Photo by Ron Sinfelt

Sand bass fishing in Oklahoma brings to mind some of my most memorable angling experiences. As a teenager, I spent a fair amount of time sand bass fishing on Lake Texoma. My summertime adventures there were captured on film, as well as stored forever in my mind. Those memories serve as motivation for me to head to the lake each May to catch a mess of sandies!

Ah, yes! Now’s the most opportune time to fish for sand bass, as most of the state’s waters are coming alive with schools of sandies boiling the surface in feeding frenzies that have to be seen to be believed. If your boat’s within casting distance when the voracious sandies erupt at the surface, you can sometimes catch these binge feeders as fast as you can cast. A bonus: After you’ve sacked up some of the best-tasting fish that swim in our waters, your belly will thank you!

On one of my most memorable fishing trips we caught 20 schooling sandies in five minutes. We would have caught more, but other boats approaching too close spooked the fish. But no matter: We soon saw another large school of the scrappy “little linesides” surface. Unbelievably, we had three limits flopping in the bottom of the boat in almost record time.

Oklahoma anglers are blessed with an abundance of waters that hold prolific numbers of hard-fighting white bass. In fact, almost every lake has stocked populations of white bass waiting to bite a hook.

One great thing about sand bass fishing is that bait selection is not as critical as are color and size. Sandies will bite almost any reasonable sized jig, the exception being the 1- to 2-ounce striper-sized jigs.

Here I’ll highlight some of the state’s best sand bass spots, give you the lowdown on where to fish on these waters, and offer some experts’ advice on what works best.

BIOLOGICAL DATA
Though native to Oklahoma waters, white bass were not abundant until construction of the state’s large reservoirs. Today, these prolific fish are found statewide in virtually every lake, river and tributary.

White bass, or “sand bass,” as they’re commonly called, usually travel in large schools, with the adults showing a preference for open-water areas over sandy shoals during the daytime, and shallow water at night. Their diet consists of shad, minnows, crustaceans and insects. Anglers generally have their best success using a variety of artificial lures in shad colors, brightly colored jigs, and small spoons.

Very prolific fish, sand bass spawn when water temperatures reach 50 to 55 degrees. Female sand bass can produce up to a million eggs and will randomly deposit them over rocks, debris and weeds. Many of the state’s sand bass will swim upstream to spawn when tributaries are accessible. The eggs are left to hatch, and the hatchlings to manage, without parental care.

Although the white bass is Oklahoma’s official state fish, it’s estimated that anglers annually take 1.5 million pounds of whites from our waters. White bass have a short lifespan and high reproductive capability, so some lakes impose no limits on their catch. Always consult state fishing regulations regarding limits where you’re fishing.