“Your rod, Bobby! Take hold of your line! You’ve hooked one!” the captain said pointing to Bobby’s reel.

            But Bobby was suddenly paralyzed by the surprise of the situation, and he couldn’t move a muscle, it was just as if he were frozen stiff! Bobby’s father reached for the pole while the captain ushered Bobby back into his seat. Once Bobby was settled, his father handed him the pole saying, “Reel him in son, reel him in!” Bobby was in a daze and even though he knew he was reeling in a big fish, the whole event still didn’t seem real to him. He couldn’t believe what was happening because he hadn’t really expected to catch anything! True, he had sure hoped and dreamed he would, but he didn’t believe it would actually happen!

            Bobby reeled and reeled for what seemed like an eternity, but the fish was big and strong and determined to get away. Every time Bobby reeled in a yard or two of line, he’d hear the sound of the line being pulled back out of the reel again. It seemed as if the fish were gaining on him, and was pulling out the line faster than Bobby could reel it in! Bobby began to slow down, exhausted from all the excitement and hard work. Bobby’s father saw he was getting a little tired and asked him if he needed a break. Although Bobby didn’t want to quit, he began to feel a little dizzy and was happy his father had volunteered to take over.

            “Oh, you’ve hooked a big one!” the captain bellowed.

            Bobby handed his dad the pole, and then walked over to the side of the boat to see if he could catch the first glimpse of his fish. Frank reeled and reeled, and soon he began to get tired himself. Captain Hensley was beginning to think that the fish might just win this battle if he didn’t step in and lend a hand.

            “Why don’t you let me give him a try, the big ones can be a real challenge sometimes!” he said to Frank. Frank gladly handed the pole over to the captain and moved to where Bobby was looking over the edge of the boat.