By Kevin Harter
kharter@pioneerpress.com

Steve Raymond, owner of a gas station and bait shop in Lake City, Minn., believes he's seen a creature in Lake Pepin. He grabbed his camera and took a photo of the monster but says he has misplaced that evidence. (Scott Takushi, Pioneer Press)

As fish stories go, this one is a whopper.

It tells of a large, serpentlike creature, a legendary lunker that lives in the shadowy depths of Lake Pepin below Maiden Rock.

The latest twist in the tale is that anyone who can hook, net or capture Pepie on film could earn a $50,000 reward.

Larry Nielson, 52, of rural Lake City, owns the 125-passenger paddle wheeler Pearl of the Lake. He said he has seen Pepie and believes the creature deserves respect and recognition. That's why he has taken the lead in attempting to prove Pepie lives.

In the process, Nielson, who's also a member of the Lake City Tourism Bureau, wouldn't mind drawing a few tourists to the lake that gave birth to water skiing. That's why Nielson is behind the $50,000 reward and the Web site pepie.net.

"There have been a lot of people over the years who said they saw it, or something they couldn't explain, on the lake, but up until now, there hasn't been a central clearinghouse for that information," Nielson said. The Web site will chronicle the creature.

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