When Paulie, who aspires to become the greatest scientist of the 21st century, gets rejected from the world-renowned robotics lab of Professor Shikenjanski, he does what any rational teenager would do - steal his uncle’s locksmith van and drive halfway across the country to track down the Professor and convince him to reverse his decision. In Paulie’s mind, the fate of global scientific progress, not to mention his own life, could be at stake. 
Along the way, Paulie meets 18yr old Avery, an expert angler who is just as headstrong and fiercely independent as he is. Though Paulie doesn’t think he needs friends, he definitely needs Avery and her boat in order to navigate the endless maze of waterways in Northern Minnesota to track down the Professor. Like Paulie, Avery struggles to connect with people in real life - pulling predators out of the water with her bare hands is a lot safer than opening up to people.
 Paulie and Avery both set out to catch “the big one” hiding amongst the enchanting lakes and loons of the North Woods, but by the end of the film they realize that they’ve found something far more valuable in each other.