Bob, my very first exposure to an insane trophy bass fishery was Lake Jackson in Tallahassee back in the 1960s. Field & Stream had articles about all the massive fish caught there, 10 lbers being common and up to 14 lb. Red's fish camp on the lake had plenty of mounts of fish that seemed beyond belief.
Lake Jackson's tale was similar to what you describe. The lake dried up in the 1950s, as water levels fell in sinkholes. Then, a few years later, the water came back, inundating new homes & fields on the old lake bottom. Shortly thereafter, incredible results.
It didn't last, of course. People routinely harvested every big fish back in those days, the "keepers", and even a fishing paradise can only supply so many lunkers. Our largest was around 7 lb, which we kept just like everybody else did.
