How Would You Rate Lake Livingston as Bass Lake on a Scale of 1-10? Would you travel to fish there?

How would you rate Lake Livingston?

On a scale of 1-10, 0.5 Good white bass and catfish lake, though.

Its tough, but you can catch a few good ones there. Look at the winners of TXTT championship last year. The tournament and practice were a grind for a lot of people (us included) but there were some decent sacks weighed in.

2, and I see you are from Lufkin, how do you rate Kurth/Naconiche? I have not fished either but from what I read, worth passing Livingston on 59.

LLiv has to be actually loaded with Bass because nobody really puts any pressure on them. The lake, however is the devil. It’s big, rough and hard to fish.

1

I'd travel 5 miles to fish it, but no more.

4 if you know how to get around and like shallow fishing, 1 if you don't

I like the lake but it can be tuff on many. Seems to me to be fishing different then in years past think lately that is causing some pain for many. 2 weeks ago fishing was good and very shallow. Course I grew up fishing Livingston.

Haven't fished it in 43 years. Did well back then. Is there still any wood in the 'jungle?'

It's a solid 5-6. Lots of 3-4lbers. Great lake that fishes shallow year round. It's a challenge lake but you learn a lot.

http://www.texasbassonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Livingston-Indi.pdf

Apparently, not many of the B.A.S.S. Federation guys could find many of those 3-4 lbers.

1

I wouldn't drive a mile to fish that lake again.

5. One my favorite lakes to fish. I’d rather fish there than Rayburn. I’m a river rat type fisherman though. I love shallow murky wood filled lakes.

Well they are federation guys haha

1-10, it scores a solid 0.125 and I live on the damn lake. After living here 22 years, the only thing I've learned is humility.

The silting last year didn't help, hopfully the carp will let the Zebra Mussels grow lol. Its a 2 for me and I like the lake!

Why ya hating on the Fed guys? We put on a show brotha!

0.5

It fished hard....its become another Conroe down south.....aolf and indian are all docks and metal bulkhead covered with pontoon boats jet skis and wake boats........tough to fish for sure...... most of the river guys said their spots were silted in and they couldnt get access.... alot of fish were caught way north, but size was lacking....all in all, I'd skip it if I could fish Raven, Rayburn, Nacogdoches or Naconiche

I would rate it a 2 as well.

Now if you were talking the "other" Bass or Cats then it goes way up.

Kurth is a 5 or so if you can get in there! Ever since the big 'un was caught out there it has been packed.

Naconiche is 7 or 8 if they aren't spraying for Giant Salvania. If they are it drops to a Zero in that area.

^^^This and yes I grew up fishing there and have continued to fish there off and on for 40+ years. When I was young and going every weekend it was a different lake. The Jungle was 'The Jungle' and only guys who knew how to navigate it ventured in. Small islands off the river channel north of 190 that used to exist are no longer there or have been reconfigured by floods. If you do your homework you can catch the green ones but don't expect to hook up on every boathouse or twig that is adjacent to the change in direction of a bulkhead.

This has to be a joke lol

No I promise you Jake. Ask Kris I'm serious as a heart attack. I have more 20lb sacks on Livingston than I do Rayburn. Grass lakes kick my teeth in. I am probably the world's worst at figuring out how to find them in grass. I live 5 minutes off the Trinity river and used to fish it 3 or 4 days a week after school and work. Muddy shallow water is just my niche.

I definitely like the style of Livingston fishing more than I do Rayburn fishing. It's the kind of stuff I like to do.

He's not saying the lake is as good as Rayburn (Because that's just crazy and everyone knows that's not true), but I get what Chance is saying for sure.

Oh no Livingston is nowhere near as good as Rayburn. Hell Livingston is not even in top 10 lakes in southeast texas. But for me I love it. That's all I'm saying. About like lake Houston. For people that don't know it, it's just a garbage dump. For us that know it it's a good fishery close to home.

Only above average fisherman would like Livingston. Anyone can catch a fish on Rayburn.



Disclaimer .... I've never fished Livingston or Rayburn

I was on that lake weekly back in the early 80's while in college. There was a time it fished real well. I guided duck hunting and bass fishing (but mostly whites). Never the giant bags of today, like Rayburn or Falcon, but 12 to 15 pounds was what it took to win. The BASS event in 89? took 36 for 3 days. In 94 it was ~ 44 for 4 if I recall. It still takes ~ 15 to win most events, but the weights fall off much quicker. I pre-fished a lot for TXTT last summer, and what blew me away is how much it has silted in. I can run White Rock from Galloway's to the river with my eyes closed. That used to be 40' deep, and now I was barely able to stay on plane through there! 38' of Dallas [censored]! And the river at the chalk bluffs was 50' deep, and now is 8. North from White Rock to Robb's Lake was 45' and is now 8'. So many of the creeks above 19 that were real good are completely cut off from the silt. Whites, Dillards, Nelson, Blacks all of them are gone. 95% of the jungle is cut off with a rim island that has developed along the river. I had big plans for a run up the river last year, but when it was all said and done we ended up on the south end. And it was a carousel of people fishing the same stuff. We ended up OK, but the lake fished real small.

I don't think there is enough local interest or money for the lake to recover. None of the local towns seem to care, Trinity, Huntsville, Livingston. And Onalaska can't muster it alone. The fishery doesn't get any love from TP&W. And as long as it will drain Dallas the COE doesn't care about it silting in. I saw a footprint of the watershed, and it was ~ a quarter of the state of Texas. The home values on the north end are pitiful, and the south is not much better. Compare them to Conroe 45 min's away. All that said I like fishing the lake because of the type of fishing it takes. Just wish it got a little care and love from the government. Oh yeah, and as Bobby Bare said - I give her a 3.

I love fishing that lake. Casting at visible targets all day is therapeutic for me. I always seem to catch 10 or more doing it. Not in the same league as other east Texas lakes but if you like junk fishing shallow dirty water then it's a fun place. Plus you can catch fish shallow in the summer. I only fish the lake when it gets hot.

Wow it got better ratings than I thought it would.

Just got back from Livingston visiting family. Had a couple hours to kill so my dad, my son and I fished off the bank in front of my granddad's old lakefront house, close to what used to be Galloway's. Caught 4 keepers 2 shorts and a large white bass from 7:30 to 8:30 on spinnerbaits right off the rocks. Since I grew up fishing there, won my first pro tournament there, and had access to one of the best fishing spots on the lake every morning.
I'll give it an solid 7.

1 & no I would not travel there

1

To each their own I guess! This has been an interesting thread for sure I had no idea how silted in the lake had gotten over the years.

The lake was constructed as a watershed for Houston, not flood control for Dallas. The lake has no flood control ability. And all that silt, it didn't come from Dallas. It came from the nasty arse, sandy as all get out Trinity River. I realize that the Trinity flows through Dallas, but your frustration is misplaced.

1 and I hope I never have to travel to that god forsaken mud hole again.

Speaking of Houston and Livingston. My buddy I fish Livingston with had 18 Saturday on Houston and finished second to a 21 pound sack. I went to Livingston yesterday and matched his with an 18 pound sack. We love our mud holes what can I say.