A sporting goods salesman who knows nothing about fishing must enter an angling contest.

Roger Willoughby, the most successful fishing equipment salesman for Abercrombie and Fitch in San Francisco, is the author of a bestselling book on fishing, although he has never fished. Abby Page, publicity agent for the Wakopoogee Lake fishing tournament, persuades Roger's boss, Mr. Cadwalader, that Roger should enter the tournament. Roger confesses to Abby that he cannot fish, but she and a friend promise to teach him. Tex, Roger's fiancée, becomes jealous of his time spent with the two women and leaves. Roger wins the tournment with the help of a bear, but, confessing that he is a phony, he forfeits the prize. Cadwalader fires him and then reconsiders when he realizes that a novice winning a tournament is better advertising for the company. Meanwhile, Roger finds Abby camping in the woods, and he climbs into her sleeping bag when a storm breaks. They fall asleep and awaken floating in the lake in the bag. Cadwalader appears in a canoe to inform Roger that he has been rehired at a higher salary, and he abandons the happy couple to find their way ashore.