Nine

Eddy took a few moments to marvel at the massive fish. It was unlike anything he had seen before, and far beyond what he expected to catch. As he looked at it filling the cooler, he realized there would be no way for him to add any other fish to his livewell. His only option would be to drive back to the weigh-in now to have the fish measured officially.

It was a major struggle to get the cooler into the truck bed, but Eddy managed after a couple of failed attempts. He drove slowly and carefully back to the weigh-in and spoke with a tournament official about his situation. They consulted the tournament rules and found that the fish could be weighed immediately, but would have to be culled to prevent the possibility of cheating. Since bull carp are not allowed to be released, this was not a concern - the fish would have to be killed either way.

The fish tipped the scales at a whopping 37.5 pounds, a weight within 15 pounds of the state record for that species. The result was recorded and Eddy set to the task of filleting the fish before it could spoil. With one fish already recorded for the day, he stopped by his house to stow the fillets and pick up a second cooler in case he caught another big fish. With that chore done, he made haste back to the spot he chose before.

It was 10:30 when Eddy parked at his prime spot for the second time that day. Unfortunately, he noticed that it was being heavily crowded by anglers in boats fishing near where he'd landed the monster fish. Clearly his competitors had seen his struggle and wanted to take advantage of his absence. It was soon clear that he'd either have to find a different location or fight for position with these other anglers. He tried to fish there for about thirty minutes, but had no more luck. He suspected the boat traffic and other anglers had spooked the fish.

His backup choice was a short drive away and closer to the event. Eddy hoped to fish here until roughly 6:30 to get the most time fishing as possible. He felt good about his chances of placing in the top ten already, but his early success made him crave the top position and all the prizes that came with it. There were a few fishermen on the bank at his second choice fishing spot, but there was plenty of space and didn't feel nearly as crowded as the first location did. He set up his rod holder and sat on the cooler, hoping to recreate the morning's success.

Eddy and the anglers around him had a slow but steady afternoon of fishing. Eddy had three carp in his livewell, none of them reaching much over two pounds. There was also one sunfish, but it weighed well under one pound. If he were to catch a larger fish, he could return the sunfish to the river and keep the larger one to round out his five fish total for weigh-in. He couldn't guess what everyone else had in their coolers - they were all being secretive about their catch and their lures.

By 6:00, most of his competitors had left to see the results of the tournament, and those remaining were packing up their gear to do the same. Eddy held out a bit longer, hoping to replace the sunfish in his livewell with something larger. Eddy checked his watch at 6:25, ready to call it a day. Before he could pick the rod out of its holder to pack up, the rod bent under the weight of a hooked fish. He grabbed the pole and started to fight the fish. It felt big. Not close to the whopper from the morning, but bigger than what was in his livewell currently. Two minutes of man vs. fish competition later, and Eddy had a five pounder in his hands. He quickly released the tiny sunfish and placed the big bull carp in the cooler. While there was a wide variety of fish species in the river, it was clear based on his experiences that the waterway was being overrun with this species.

The truck's dashboard clock read 6:40 when Eddy hit the road toward the tournament area. He picked up the pace to be sure he wouldn't miss his chance to add these four fish to his total.