Captain Leiza Fitzgerald is a seasoned angler & hunter, retired tournament professional, fishing guide, Turkey hunting guide, instructor, recent Florida Sports Hall of Fame inductee and avid outdoor enthusiast. A Florida native, Leiza learned fishing & hunting from her dad and mother. Her first job, at age 8 was catching and selling pinfish from the Key West Naval pier and selling night crawlers at her Grandparents home in Iowa during the summers.
Her love of fishing, hunting and the outdoors grew as her family moved to central Florida, where she bass fished on lakes and rivers and red fished the grass flats & oyster bars of Yankeetown. When she wasn’t on the water she was hunting the piney woods & oak hammocks for turkey, quail, dove, duck, rabbit, hog and deer. The Outdoors became her love. After high school, Leiza pursued a degree in marine biology but her parents persuaded her to graduate with a Bachelor of Arts in Marketing and Public Relations from the University of South Florida in 1984.
In her 30-plus year outdoor career she helped develop the Adventurous Woman and Women on Water which introduced women to the sport of fishing and the outdoors. She created and implemented fishing events such as the Ed Alber Tarpon Rodeo, The World Sailfish Championships, The World Tarpon Championships, Florida Cracker Ladies Tournament and implemented Coastal Conservation Association STAR, Florida’s Largest Family Friendly Fishing competition.
Her career includes “Top Gun” instructor for the Extreme Backwater Fishing School, instructor for Becoming an Outdoor Woman, Ladies Let’s Go Fishing, The Orvis Fly Casting School, National Wild Turkey Federations Woman’s Hunting program and Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commissions (FWC) Hunter Safety Instructor.
In 1998, Her professional fishing team “Screamin Reels & High Heels”, competed in the Southern Kingfish Association, West Coast Division 11 and won 1st place in Perico Harbor and finished in the Top Ten teams, earning a spot in the SKA National Championships.
Leiza also participated in the release of the one millionth FWC hatchery-raised redfish into Tampa Bay with Florida’s Governor, Jeb Bush in 2001.
In 2002 thru 2007, her two-woman, redfish team competed in the ESPN Redfish Cup, FLW Redfish Tour and the Inshore Fishing Association Redfish Tour with numerous wins in the tours and championships. Her team was ranked one of the Top Ten “ESPN ALL STAR” Redfish Teams in the country out of a male dominated field of 200 teams.
2006 she received the “Conservation Service Award” from Ducks Unlimited for her dedication to the organization.
2003 – 2014, Leiza took a position as Marketing Director & Chief Experience Officer of The Gilchrist Club, a Private membership, 26,000-acre Sporting Club in Gilchrist County Florida featuring Four Star lodging & dining, quail, turkey, hog & white tail deer hunting as well as fresh and saltwater fishing. Here she transformed the Club into an Orvis endorsed lodge and sold out the membership at 100 members.
2013, Leiza was Awarded by National Wild Turkey Federation the Gator Gobblers “Go Getter Award” for her service to the local Florida chapter.
2014, Leiza was recruited by Coastal Conservation Association to implement the CCA Florida STAR fishing competition as an awareness campaign for the organization and to recruit new anglers to the sport of fishing.
2014 – 2016 her team “Screamin Reels & High Heels” competed in the Professional Tarpon Tournament Series as the only all women’s team and was instrumental in changing the format of the future tournaments from a weigh-in format which was detrimental to the survival of a caught Tarpon, to a length and girth and leader release competition.
2016 Leiza accomplished her Grand Slam of Turkey in a single season.
2018 she was listed by Salt Strong as one of the top twelve lady anglers in Florida and also accomplished her World Slam of Turkey.
2019 she became a “coach” for the Salt Strong On-line Fishing Courses and was named “Sportsman of the Year” by the Sarasota Sportsman’s Association (first time in 20 years the honor was received by a woman).
2020 she was named as one of the 30 most influential female anglers (Top 5 in Saltwater) in North America by Wildlife Enthusiast magazine. She won Annual Top Angler for Redfish from the International Women’s Fishing Association.
In 2021 & 2022, IWFA named her Top Lady Angler for Redfish, Snook & Sheepshead and High Point Angler in the Louisiana Slam Tournament. She also harvested and has submitted two animals in the Pope & Young records program and has one 6 x 6 Archery Bull Elk waiting the 60-day drying period.
In 2022 she received the most prestigious award and was enshrined as the first Angler Athlete in the Florida Sports Hall of Fame.
2023 she was named by IWFA Top Lady Angler for Snook, Grouper and Trout.
2024 she harvested another 6 x 6 archery Bull Elk and a magnificent 10-point white tail buck that will be submitted into the Pope & Young records program as well as completed another Grand Slam of turkey.
2024 was the 10th year of CCA Florida’s STAR competition where cumulatively she has garnered donations and awarded over $4.2 million in prizes with $1 Million of that being in college scholarships for youth anglers.
Her Pro staff career includes Cabela’s Pro-Staff hunter & angler (taking her first Elk on camera), Ranger Boats, Evinrude, Lowrance, Shimano, Minn Kota, Power Pole, Gain Laundry Soap, Pringles, Exude Baits and Sunbrella just to name a few.
She is a member and or donates her time to National Wild Turkey Federation, Ducks Unlimited, Pope & Young, Tampa Bay Watch, International Women’s Fishing Association, Coastal Conservation Association, Conservation Foundation of the Gulf Coast, Tarpon Bonefish Trust, Sarasota Sportsman’s Association, Mote Marine Laboratory, International Gamefish Association, Big Water Land Trust, Florida Wildlife Corridor and Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
Leiza has fished world-wide and hunted throughout North America she actively writes for local and national outdoor publications, has over 50 different speaking engagements annually, Co-Hosted weekly the National Outdoor Group, The Sporting Life Pod cast “Let’s Go Fishing” and guest-hosts 5 different television and radio fishing shows annually.
Currently she is the Director of CCA Florida STAR presented by Yamaha, Florida’s largest saltwater fishing competition which has completed the tenth year of competition and starting year 11. To date, the competition has awarded nearly $4. 2 million in prizes with $1 Million being college scholarships. STAR is Designed to be a family friendly fishing competition that educates the general public on the conservation of Florida’s marine resources by using technology to provide a Catch, Photo, Release format, the annual competition offers over 100 days of fishing with 9 different divisions. The catch entries from the competition provide useful information to fisheries management groups, universities and conservation organizations for habitat management, stock assessment and other projects.
Affectionately known as the “Queen of Conservation” or “Fish Diva” by her peers, Leiza’s true passion besides her two boys and her Very Significant Other, Lowe Morrison has always been the education of youth and women to the sport of fishing & hunting with a strong emphasis on conservation of our environment.