Shawn
Dillon

CATCH OF THE DAY Grab your rod and reel and climb aboard. Falling for Miss February Shawn Dillon— hook, line and sinker Photography By Tony Kelly This time of year, the tropical islands beckon—surf, cold beer, beautiful women, adventures on the high seas. For a dynamite first mate with curves like the hull of a racing yacht (as ­Hemingway would put it), look no further than Miss February Shawn Dillon. “I’m a mermaid who loves being by the water more than anything,” says the searingly hot Sarasota native. “It’s where I feel happiest and most at peace. It’s like heaven to me.” It is also where the heaven-sent model and pageant mega-champ (Shawn has won major bikini competitions from Vegas to the Bahamas) gets her rowdy rod and reel on. “I have three brothers, and growing up we were constantly fishing, be it off my aunt and uncle’s boat in the ­Biminis or in the lake in our backyard,” she says. “I’m a great fisher. We still have competitions to see who can catch the most or biggest fish.” Miss February’s most memorable catch? A 44-inch mahimahi, which she reeled in off the Bahamas. Shawn is also a surfer, a certified scuba diver and an avid wakeboarder. She even has subtly placed tattoos of a shark and a scuba diver. Naturally she loved shooting this pictorial, since it took place on a boat in the Florida Keys. “It represents me 100 percent,” she says. “When they told me I was going to be shooting down in the Keys, I figured it was perfect. I got to swim around nude all day.” Miss February had but one tiny worry, which she sheepishly confided: “Being naked feels completely natural to me, but I kept looking around and thinking, Um, is somebody gonna call the Coast Guard on us?”