People are Catching GIGANTIC Striper Bass in Lubbock!

The angler pictured below holding that giant striper bass is Kevin Robertson. Kevin is part of a Facebook group that I follow as well, Fishing Lubbock.

Kevin posted the picture to the page yesterday with the caption, "Found the very last striper in the lake today. They are all gone. They were so fun while they lasted."

The fish was caught at Buffalo Springs Lake, a regular fishing spot for Kevin.

A couple of other members started FREAKING OUT and wanted to know what he meant by that. There's a reason people were worried. Buffalo had an issue a few weeks ago with what's called a 'fish kill'...which is exactly what it sounds like. Dead fish EVERYWHERE. The whole lake stunk! The phenomenon is typically attributed to Golden Algae.

I spoke with my buddy Brandon Powell, BSL General Manager, to clear up what happened and he responded, "We had a brief meeting [on April 22nd] with our Kills and Spill Team (KAST) and the Analytical Lab. As of right now, we are seeing a low level of Golen Algae in the water sample but nothing that indicates levels that would typically cause a kill. Based on historic data what we are seeing is sort of “normal” for Buffalo Springs. By that I mean that we have documented similar or higher counts in the past that did not result in a kill or a toxic situation. The lab will be running a bioassay to check for water toxicity but based on the algal counts I don’t expect to see toxicity. John took a couple more water samples from different areas on Wednesday and we will be sending those in as well."

Brandon impressed on me that this information was from last month, but things are back to normal at the lake now. As I mentioned above, I've personally witnessed dozens of anglers pulling in the big ones in the last few weeks!

Anyway, back to Kevin and that beast he pulled out of the water...

I asked Kevin how big his catch was and he said, "18.2lbs I didn't measure but would get in the 32-34" length"

When I inquired about people misunderstanding his joke, Kevin commented, "so many people took it serious." He was obviously joking.

He continued, "I've caught several really large out there and targeted them really hard during the winter. I have pics of some bigger if you'd like as well"

I actually live at Buffalo and I see these guys out there all the time catching nothing but a buzz. Every now and again though, they pull a MONSTER onto the boat or shore and the whole lake hears about it and goes to take a look! It's a weird/great life at the lake.

(Here's Kevin freezing his tackle box off while fishing in the dead of winter!)