By MICHAEL BOYLIN

Sports Editor

Not everybody can be a fisherman. Some people can't get past the baiting of the hook, while others find the routine and long spurts of inactivity boring.

For those who love fishing, nothing could drive them away. They enjoy the rush that comes from catching a fish. That is why Kevin Brandewie and David Ellis fish as much as they do and why they have been so successful.

Brandewie and Ellis, two rising seventh graders at J.C. Booth Middle School, caught a behemoth of a monster of a grass carp while they were fishing recently. The ordeal was such a challenge for the boys and so strange, the story had to be told.

Over the Memorial Day weekend, the pair fished each day from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Lake Peachtree in Peachtree City. The boys took out Brandewie's canoe, as they usually do, and went fishing for bass. Brandewie caught five bass while Ellis caught two. Their thoughts left catching bass behind Monday, though, when they saw a very big grass carp jump out of the water and make a splash.

“It was kind of scary,” said Kevin. “We weren't really looking and I flinched and fell in the water.” It was then that the boys went after it. “I've never seen a bigger fish,” said David. “At least not in this lake.”

The bait they used was a blueberry bagel. They used a bagel because the bread was falling off too easily and all the smaller fish were getting to it first. The blueberry bagel hung on and Brandewie ended up nabbing the fish.

But the creature was far from captured, and eventually it snapped Brandewie's 20-pound line.

The boys tried again, refusing to give up on the wily monster. Brandewie hooked a grass carp again, but it was not the same one. They knew that because it did not have his previous hook in its mouth. After he had the new carp on the line, Brandewie and Ellis began to take the boat closer to shore, trying to tire the fish out. Ellis jumped out of the boat and waded toward the fish, but every time he reached out to grab it, it would jet off.

On the third try, Ellis got a good hold on the fish and the boys tied it to the back of the canoe and took it ashore. As they carried it, one of its scales fell off. There was a big crowd gathered on the shore of the lake, all interested in the boys' catch that day.

The fish was a 32-inch-long grass carp, weighing 15 pounds. The city put grass carp in the lake a number of years ago to eat the algae. The breed's population has most certainly gone up, but the boys say they have only seen the grass carp in one section of the lake. They won't disclose the location because a good fisherman keeps his secrets.

A good fisherman also never keeps the fish, always releasing it back to its home. The boys catch fish to marvel at their natural beauty, to take the challenge and to succeed.

Brandewie and Ellis have been fishing for years. Both boys have had training in the Boy Scouts, which undoubtedly helped them catch the fish.

If they had to do it all over again, the boys would do nothing different. Ellis needs a stronger line, though, and Brandewie needs a new pole. If you're out on Lake Peachtree this summer, you'll probably see these young men. They will be reveling in the summer weather and the simplicity and perfection of a day of fishing.

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