"I Am Not A Fish....Eh!"

If you have bothered to check out this blog in the new year, I welcome you with my best wishes for 2011 and with a promise to keep up my posting on a more regular basis.  I am back from the Caribbean, where I spent the holidays with my family, and I want to begin with a fishing story of sorts.  Yes, I did encounter Albula Vulpes,  but the story I want to tell is not really about bonefishing.

One sunny afternoon, I was searching for sand dollars in the surf with my family on a deserted beach with a group of others including several young Italian women who were staying at our hotel.  We had been dropped off by boat for a beach excursion at a place called Fort George Cay, an uninhabited island originally settled by British loyalists who left the new United States after the Revolutionary War.    

         
One member of our party, Tex, had brought a fly rod along to try fishing further down the beach on the shallow flats, a short distance away.  He had no success and really had expected nothing but was pleased to have the opportunity to smoke a cigar.  As we regrouped on the beach to await the return of our boat, he approached with his rod in hand. We struck up a conversation and began planning a bonefishing expedition for the next day. 

Still puffing on his cigar, Tex made a few false casts toward the water in front of us as he spoke but he stopped suddenly when one of the Italians, a very attractive woman, tan and fit in a revealing bikini, approached and walked in front of us. 

        

We could see that she was heading toward the water for a quick swim, and as she passed she caught our eye.  Turning to face us, she stopped. She knew she had our complete attention and with a dazzling smile she pushed back an unruly mane of dark hair and shook her head. 

        
 “I am not a fish.... Eh!” she declared and then ran into the surf. 

If I had not been hooked already, her wonderful Italian "eh" got me.  I still don't know whether to punctuate it with an exclamation point or a question mark.  And if she had been a fish, not me, I don’t know what fly I could have used to catch her, but I must admit that I did not take my eyes off her as she plunged into the beautiful turquoise water. 

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