AUSTIN, Texas — Avid angler Miller Polly feels at home by the water. But something out of the ordinary happened to him last week while fishing near Red Bud Isle.
What was out of the ordinary? A "monster" of a striped bass ate Polly's bait.
"We immediately go, that is a striped bass that people will see in here and that people have hooked into but never landed," Polly said.
With emotions running high, Polly called it a "stunt fight" to get ahold of his catch.
"We basically had to leave the boat at some point," Polly said. "Two of us hopped out and just chased it like a wild goose chase. It was crazy."
The fish put up quite the fight – all 31.5 pounds and 41.5 inches of it.
The record for a striped bass caught at Lady Bird Lake is 45.5 lbs. and 44.25 inches. That one was caught in 1993, according to records from Texas Parks & Wildlife.
"We're just looking back on this fish as we take pictures. Like, how did this happen?" Polly said.
It was a fish out of the water that eventually returned home. Polly said he spent at least 35 minutes taking the fish back and forth to get water into its gills before eventually throwing it back into the lake.
"Another chase for another day, whether it be me or the other millions of people that live here in Austin," Polly said.
While Lady Bird Lake is a place known for its kayaking and paddle boarding opportunities, Polly hopes his accomplishment will also stress the importance of recreational fishing and prioritizing the preservation of Central Texas waterways to lead the way for the next catch.
"I think it's important that we all work together as a country and a world to conserve our waters, to really take the efforts to maintain clean, healthy habits for our waters," Polly said. "It's that accomplishment of connecting with nature and a creature that the Lord put on this Earth for us to chase and to love, being in tandem with."