And how many times have the fishermen heard that one before? Count how many Oklahoma springs each angler has lived; that’s how many.

As we wait, impatiently for the sand bass to make their spawning runs and the crappies to move up to spawning beds, we watch the weather and hear sporadic reports of hot fishing here and there.

“Every 100 miles is about a week behind,” said Brent Gordon, Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation fisheries supervisor in the Tulsa office.

“Down around Hugo and Broken Bow they’ve already started spawning. We’re usually a week or two behind.” Some very good white bass reports came in from the Twin Bridges area and below Pensacola Dam last week, but both were of the “when it’s hot it’s hot, when it’s not, there’s nothing” variety.

Just downstream from Fort Gibson Lake, Larry Fulton at Mr. Crappie Bait and Tackle said things are still slow in the river and in the lake. “We need some warm rain and some sun,” he said. “You have to remember a week ago Thursday we had that rain, ice, sleet. That really cooled things down.” Some crappie fishermen have had decent luck up in the Ranger Creek and 14-Mile Creek areas, he said. “They’re sort of in a pre- pre-stage where they’re just starting to move their way in,” Fulton said.

Indeed an inch or two of rain, preferably to the north, is all we need. Not a tidal wave. Not 6 or 7 inches.We just need a good warm soaking. “They’re wanting to spawn,” Gordon said of the white bass. “There’s just nothing to draw them up to spawn.”

The rains do a couple of things, Gordon said. The run-off brings nutrients and plankton into the lakes and rivers. It also muddies the water and makes it easier for young fish to hide from predators.

The same goes for striped bass and paddlefish in local lake systems. The action is beginning to pick up, but it’s just beginning.

Big winners: Oklahoma State University bass anglers Jeremy Bersche and William Powell were busy catching bucket mouths — instead of sinking buckets — this mad March weekend.

On Saturday the OSU team won the National Guard FLW College Fishing Texas Division tournament on Sam Rayburn Reservoir. The bag had six bass for a total 18 pounds, 9 ounces.

The duo brings home $10,00 for the effort, which is splint evenly between the university and the bass fishing club.

Berche said they found bass on spawning beds and were essentially sight fishing for the first four fish in their bag. The aggressive fish hit spinner baits over the beds.

Moving off the beds, where the water was a few feet deeper, they rigged some worms whacky style and landed another bass of size similar to the others and a big female of more than 7 pounds. “A lot of the teams had similar bags, but that big fish put us over,” Berche said.

The college tournaments are free to enter, the students receive a travel allowance, and boats and drivers are provided.

The top five teams in each of four FLW qualifying events advance to one of five televised three-day FLW National Guard Regional Championships.