Bryan Brasher Alex Robbins’ fishing career was just beginning to hit its stride. By finishing seventh in the Carhartt Bassmaster College Series Western Regional on Lake Mead in April, the 23-year-old angler from Humboldt State University qualified to fish the series’ national championship event scheduled for Green River Lake in July. But tragically, a boating accident claimed his life late last week. Robbins’ father, Jamie, said Alex was tuna fishing off the coast of Catalina Island in California with his older brother, Brent Willard, when their 13-foot Boston Whaler hit a wave awkwardly. Both anglers were thrown from the boat, and Alex, who was born with a debilitating spinal condition known as Escobar Syndrome, drowned. “Alex’s ambition all through college was to make the nationals, but he could never quite seem to qualify,” Jamie said. “This year, he finally qualified for nationals with his partner Rudy Directo, who has become like another son to ...