Longboat Key resident to compete in World Catfish Classic

Larysa Switlyk, 26, a certified public accountant-turned-outdoorswoman, arrived two minutes late for her interview. The pretty blonde is wearing a fitted black polo embroidered with the pink logo of her hunting and fishing television show, “Larysa Unleashed,” and clunky camouflage hunting boots.

She explains her tardiness is due to the late arrival of a package and then displays a photo of a box that seems to take up an entire side of her garage. It’s a taxidermy elk from New Mexico.

“When I was younger and I saw a taxidermy wall in a restaurant, I remember saying ‘I want to have that [head] on my wall, but I want to be the one to shoot it,” Switlyk laughs.

Switlyk grew up on Longboat Key and her father practices dermatology in Sarasota, Switlyk Dermatology. Her first fishing experience was when she and her brother bought a pole and took it to the dock at The Colony. She has come a long way since then.

She’s shot mule deer in Montana, white-tailed deer in Texas, hunted ibex and caught wels catfish in Spain — just some of the adventures captured for her self-produced television show, airing in 2013. NBC Sports, Sportsman Channel and the Outdoor Chanel have all been interested in picking up her show.

“You always sit around and tell your hunting stories, but it’s different to actually be able to watch the hunt and share it,” Switlyk says.

In May, she will represent Team USA, reeling in up to 300-pound wels catfish in the World Catfish Classic held in Spain. She will be one of few women to compete; luckily, she’s already been there, caught that.

“I really didn’t know what to expect,” she says of her first time catching three catfish that belonged to the second-largest catfish species in the world. “It was so strong that I was sliding down the bank into the mud.”

She has been working out to prepare for the competition, because her back was “pretty much done” after the first time four years ago. The episode will be featured on her television show.

Her interest in hunting and fishing started when she was 22. Following her graduation from the University of Florida, she took what was supposed to be a two-month trip to Australia. She stayed for six.

“It was one of those trips where I wanted to try anything I’ve always wanted to try,” says Switlyk.

She booked a solo hunt in New Zealand and set off to shoot a trophy head. It was her first time hunting, and it was this trip that made her realize her passion. In the past four years, she’s traveled the world pursuing it.

At first, she financed her excursions with her career in accounting and real estate; now she is funded through sponsorships. Adrenaline Adventures TV invited her to be part of an on-camera hunt and she loved it.

Switlyk discovered that women are the biggest-growing segment of the hunting and fishing industry, but that there weren’t any all-female hunting shows. Hosting a television show proved to be the right business venture to fund her hunts.

“It’s an expensive hobby,” she says.

But her show does more than fund her passion.

Switlyk is the Florida ambassador for Hunt of a Lifetime, a nonprofit organization that takes children with life-threatening illness on their dream hunting or fishing excursions. In one episode of her show, she took two children bass fishing on Lake Disney.

In another episode, she hosted a Wounded Warrior Hunt for women who have received a purple heart for their service to the country. Many of the women were experiencing their first hunt.

“It has been really special. I found my passion and now I’ve been able to share it,” she says.

She hopes she can continue to be a role model for other women and encourage them to hunt and fish.

“No one ever took me hunting and I always wanted to. I created that opportunity for myself,” she explains. “If I can do it, maybe they will [see me] and get out there and try it,” she says.