The Ole' BADBOY! for my money the most exciting fish in Oklahoma! The first Oklahoma stocking of striped bass hybrids was in Sooner Lake in 1977. - Striped bass hybrids are hatchery produced by crossing female striped bass with male white bass. Although both male and female hybrids attain sexual maturity, natural reproduction has not been observed. It has been reported they do go through the spawning activity as their parents do, without producing the offspring. For your all you farm hands, it like trying to breed two mules, no such luck. Hybrids have been stocked in several Oklahoma lakes now, including Konawa, Optima, Ft. Supply, Tom Steed, Altus-Lugert, Overholser, Grand, Heyburn, Atoka, Ft. Cobb, Salt Plains, Waurika and Ellsworth. Hybrids have been caught in Kaw Lake, from the 92 floods in Kansas, which flooded the hatcheries in Kansas and the hybrids coming down the Arkansas River. Hybrids are also caught behind Kaw dam and in Keystone Lake, that was from the natural stocking, when in 1986, OG & E opened the gates of Sooner and the biggest majority of the hybrids went through the dam into the Arkansas River to lake Keystone. This was a mass exiting, kind of like Moses and his people exiting Egypt!

Habitat - Hybrids mirror the habits and prefer areas within lakes and streams to striped bass and white bass, typically traveling in large schools in open water. In the Spring, schools are smaller and the road trip is on, as they head for the spawning grounds. Hybrids begin to get a little more active as the water temp rises; live bait seems to be the best from the banks, although trolling with a white or mirror crankbaits in 12 to 15 ft water produces a good catch. As June and July rolls around, it's slabbing time, look for them off deep creek channels on the slopes. Live bait is at its peak and soon the Hybrids turn to hitting nothing but Slabs, at this time I use the Sooner Regular Slab! We have boated thousands!
In those Hot Summer days, hybrids seem to hug the bottom in deep water, depending on the oxygen content of the lake. Working the slab very slow in deep water around shad seems to the best, at this time the downriggers shine also, using 3 or 4 inch Sassy Shad
Then comes the fall! My favorite time, the schools have become very large, and the feed is on for the winter. Early morning and evenings you can find Hybrids on top, running through weary schools of shad, like a freight train through a small town. When winter comes the hybrid seem to turn into loners, hugging the bottom up to depths of 65 feet. They are catchable, but be careful if you plan to catch and release as they get the bends as you bring them up from that depth! The best result is to let the fish play and several depths before bringing them to the boat. I am sure you have heard, you keep every hybrid you catch; because they fight so hard they'll die anyway.   This is NOT TRUE!!!!!!! We have caught Hybrids and released them, using a marking system, and have caught them again and again. For best results very gently release the fish as soon a possible.

Natural Food Sources - Shad, minnows, crustaceans and insects.

Facts - As a sport fish, hybrids are probably best known for their rapid growth and fighting ability. They can attain weights of six to seven pounds by three years of age and 18 to 20 pounds by eight to nine years of age. Hybrids are a valuable part of our Oklahoma fishing; they grow fast, fight hard and take the sport fishing to another level! In Oklahoma they fit perfect into the ecological system, especially in lakes with large shad populations but with little suitable habitat for striped bass and white bass.
 

Hot Lakes For Big Hybrids

Altus- Lugert

Skiatook

Fort Cobb

Foss

Konawa

Overholster

Grand