crawdad was launched into the night and into the old irrigation hole.
Tommy and Arlo began to cast the banks, but to no avail. Eddie just sat there watching his rod tip which rested on a "Y"- shaped stick that he had found just before dark. Tommy and Arlo returned to the camp a little after midnight with nothing to show for their efforts. They joined Eddie sitting in silence. Their eyes transfixed on Eddie's rod. Eddie began to get sleepy so to the tip of the big rod he attached an old jingle bell he had borrowed from the Christmas decorations that were stored away in the attic of his house. With their "Old Jaws" alarm set, the three boys tried to get some sleep.
Jinglejingle, jingle jingle!
"Why doesn't somebody answer that phone," wondered Eddie as he tried to wake up.
Jingle, jingle, jingle!
Eddie suddenly sat straight up realizing what he was hearing and yelled, "MY ROD!"
Arlo fell over Tommy, who had fell over Eddie, who had tripped over his boots while trying to get out of the tent. Edie managed to get to the rod first. Grabbing the rod with both hands, he reeled up the slack in the line. After making sure he had a straight line from him to the fish, Eddie set the hook as hard with all his strenght. The impact of fish meeting hook nearly ripped the old Zebco out of his hands. The big saltwater rod bent double. The Zebco's drag screamed. The fight was on.
"Keep your rod tip up!" yelled Arlo.
"Keep your rod tip down ," yelled Tommy.
Struggling just to breathe, Eddie asked, "Did anyone bring a stringer?"
Arlo and Tommy looked at each other and shook their heads in unison.
"There's an old wash tub up by the old tractor barn," remembered Arlo. He turned and broke into a run.
By the time Arlo returned dragging the wash tub and a piece of plywood, Eddie was soaked with sweat and Tommy had just about lost his voice. Eddie was slowly making ground against the monster fish. Huge splashes could be heard as Eddie held on for dear life. Arlo eased down to the water and began filling the wash tub with Eddie's crawdad bucket. The water near the bank began to churn like a washing machine. The huge bass was half in and half out of the water. In the lantern light, it resembled the real Jaws.
" Old Jaws," exclaimed Eddie, "You've finally met your match."
At that very moment, the reel handle came off in Eddie's hand. The nut must have come loose in all the commotion. Old Jaws must have seen what was happening, because it was then he made another run. The rod was jerked
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