"The biggest problem in our region is that people don't know the difference between sand bass and hybrids," Peterson said. "Every year, somebody will call up and say they have a state-record sand bass. I'll ask them how much it weighs, and they'll say something like 8 pounds, 3 ounces. Well, that's not only a state record, but a world record. So we have to tell them the difference -- and sometimes they get a little upset."

North-Central
Carl Blackwell
Bill Wentroth said that his area has four good lakes for hybrid fishing; Carl Blackwell, Sooner, Birch and Skiatook.

If you're looking for trophy hybrids, Wentroth recommended visit to Carl Blackwell, near Stillwater. It should be good this year because baitfish are plentiful, he said. Another reason this lake has relatively big fish is because light fishing pressure.

"In the past, it has not had extremely high fishing pressure," Wentroth said. "That enabled quite a few fish to remain in the system, and flow-through rates are not as high as other reservoirs, so we don't lose too many over the dam. This spring, Oklahoma was inundated with heavy rainfall, there are now quite a few hybrids in the creeks below the dam."

Fishing should be good through May, but in June, hybrids will be deep, in or above the anoxic layer. If you catch hybrids in the summer, Wentroth recommends keeping them because they probably won't survive if released.

Lake Skiatook
This giant reservoir northeast of Tulsa has a lot of hybrids, but not many big ones, Wentroth said. If you just want to catch a lot of fish without expecting a giant, this should be a great place to go this year.

"There's not a lot of size over 8 pounds, but it has a lot of fish, probably 4-pounders," Wentroth said. "It's close to Tulsa, so it gets a lot of angling pressure, a lot of fish on stringers, but it seems to sustain itself."

Clear water, resulting from low nutrients, limits the amount of baitfish in the lake, which is why Skiatook's hybrids grow slowly.