Bass Angler's Almanac Paperback - 2012

Weiss sold his first fishing article to Ohio Angler Magazine at the age of fourteen. It was a humor article about the many ruses he had developed for sneaking onto private properties to fish bass ponds known to contain lunkers.

One such technique was to use a throwaway rod, a cheap rod and reel bought at a garage sale for a dollar or so. As he wrote, "If a landowner ever catches you fishing his pond and gives chase, you can literally throw away the rod, at no big loss, allowing you to run much faster."

After a seven-year stint at Ohio University, he then launched upon a career as a full-time freelance writer. To date, he has authored eighteen books and more than five hundred feature articles for the major sportsmen's magazines.

Weiss has fished tournaments, his highest finish being second place in a multi-state contest. He has assisted tackle companies in lure design and worked with biologists on fishery-management programs. And he has given seminars and taught fishing classes, primarily to youngsters (he does not recommend trespassing on private property, by the way).

Weiss lives on his farm in southern Ohio with his wife, Marianne. His daughter is a nationally recognized magazine writer and editor, while his son is a manager with a major fishing-tackle company.