CHAPTER 10
The next morning, Daniel knew what he had to do. He headed back out to Lake Werner for the second day of the fishing tournament.
His plan was pretty simple. He’d take the boat out into the middle of the lake. Then he would set the big fish free.
Daniel knew that the fish was already dead. It wasn’t like he was really letting the fish escape back into the wild.
However, he also knew that his grandpa would have wanted the fish to rest in the lake. Grandpa Carl would have hated the idea of the big fish being sold in a grocery store. He really would’ve hated knowing that Big Larry was on someone’s plate.
When he arrived at Lake Werner, Daniel put his grandpa’s hat on. Then he guided the boat out to the spot where his grandpa had caught Big Larry.
When he reached the spot, he knew it was time to throw back the big fish. Before he did anything, though, Daniel wanted to bait his line.
He dug through his fishing gear, but somehow, there wasn’t a lure to be found. He had lots of fishing line, and some spare hooks, but that was it.
No lures. Not even any broken ones.
Then Daniel realized that he had a spare. He reached up to his head and took off his grandpa’s hat.
Daniel baited his line with the lure from his grandpa’s hat. Then he carefully sent the line out and started pulling it in.
After all, he was still in a fishing tournament. And, he knew, that lure had caught a big fish before.
Then he reached into his bag and pulled out the frozen fish. He carefully started to unwrap it.
Just then, his fishing pole smacked against the side of the boat. The pole was climbing up the side of the boat, pulled by something on the other end.
Something had been hooked!
The pole was close to falling into the water when Daniel grabbed it. He held the pole and started to pull in the line. But the tug from whatever was on the other end was too strong.
Daniel remembered his grandpa’s story about the day he caught Big Larry.
“I let him tire himself out,” Grandpa had said. “And that’s when I started to pull him in. But he still had a lot of fight left.”
Daniel knew his grandpa’s advice was the way to go. He let the fish fight so that it would get tired.
After about 20 minutes, Daniel was able to start to pull the strong fish in. He glanced over his shoulder at the frozen pack in the boat. The big, dead fish was still there.
Daniel kept battling with the fish in the lake. Finally, he was able to pull the fish up next to the boat. He grabbed his net and waited.
Then the fish showed itself in the dark water. Daniel thought it was looking him right in the eye. It was the biggest fish Daniel had ever seen. It was even bigger than the one he’d bought at the store.
With one quick motion, Daniel scooped the fish with his net. He carefully unhooked it from the line. Then he dropped it into a tank of water. It was almost too big to fit.
As he dropped the fish, Daniel noticed something amazing. There was a yellow stripe that ran halfway down the fish’s side!
Daniel compared the picture of his grandpa with Big Larry to the fish.
It was him! It was definitely Big Larry. The fish from the grocery store may have been the same kind as Big Larry, but it wasn’t him.
Instantly, Daniel rushed to shore to get the huge fish weighed.
The tournament director peered into Daniel’s boat.
He yelled, “Wow, kid! You caught Big Larry! Anglers around here have been trying to catch him for years. How did you do it?”
Daniel smiled. “My grandpa helped,” he said.
