the Boat Launch beginning at 3 p.m. Takeoff and weigh-in are free and open to the public.

Schools are allowed to register up until the morning of the tournament. Entries may be made either by phone or at CollegeFishing.com.

Schools currently registered to compete in the Lake Erie tournament include:

California University of Pennsylvania – Colton Higgins and Jakob Bissett, both of Waynesburg, Pa.

California University of Pennsylvania – Nick Fulks, Canonsburg, Pa., and David Blaker, Rices Landing, Pa.

Franklin & Marshall College – Collin Martin, Sykesville, Md., and Nicholas Brown, Manheim, Pa.

Kent State University – Andrew George, Canton, Ohio, and Rile Minerd, Rocky River, Ohio

Kent State University – Zachary Asher, Sunbury, Ohio, and Vala Zeinali, Cleveland, Ohio

Kutztown University of Pennsylvania – Joe Tini, Archibald, Pa., and Brandon Keenan, Townsend, Del.

Marshall University – Caleb McComas, Hurricane, W. Va., and Chase Sansom, Salt Rock, W. Va.

Ohio State University – Gardon Wycoff, Delaware, Ohio, and Patrick Henry, Stanhope, N.J.

Pennsylvania State University – Derek Horner and Matthew Huggler, both of State College, Pa.

Pennsylvania State University – Stephen Jesso, Plymouth, Pa., and Ryan Fox, Thornhurst, Pa.

Pennsylvania State University – George Gendler, Mountaintop, Pa., and Chad Burkholder, Palmyra, Pa.

Pennsylvania State University – Jonathan Dietz, Corry, Pa., and Shane Rolle, Hanover, Pa.

Slippery Rock University – Jason Frontino, Cranberry Township, Pa., and Cody Neal, Evans City, Pa.

Slippery Rock University – Nathan Quince, Imperial, Pa., and Samuel Jenesky, Pittsburgh, Pa.

University of Pittsburgh – Henry Colberg, Pittsburgh, Pa., and Dominic Vitale, Shickshinny, Pa.

University of Rio Grande – Evan Bowman, Gallipolis, Ohio, and Matt Joyce, Minford, Ohio

Virginia Highlands Community College – Clay Winebarger and Dustin Murray, both of Abingdon, Va.

Virginia Highlands Community College – Ryan Strong, Bristol, Va., and Dylan Blake, Abingdon, Va.

YETI FLW College Fishing teams compete in three regular-season qualifying tournaments in one of five conferences – Central, Northern, Southern, Southeastern and Western. The top ten teams from each division’s three regular-season tournaments and the top 20 teams from the annual FLW College Fishing Open will advance to the 2019 FLW College Fishing National Championship. Additional teams will qualify for the National Championship if the field size in regular-season events exceeds 100 boats. The location of the 2019 FLW College Fishing National Championship will be revealed in early fall.

YETI FLW College Fishing is free to enter. All participants must be registered, full-time students at a college, university or community college and members of a college fishing club that is recognized by their school.

For complete details and updated information visit FLWFishing.com. For regular updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow YETI FLW College Fishing on FLW’s social media outlets at Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube and Snapchat.

About FLW

FLW is the world’s largest tournament-fishing organization, providing anglers of all skill levels the opportunity to compete for millions in prize money in 2018 across five tournament circuits. Headquartered in Benton, Kentucky, with offices in Minneapolis, FLW and their partners conduct 286 bass-fishing tournaments annually around the world, including the United States, Canada, China, Italy, South Korea, Mexico, Portugal, and South Africa. FLW tournament fishing can be seen on the Emmy-nominated “FLW" television show, broadcast to more than 564 million households worldwide, while FLW Bass Fishing magazine delivers cutting-edge tips from top pros. For more information visit FLWFishing.com and follow FLW at Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube and Snapchat.

# # #