The state fish of Oklahoma is the white bass, also known as sand bass or sandies (Morone chrysops). There’s wide distribution of white bass among states west of the Rockies, both native and introduced, so I assume it’s a fish most people are familiar with. It’s common in the Midwest and the ArkLaOklaTex.

It’s not a big fish. The IGFA world record, shared by Louisiana and Virginia, is 6 lbs, 13 oz. That’s probably about four pounds heavier than the largest white bass anyone should ever expect to see.  The Oklahoma record is 4 lbs, 9 oz. There’s not a record for white bass on the fly, either international or Oklahoman.

White bass are a freshwater fish, but their closest relative is the saltwater striped bass (Morone saxatilis). Striped bass have been introduced into midwestern and Southern lakes, and thrive if they’re restocked from year to year. The Oklahoma striper record is 47 pounds, 8 ounces, and Lake Texoma is supposed to be the very place for stripers. There’s at least one fly guide on Texoma guiding for stripers.

There is a white bass/striped bass hybrid that’s also stocked into lakes.  The common name for the hybrids, wipers, is unfortunate, at least as bad as pikeminnow, but it has the advantage of description once you figure it out. The Oklahoma record striped hybrid is 23 lbs, 4 ounces. That’s about 19 pounds heavier than the largest white bass anyone should ever expect to see.

White bass are probably the right color of fish for Oklahoma, but there’s a problem fishing for white bass. Eleven months of the year white bass are most reliably lake fish, which requires a boat and some local knowledge, and more uncertainty than I want in Oklahoma. They aren’t a typical fly target. They chase minnows, they eat worms, they eat crustaceans, they chase more minnows. They school, and a white bass frenzy is a sight to behold. When they pound minnows on the surface it’s easy to tell they’re striper kinfolk.

And they’re anadromous. Ok, I’m lying again. They never make it to salt water, but in the spring they run into the feeder rivers and streams to spawn. When water temperatures reach the high 50s, sometime between February and May in most of their range, it’s quite the thing to catch the run. The smaller males move out of the lakes first, and then the bigger females follow. It’s a bit of a meat market, both for the fish and anglers. Conventional anglers pull out fish to the limits, and the limits are high–none in Oklahoma. This isn’t catch and release fishing. It’s freezer stocking.

The white bass feed right up to the spawn, and will hit anything that looks like a minnow. I’ve only fly fished for them once on the spawn, and then the trick was to get the fly deep enough. The big females weren’t in the river yet, and I only caught a few small males.

So to catch Oklahoma white bass at the right time I’d have to try to hit the spawn in the right place in one of the the right rivers in a fairly short window of time.  That’s still more uncertainty than I want in Oklahoma. I’m guessing I’m not patient enough to wait until spring, and I’ll fish the Mountain Home tailwater sometime before Christmas.