_ ALICE TOWN, BIMINI—JANUARY 10, 2013_— She dives. She fishes. She’s the February 2013 Centerfold in Playboy Magazine. And she’s coming to the historic Bimini Big Game Club on Saturday, February 23.
Shawn Dillon will be the official hostess of the Big Game Club’s upcoming Wahoo Smackdown II tournament, helping with the final weigh-ins, presenting trophies and, well, posing for pictures and signing autographs for participating teams.
“I’m a mermaid who loves being by the water more than anything,” says the searingly hot Sarasota, Florida native. “It’s where I feel happiest and most at peace. It’s like heaven to me.”
Shawn, who has won major bikini competitions from Vegas to the Bahamas grew up fishing with three brothers, either on her uncle’s boat in Bimini or in the lake in their backyard. Also a surfer, a certified scuba diver and an avid wakeboarder, Shawn sports a subtly placed tattoo of a shark and a scuba diver.
Her February pictorial was shot on a boat in the Florida Keys.
The entry fee for the Wahoo Smackdown II (which includes four anglers per boat) is an affordable $1,250. First place prize is $5,000, followed by $1,500 for second and $1,000 for third. The tournament, a follow-up to a highly successful Wahoo Smackdown tournament in November, is scheduled for February 21-13.
For information regarding the next Wahoo tournament and to register online, please go to http://www.biggameclubbimini.com/big-game-tournament.htm or call (800) 867-4767.
Bimini’s location along the legendary Gulf Stream (a “river” of warm water) location is at the apex of a superhighway for migrating fish and acts as a kind of sushi conveyor belt carrying abundant food to the local fish. Deepwater game fish include marlin, tuna, sailfish, wahoo and swordfish, while big grouper, barracuda and schools of snapper can be found on the reefs. Bimini’s flats are home the fishermen’s favorite prey, bonefish and permit. With more than 50-record-setting catches in the waters around the island, Bimini has earned its title of Sport Fishing Capital of the World.
About The Bimini Big Game Club Resort & Marina
The Bimini Big Game Club, a legendary outpost for fishermen and host to numerous major sportfishing tournaments for more than half a century, officially re-opened in 2010 following completion of a $3,500,000 renovation that included all guest rooms and the new Bimini Big Game Bar & Grill. More recently owners have added the Gulfstream Conference Center and Hemingway’s Rum Bar & Social Lounge, a fully outfitted watersports facility and a floating dock to accommodate seaplane service directly to and from the resort. For information on the Big Game Club Resort and Marina go to www.biggameclubbimini.com
About Wahoo (Scombridau Family; also called ONO fish, Pacific kingfish)
The wahoo can be found worldwide in tropical and warm temperate seas. Pelagic and seasonally migratory, the wahoo tends to be a loner or travel in small groups of 2 to 6 fish. There are indications of seasonal concentrations off the Pacific coasts of Panama, Costa Rica and Baja California in the summer, off Grand Cayman (Atlantic) in the winter and spring, and off the western Bahamas and Bermuda in the spring and fall. It is found around wrecks and reefs where smaller fish that it feeds upon are abundant, but it also may be found far out at sea. The wahoo is reputed to be one of the fastest fish in the sea, attaining speeds of 50 mph (80 km) and more. The first scorching run may peel off several hundred yards of line in seconds. Occasionally this fish jumps on the strike and often shakes its head violently when hooked in an effort to free itself. Fishing methods include trolling with whole, rigged baits as well as with trip baits or artificial lures. Live bait fishing and kite fishing are productive. The wahoo’s flesh is finely grained and sweet and is considered excellent eating. The current all tackle world record for wahoo is 184 lbs.
–– Source: John Bell
