Fish Story

Ten miles out of Lucaya, on the south side of Grand Bahama Island, I caught the fish of my dreams - a beautiful Mahi Mahi larger than Amelia. It put up a truly spectacular fight jumping out of the water and swimming in circles while being towed behind the boat until finally it tired (or so we thought). So we stopped the boat, reeled it in, took a picture and tried to catch it in the net. Suddenly it came back to life, snapped the leader and slowly swam away.

Ever since our electrician in Winchester loaned us a fishing rod when he learned about our winter sabbatical plans to sail to the Bahamas, Dave has been skeptical. At Gibson Island, when Bruce loaned us a net and a lure guaranteed to catch Rockfish, Dave was skeptical. In Lucaya, when I finally found a place to buy frozen squid for bait, Dave was skeptical. When the fish bit and started jumping out of the water behind the boat Dave immediately ran to get the camera and became enthusiastic about fishing.

According to my recently acquired fishing guide "Sport Fish of the Atlantic" Mahi Mahi, also known as Dorado or Dolphinfish, can grow to weigh more than 80 pounds, have excellent food value and rank among the very best in game quality with spectacular jumps and dogged stubbornness. Well this fish was certainly strong and stubborn - and too large to get into the net anyway - so I am glad that it got away.

So thank you to everyone who encouraged me to pursue my fishing goals on this trip. This one made it all worthwhile.