A crawdad-colored crankbait is a highly effective lure for catching any of the three bass species swimming Oklahoma’s waters. In this case, it fooled a smallmouth Photo by Russell Tinsley.

Oklahoma anglers are really very fortunate in having a number of bass species to fish for. Take, for instance, striped bass, white bass and hybrid striped bass: Many chase these hard-fighting linesided creatures up and down many of the state’s rivers and lakes.

But the bass trio garnering a lot of angling attention is the largemouth, smallmouth, and spotted bass. Although not really true bass, being members of the sunfish family, these three members of the black-bass family generate tremendous angling excitement among anglers in Oklahoma.

Our black-bass “trifecta” inhabits several of the Sooner State’s top fishing lakes. (Incidentally, Webster’s defines “trifecta” as a gambling term describing a bet in which the wagerer not only picks the first three winners in a race but also specifies their order at the finish.)

As you know, our state’s bass waters can be unpredictable, but there’s one thing you can bet on: If you fish any of the lakes listed here, the odds are in your favor for catching an Oklahoma bass “grand slam.”

Let’s start out with some basic understanding of these three fish and then examine how that helps determine where to catch them.

LARGEMOUTH BASS
Micropterus salmoides
The Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation’s own literature describes largemouths as found statewide in ponds, lakes, rivers and streams. Both state and federal hatcheries have long stocked Oklahoma waters with these powerful fighters. Specimens of the Florida subspecies of largemouth have been stocked in many reservoirs and have interbred with native largemouths. These hybrids grow rapidly, and can produce trophy-sized fish in record time.

During the spring, largemouths are found in shallow, weedy habitat, where both food and cover are available. During the hot days of summer and cold winter months, these fish move to deeper water. Largemouths’ varied diet consists of crustaceans, insects, crayfish, frogs and smaller fish.

Spawning activities begin as water temperatures reach 62 to 65 degrees -- in Oklahoma, in April and May. Females typically deposit 2,000 to 7,000 eggs per pound of body weight in the nest. After fertilizing the eggs, the male drives the female and any other intruders from the nest until the eggs hatch and the fry leave. Fry swim in schools until reaching approximately an inch in length.

A highly predatory fish, the largemouth will strike an assortment of artificial lures and natural baits.

SMALLMOUTH BASS
Micropterus dolomieui
According to ODWC biologists, smallmouths occur naturally in many of Eastern Oklahoma’s Ozark and Ouachita streams and their tributaries. Fishable lake populations exist in Grand, Tenkiller, Murray, Eufaula, Texoma, Hefner, Arbuckle, and Broken Bow reservoirs.

Smallmouths inhabit clear, gravel-bottom streams in Oklahoma. The best areas to fish for smallmouths within streams are riffles, pools and the shallows above rapids. In manmade impoundments smallmouth bass seek clear, clean water usually with a rocky substrate. Weedy areas along the shoreline, flats off channels and shelves also are good areas to find smallmouths.

Smallmouth bass feed on crayfish, small fish, aquatic and terrestrial insects, worms, frogs and tadpoles. Spawning takes place in the spring when water temperatures reach 60 to 75 degrees, with nests built on gravel bars in 3 to 20 feet of water. The male drives a ripe female to his nest. After she lays her eggs, he searches out a second female, and frequently a third. Each female lays from 2,000 to 7,000 eggs per pound of body weight. Little or no parental care is provided after the eggs hatch.