Krista Miller remembers the exactt date when she was laughed at and told she couldn’t be a fishing guide. She showed them, becoming an in-demand guide on Florida’s St. George Island.
Teamed with Bassmaster Elite pro Scott Canterbury, Miller was glad to bring in one fish to stand fifth after Day 1. It could have been worse after a mechanical failure kept the team off the water early Friday.
Miller left the Yamaha weigh-in stage appreciative to Georgetown’s Marshall’s Marine for repairing the steering on her boat. She tried to pay, but they told her “just go.”
“I can’t thank them enough. They were so fast and amazing,” she said.
Asked about where her fishing passion began, Miller said it all started as a youth in her grandfather’s pond.
“We grew up on the Apalachicola River, fishing with my brother at 5, 6 years old with a cane pole and bobbers off the dock,” she said. “I never thought that I was going to be a fishing guide.”
Miller was perhaps destined to be in the fishing industry. Both her great, great grandfather and great grandfather were shrimp boat captains, her dad got into commercial refrigeration used in the industry and he always fished, and her brother is in commercial fishing.
Miller actually worked in the legal world in south Florida until coming home to care for an ailing relative around 2008. Watching her grandmother suffer from Alzheimer’s made her realize life is too short.
“I need to see more sunsets, so I decided to go fishing,” she said. “I started off working for another company, but I was not given the same opportunity as the guys.”
Instead, Miller was assigned dolphin sightseeing and sunset trips, all the while clamoring to fish. Being doubted finally made her do something about it.
“I remember the exact date — May 18, 2011,” she said. “We were on the dock with pompano everywhere. I said I think I can do this.”
Expressing her desire to be a guide, Miller was laughed at and told she would never become one. Yeah, don’t ever tell a woman she can’t do anything. Challenge accepted and met.
Now Miller has built Island Charters (fishSGI.com) where she has work for eight to 10 guides. She personally goes out on 400-plus trips a year, most in the summer, fall break and end of year holidays. Because she teaches clients how they can continue fishing from shore, customers ask for her, so much so that she has had to send some to other guides.
“I’ve helped a number build their business, and I’m proud of that,” she said. “I love watching other people get excited about catching their first fish.
“Fishing is a great sport. For kids, it teaches them patience and sportsmanship in a different way than other sports do.”
