The Elusive Bonefish

Theme song: Banana Boat Song

Do you ever wonder about the elusive bonefish?

I have, for years.

I was once looking through a magazine -- something with thick pages and excellent photography -- and I happened upon an article about bonefishing in the Bahamas.

The lead image struck me, and though time has dimmed the specifics, I remember a long stretch of aqua water covered by an equally long stretch of sky blue, a hint of lush greenery and white sand, and maybe a little boat with a handsome man standing in shallow water. Indeed the stuff of fantasy.

I thought my then husband and I would travel there, together. I showed him the beautiful picture, and he agreed we would go. We never went. The memory of desire, stirred by a glossy magazine, now slowly drifts and swirls in the shallows of an unfulfilled past future.

Bonefish, in case you don't know, live in the shallow waters surrounding the Bahamas and Florida. They distinguish themselves, in part, because they have bones, which, while not exactly impressive in itself, is definitely not true of all fish. Sometimes they follow stingrays and feed on the small animals dislocated by the deceptively powerful wake of that also bottom feeding fish. The bonefish, however, continues to intrigue me mainly because it is elusive.

Fortunate people stand for stretches of time in shallow, aqua colored water under a brilliant blue sky without catching a single one.

If you do catch a bonefish, you are special, indeed.

{Photo credit: Kathyrn Maroun}