Good Sports: Local Fisherwomen Share Their Passion

Featured image: Fisherwomen Erika Almond says of the local waters, “Our fishery is amazing.

Think fishing is a man’s hobby? Think again. More women pick up the recreation every year, for fun and for sport. As an avid fisher myself, I got curious about stories from some of our own local fisherwomen. I had the privilege of interviewing four area women passionate about fishing about what drew them to the seas, why the waters around St. Pete are the best, and how camaraderie makes the sport that much better. 

Marlo K. Alleva: A Stand-Up Fisherwoman 

Marlo K. Alleva learned how to freshwater fish during summers with her grandparents, “climbing down the high creek banks behind their piano shop,” she recalls. She learned tricks of the trade from her mom but then went on a fishing hiatus during her teens. When she met her husband in her 20s they began to saltwater fish together, and that set the course. 

Marlo likes to make it interesting, fishing from atop a standup paddleboard. 

“I typically fish by myself often. It’s where I find my peace and quiet time,” she says. “I love getting lost deep in the mangroves, where boats can’t navigate, and the good fish hide.” 

Marlo also teaches others how to fish from a board through her paddleboard fishing guide service. She’s out on the water three or four days a week in the summer, looking for redfish or any inshore species.  

It’s always an adventure. “Sharks cruising under me, manatees nibbling on my board and pulling my anchor line, a porpoise nearly knocking me off my board (chasing my fish I just released), a large snook yanking my rod right out of my hands, a sheepshead whacking my phone out of my hand while taking a photo,” she said, “but probably one of my favorite memories was recent: My mom caught a nice snook. It jumped out of the water, and she squealed, ‘It’s a bass!’ [a freshwater fish].” 

Although she is from Lakeland, Marlo fishes in waters all over the Tampa Bay area, like Coffee Pot Bayou, Weedon Island, Gandy, and both sides of the Skyway.  

“The St. Pete and Tampa Bay area is honestly, in my opinion, one of the best and most diverse areas in Florida to fish,” she says. “From backwaters to open water, there’s a little bit of something for every fisherman’s niche.”

Erika Almond: Great White Ways 

Erika Almond is a St. Pete girl, fishing in the lakes behind her family’s trailer park when she was about five years old, “using hot dogs to catch brim with my mom.” Her stepfather taught her the ins and outs, fishing at Rodman Dam outside of Gainesville where she grew up. “I remember my stepfather letting me ride in the back of the pickup truck at 4 o’clock in the morning to go fishing on the weekends.” 

Currently, Almond fishes out of Boca Ciega Bay and Tampa Bay for inshore, and the Middle Grounds when she goes offshore. She gets out on the water whenever she can, she says, looking for migratory fish depending on the season and the weather. She enjoys sailing on her 16-foot Silver King skiff with her son or bringing a group of friends along. 

Perhaps the most interesting – and unique – experience happened 65 miles offshore of Venice in January 2021. Almond was on her boat, Offshore Therapy, chumming for yellowtail snapper and mangrove snapper. Used to seeing sharks when out on the water – she’s also swum with whale sharks – Almond and her friends were taken aback when they noticed a 14-foot-plus great white circling for more than two hours and biting the boat – even swimming belly up at one point. 

“It was breathtaking,” she told FOX 13 at the time. “It came right up and took a chunk out of one of our motors.”

Almond also finds success close to home. “Our fishery is amazing,” she said of the St. Pete area. “In three hours, inshore, I caught a barracuda, a sheepshead, a flounder, a redfish, a trout, a snook, and a black drum. We have everything.”

Deanna Pritchard: Captain’s Quarters 

Deanna Pritchard is a captain and mate with Stella Fishing Company, working aboard The Lore, a 43-foot post out of Clearwater Beach Marina. She was born and raised in Coquina Key and often fishes in the St. Pete/intercoastal waters looking for snook, red fish, and trout. 

“I was born and raised in Pinellas County and have been around the water my whole life,” says Pritchard. “Fishing has always just been part of my world. My dad was my biggest influence. He had me on a boat as a baby. I always say I knew how to swim before I could walk. The earliest memories I have are fishing off our dock and catching catfish – I would never dare to touch them back then.”

Pritchard’s favorite time on the Gulf is in June and July, which is red snapper season. She also likes to bottom fish for grouper, hogfish, and Key West grunt. “We also do really well trolling in the spring and fall for pelagic species,” she says. 

Fishing has been Pritchard’s career for the past eight years, and she sometimes spends all day, every day out at sea. Even on her days off, she and her boyfriend Hayden – they met at Sea School on 4th Street while getting their captain’s licenses – will take their boat out of the Coquina Key ramp and go night fishing for snook, redfish, trout, and tarpon. “During the day we’ll fish the grass flats, hit the sandbar, dock at The Wharf for lunch, and sometimes grab steaks from Shaner’s Land & Sea Market to throw in the cooler and cook after a long boat day. It’s the best way to spend quality time together.” 

And the scenery doesn’t hurt. 

“Between the Gulf waters, wildlife, and sunsets,” she says, “it’s hard to beat.”

Captain Amber Mixon: Fishing Fanatic 

For Captain Amber Mixon, a St. Pete native, fishing is a family tradition – both her mother’s side and her father’s side are “fanatics,” she says, “and we all still fish during family get-togethers at Grandma’s.” 

Mixon’s journey started around 4 years old, when she went freshwater fishing with her father and grandfather. “[A]s soon as I caught my first fish, I was hooked – pun intended,” she says. “It’s all I thought about, all I wanted to do. I spent so many weekends with my dad, grandfather, and uncles fishing from sunup to sundown.” 

In the saltwater, it was love at first bite. 

“The first fish I pulled out of saltwater was a cobia and it was bigger than me at the time,” she says. “I felt like I hit the lottery and developed an addiction to saltwater fishing that I still have to this day.” 

She learned how to run a john boat and set up her own rigs when she was 6 years old. When she got a little older, Mixon started saltwater fishing with her uncle and mother. “That was mind-blowing,” she says. “And the fish we were pulling out of the water – unlike anything I had ever seen. I was mesmerized.” 

As an adult, Mixon started in-shore fishing with Bay area captains Anthony Corcella, of Pocket Change In-Shore Fishing Charters, and Mike Ayersman with Down Range In-Shore Fishing Charters and went on to get her OUPV captain’s license.

Mixon’s favorite St. Pete fishing spots include Pass-a-Grille Beach, the Dunedin Causeway, the Skyway fishing pier, and Ft. Desoto. “I fish as much as I can, even if it’s on a lunch break, on my way home from work, or setting aside weekends to do nothing but fish.” 

Mixon’s most memorable fishing story comes from Cairns, Australia, where she went fishing with her aunt last year – “Even though she out-fished me!” Mixon says her aunt “had the best time and the smile on her face and the bragging rights she earned for the rest of the trip made me so happy. For me that’s what this sport is all about: teaching others and helping them develop a passion for angling.” 

Tips & Tricks 

Fishing is about technique, with a little bit of luck. 

“I am passionate about growing the sport of fishing for women,” says Almond, “so I always tell them when we’re in a seminar or out on the water, we’re always learning together and I learn something new every time I’m on the water.” Her tip to newer fisherwomen is to monitor the tides, and to fish the first two hours of an incoming tide for redfish. 

Mixon says patience and respect for nature are key: “You can buy the most expensive equipment, invest in the best technology, the biggest boat and the fish still may not bite,” she says. “It’s great to have all these apps that tell you where the bite is hot, but I’m old-school. I follow the tides, the currents, the moon phases and drop my line where my gut tells me to or where I have had the best luck in the past.” 

Pritchard suggests that you stay present. “Watch the birds, enjoy the weather, the sunshine, and who you’re with,” she says. “Fishing is about appreciating where you are. Catching is just a bonus – a really awesome bonus.”

A Woman’s World 

Fishing may be a male-dominated sport, but fisherwomen say they’re are claiming their place using their innate talents and by being flexible. 

“I believe women become better anglers because they listen, they absorb the information, and then practice to reproduce it,” Almond says. “Generally speaking, men have been fishing with their fathers/father figures for decades and fish a ‘certain way’ because that’s what they know.” 

The four agree there’s no better support system than other women out on the water. 

“There is something really cool about meeting other women who love to fish. It’s like an instant connection, even if you just met five minutes ago,” she says. “Being able to be yourself on the water and cheering on your friend while she’s reeling in her bucket list catch is the best feeling.” 

“I have actually built some strong bonds with other women in the industry,” Allevo agrees. “They get it. I love the enthusiasm when I’m speaking to other women about their last trip, that one special fish, tricks of the trade, etc. Female fishermen are tough.” 

Says Pritchard, “I love seeing more and more ladies get out there and enjoying it. I encourage everyone to give it a try, and to not be afraid of getting their hands dirty. You can always wash them!”