Rocky River man to compete in fishing tourney

The YETI College Fishing season will continue Sept. 8 at the YETI Fishing League Worldwide College Fishing on Lake Erie, and a Rocky River man is in contention, according to a news release.

Riley Minerd, a student at Kent State University, is competing with teammate Andrew George of Canton.

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 $2,000 club scholarship and an invitation to compete in the 2019 College Fishing National Championship, the release said.

“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. “Lake 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 will target deep isolated rocks with tubes, drop-shop rigs and ned rigs.

“The hardest part is finding the right isolated rock piles with the right sized fish,” he 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 says 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,” he said.

Competitors will take off at 7 a.m. from Shelby Street Public Boat Launch, 101 Shelby St. in Sandusky. Weigh-in will take place at the Boat Launch beginning at 3 p.m., the release said.

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 by phone or at CollegeFishing.com.