Fishing Derby

One Story A Day (Book 11 for November)

1 Fishing Derby Every year in my town, we have a fishing contest. It's very exciting, and everyone wants to catch the biggest fish. If you win, you get a trophy and your picture in the local newspaper. The rules are easy. When you catch a fish, you take it to the newspaper office and they weigh it. At the end of the day, the kid with the heaviest fish gets the prize. All you have to do is fish, fish, fish and if you're lucky, you'll catch the biggest. I'm a girl, so the boys make fun of me for wanting to win. They say things like, “ Girls shouldn't be in this contest. Fishing is a boy's sport. " It makes me mad, but it also makes me more determined to win. This year, I brought my fishing rod and my lucky fishing bait to a small lake near the town. Billy is the town bully. He decided to fish near where I was fishing. All day, he made rude comments about girls and fishing. I tried to ignore it. Still, it hurt a little.

Towards the end of the day, I had a few small fish, but I knew they were not big enough to win. But finally, I caught a huge fish. It took a lot of skill to bring it to shore, but I managed! I decided to take it to the weighing station. As I was leaving, I noticed that Billy had a fish too. Not as big as mine, but pretty big. I was still sure that mine would weigh more. That night, Mr. Jones announced that Billy had the biggest fish. Billy looked at me and sneered, “ I told you that girls are not good at fishing. " A little later, Mr. Jones made another announcement. He said that Billy had cheated. Apparently, Billy had put some small stones inside the fish's mouth, and that made it weigh more than the true winner's fish. " Sally is the winner, " Mr. Jones announced. " She's a true sportsperson. She did not cheat. " When I look at my trophy, I smile. Girls can be good at anything. Best of all, I won the contest fair and square.