Striper fishermen likely will see the downside of the hot, rainy summer for another month or more, as the rain that has saturated the river basin also has killed many of the lake’s largest striped bass. Large dead stripers and blueback herring have been seen floating on the lake and washing up on the banks of the lake for more than a month, and Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources officials attribute the fish kill to a depletion of the striper’s habitat due to the abundance of rain in the area this summer.

Though only a few large stripers may be seen on the surface, said Assistant Fisheries Chief for the Alabama Division of Wildlife and Freshwater Fisheries Chris Greene, that number is a very small percentage of the number of fish that actually are dying. Most of the affected fish remain suspended under the surface or sink to the bottom, he said.