Lake Livingston, an 83,000 acre lake located in Polk County Texas is one of East Texas largest reservoirs.
Bass Fishing, Crappie Fishing, White Bass Fishing, Striper Fishing and Catfishing are Lake Livingston’s primary recreational use.
Though not noted for it’s trophy size Largemouth Bass with a lake record of only 12.45 pounds, it is one of the states’ outstanding Striper and White Bass fisheries with a lake record Striped Bass of 31.5 pounds.
Lake Livingston also has a good population of Crappie, Hybrid Striped Bass and is an excellent Catfish fishery.
Living on Lake Livingston for the past eight years has lead me to several understandings about bass fishing and this lake itself….change. Because of the “change” that I am referring to, this lake sometimes gets a bad rap from bass fishermen who visit it occasionally. Being that the massive Trinity River feeds this lake and that there are a number of substantial feeder creeks, change is common. Rainfall is the most dominating factor of change for Lake Livingston. Heavy rains north of the lake along the Trinity River, including as far north as the Dallas area can almost demolish bass fishing efforts on the north end of the lake. Heavy local rains can dirty up the creek backs and within a few days, a whole creek can be unfishable. The bad rap from fishermen comes from when they visit the lake and catch fish, sometime later they come back under similar conditions but rains have moved their fish up or down the creek in search of clear water. Their prior information is almost worthless and locating fish starts over.
Contents
Map of Lake Livingston Fishing
Understanding Lake Livingston’s Fluctuating Tendencies
Learning to deal with this lake is really very simple, however you have to consider the whole lake to understand it. The easiest black bass to catch are in the major feeder creeks, smaller tributaries, and ditches that feed both. In these areas, the fish that are in the clearest emerald green water are the ones that I target. My information is somewhat biased because I live on the north end of the lake where rainfall affects the lake most. The creeks on the north end are long and some of them can be traveled for miles. This allows for stretches of clear water in the creeks even during periods of heavy rainfall.
Rule #1. Local rainfall dirties up the backs of the creeks first and then water moves toward the main lake at a speed relevant to the amount of rainfall. If there is a heavy rainfall then the main channel of the creek may be wiped out, however, up and down the creek there are small ditches and draws holding pockets of clearwater. These ditches and draws hold clear water even though the creek they feed is dirty because they receive very little runoff and/or there is a silted in sandbar at their mouth that acts as a buffer to the dirty water in the main creek channel.
Rule #2. Heavy rains upriver will bring muddy water down and cause the river, the jungle, and much of the main lake above the 190 bridge to be off color. If the major creeks were in good shape to start with they will remain that way unless the river just keeps pumping in some astronomical amount of muddy water. Sure the river and main lake will be dirty, and the off colored water will be trying to push into the creeks but most of the creeks are lengthy. The off-colored water usually does not push very far into the bigger creeks unless the lake is on severe rise. And even if it is, it takes time for the muddy rising water to push into the clean creek water.
Rule #3. If the lake has been in good shape and suddenly there are heavy local rains and there is dirty water on the way down the river from heavy rains upriver as well, there will still be some fishable water. Somewhere between the mainlake and the backs of the creeks, there will be stretches of clear water in the creek channels along with pockets of clear water in the ditches and feeder creeks. This clear water may be temporary but is usually loaded with bass seeking clean water.
There are hundreds of scenarios we could draw up and have rules for. These three rules are very general, however they are very true and given to you through my own experience living here on the lake. Keep in mind that these rules of thumb can be applied to bass fishing on any “river” lake.
In November of 1994, when the BassMaster Tournament Trail came to this lake it was just after the major flood that we had in October. The lake had been flooded and had not recovered from the heavy rains. Rick Clunn summed up the lake evaluation during the tournament by saying, “What the rains have done is made a very large lake very, very small.” Meaning that all of the tournament fishermen were concentrated in the clear water pockets that were scattered up and down the lake.
During periods of rainfall, clear water with a dark emerald green color is the ticket. This lake is excellent for bass fishing all year long and Lake Livingston is great for practicing flipping, cranking, spinnerbaits, and topwater.
Lake Livingston Fishing Guides
Fishin Addiction Guide Service
(832) 474-3929
Top rated licensed professional fishing guide service and commercially insured for lake livingston and lake conroe specializing in white bass, hybrid/striper, catfish, and crappie. Fishing out of 24 ft. Ranger boat with the latest up-to-date electronics that can easily accommodate large parties with plenty of room. I’ve been a lake livingston and lake conroe fishing guide for many years taking pride in my work and customer service which is reflected in all my online review and feedback why i am the best review guide. – fishinaddictionguideservice.com
Lone Eagle Fishing Guide Service
249 Aaron Ave, Livingston, TX 77351
(936) 967-0453
Lone Eagle Fishing Guide Services specialize in stripers, white bass, black bass, crappie, and catfish on beautiful Lake Livingston in East Texas. Lake Livingston is located approximately 80 miles northeast of Houston on the edge of the Sam Houston National Forest and is the second largest lake located within the borders of Texas. It is 39 miles long and 7 miles wide. – loneeaglefishing.com
Palmetto Guide Service
Lake Livinsgton, Point Blank, TX 77364
(936) 291-9602
Our guided trips are by reservation only with personal attention to detail in order to meet your parties’ expectations. Private parties only. We do not mix parties. Day trips are approximately 4-6 hours. We do not do “half day” or “full day” trips. – palmettoguideservice.com
Huson Outdoors Guide Service
310 Leisure Ln, Livingston, TX 77351
(936) 239-1100
Here at Huson Outfitting we are conservationists first and sportsman second. We realized that both people working to ensure great habitat exists and sportsman utilizing that habitat need great gear. We specialize in the best gear available. In the end if your gear fails you, it could mean the difference in life or death. – husonoutdoors.com
In The Zone Fishing
144 Weavers Cove Rd, Livingston, TX 77351
(713) 516-1884
Welcome to In The Zone Fishing Charters!!! We are located in the Galveston Yacht Basin a short 45 minute drive from Houston. Our fishing charter boat is a 36 foot Contender with three 225 Yamaha four stroke motors, all the power needed to fit all your fishing needs! Come out and give In The Zone Fishing Charters the opportunity to take you on an adventure like you’ve never experienced before. – inthezonefishingcharters.com
LLD Lake Livingston Guide
Livingston, TX 77351
(936) 933-3314
We fish for mainly white and striped bass, but during certain times of the year also offer trophy(over 20lbs) blue cat fishing with rod and reel, and crappie during the spring. We specialize in vertical jigging for white bass in the early summer and top water striper fishing from mid-summer to late fall. Families are welcome and we enjoy teaching fishing skills, educating people about the lake it’s resident fishes to anglers of any skill level. – lakelivingstonguides.com
T & L Guide Service
473 Hubert Ln, Livingston, TX 77351
(936) 327-1630
Welcome to T&L guide service! if you are looking for a relaxing day on the water or a dead serious day of catching, you have found the right person. Based out of Lake Livingston Texas (1 hour north of downtown Houston) i can guarantee you 100 % total effort on my behalf of a day on the water you wont soon forget. There are many very qaulified guides on the same bodies of water that i guide on, and i consider myself one of them. I have been fishing lakes Livingston and Sam Rayburn my whole life and have spent the last 20 years fishing the inland marshes of south louisiana. – tandlguideservice.com
LAKE LIVINGSTON BASS FISHING REPORT
Black bass: The bigger fish have been concentrated near the creek mouths and have been hitting an assortment of lures. But be careful getting to these areas especially up north some of the creek mouths are blocked off by sandbars because of the low water level. Most of these fish are relating to shoreline structure in one to ten feet of water. Flipping Texas rigged worms and craw worms around shoreline cover has been one of the most productive presentations. Black/chartreuse, black/blue, red shad, and tequila sunrise plastics have been the most effective baits. Shallow to medium diving plugs in fire-tiger cranked around shoreline cover has also produced strikes. Early and late the buzzbait will draw them to the surface.
White bass: Large schools of whites have been common on the main lake. Main lake points, Penwaugh slough, the tram, the 190 roadbed, the 190 flats, the Banana ridge, and Pine Island have been prime areas for the action. Once you locate a school spoon with a 3/4 oz Cobra jigging spoon, white with silver sides. Stripers have been abundant this year so don’t be surprised if you hook up on a fish that rips line off of your real and gives you a real war.
Crappie: Many of the marinas are set up to accomodate crappie fishermen. They brushed the areas for years and have strong concentrations of crappie right under their boat docks and piers. These marinas provide some of the best crappie fishing on the lake. Minnows around standing timber in White Rock, Kickapoo, Caney, and Indian creek will also get you hooked up with soc-a-lait.
Catfish: As always catfishing is excellent. Baiting areas with soured maze will have you catching catfish in large numbers. Shad, chicken live, and dough bait will all work well for whisker fish. Lake Livingston is one of the finest catfish lakes in the country and constantly produces monster catfish.
Bream: Panfish have been easy to catch around rocks, piers, shallow timber, bulkheading, and reeds. Night crawlers and meal worms are two sure bets for catching plenty of bream. All of the marinas have access for bankfishing and there are plenty of bream to be caught in these areas.