Birch Lake
At only 1,000 acres, Birch Lake plays host to a striper fishery very limited in extent, and, Wentroth noted, anglers catch and keep the big ones. Therefore, he rated it as a marginal hybrid fishery.

Southwest Lake Waurika
John Stahl, the ODWC's northwest fisheries biologist, once said that Larry Cofer, his compatriot at the Lawton office, would stock fish in a soda bottle if he finds it holding water on the side of the road. Cofer is big on providing fishing opportunities in this arid part of the state, and stocking hybrids is a major part of his efforts. His top lakes are Waurika, Fort Cobb, Altus-Lugert and Tom Steed.

"It's all hybrids out this way, north and west of Texoma," Cofer said. "I have just a short list of lakes, but of those, Waurika is a real standout."

The reason? Threadfin shad, and a lot of them.

"Threadfins were put in there about 15 years ago, and somehow they've sustained, even through some very harsh winters. We've tried them in other lakes in the southwest, but we haven't been able to get them to stay very long."

Bill Wentroth, north-central region fisheries supervisor for the ODWC, said the agency used to give Sooner Lake 54,000 hybrids per year, but recently changed the formula to 27,000 hybrids and 27,000 stripers in an attempt to create a more exciting fishery for anglers.

Despite its high-quality fishing, Waurika's hybrids don't get a tremendous amount of fishing pressure, Cofer said. Finding hybrids isn't all that hard on Waurika, either, but many anglers simply haven't found the lake to fish it.

"There are hotspots that a lot of people know about, but the lake as a whole, I wouldn't call it heavily fished, at least not like Texoma," Cofer said. "It's got the right habitat for hybrids, a lot of long points, a lot of wind.

"Waurika is also a fairly fertile lake that drains a fairly fertile watershed," he added. "That's why the shad do so well."

Water levels are consistent and stable, too, so Waurika's hybrids don't often go over the dam.