Greg Myerson

The son of a mobster goes from deadbeat to world champion to protector of “the people's fish.”

Born to Fish tells the story of a man who led a harrowing, sometimes dissolute life until he turned himself around, thanks to his rod and reel. Overcoming learning disabilities, substance abuse, and the violence associated with a father in the mob, Greg Myerson, a lifelong sport-fisherman, caught an 82-pound striped bass in 2011, shattering a world record that had stood for 29 years. Without any training in biological research, he began studying the striped bass like a scientist—examining how it hunts, the food it eats, how its behavior is affected by moon phases and the cycles of the tides—which led to the creation of the RattleSinker, the lure that helped him catch the record-setting bass. During an appearance on the TV show Shark Tank, Mark Cuban bought a 33 percent share of Greg's company, World Record Striper Company. Yet at the very instant he achieved his crowning glory as a striped bass fisherman, he had a staggering epiphany and instantly regretted killing the fish. Greg is now at the forefront of the effort to save the big striped bass, the most prolific breeders, and actively promotes no-kill catch-and-release tournaments.