Texas Fishing Forum

Monster day on Lake Livingston 12 fish over 20#

Posted By: Chris Richardson

Monster day on Lake Livingston 12 fish over 20# - 12/29/17 05:27 PM

Lake Livingston is my home lake and I've always known it was full of catfish. We jug fished a lot with my grandpa when I was little and have an amazing bulkhead bite that takes place during the shad spawn, but I've never tried to target big blue cats during the winter. My brother Michael and I catch fish on Livingston year around with our guide service Lake Livingston Adventures and we spend a lot of time catching big hybrids on Lake Conroe during the winter months, but this year we decided to see what all this winter time trophy blue cat fishing is all about. It just looked like too much fun to pass up!

I read all about drifting for big blues and built some planer boards and snag resistant sinkers. We booked a trip with Andrew Taylor one of the big blue masters on Tawakoni and learned some very valuable details to fine tune our leader length, speed, and distance of line out the back. Shout out to Andrew, as many of you know he is a great fisherman and even better guy that I highly recommend. After that Michael and I talked about the gizzard shad population and the transitions they make up and down the lake according to water temp and time of year. We picked out an area to focus on and put a game plan together. Michael went out twice scouting and caught several big ones on three consecutive trips so we knew we had a pattern that could be repeated. We've always had more success spending more time looking for the right pattern and less time just guessing even if it means lines are in the water for a shorter period of time. So with that in mind my uncle Jim and I went on the hunt freezing cold but excited none the less (Michael was guiding on Conroe and caught a 7 man limit of hybrids that day!). Jim and I found a flat that was loaded with big baitfish and what the graph showed to be big blue catfish as well. We set up drift and commenced to catch 12 blues over 20 pounds ending the day with a triple! I think several were over thirty but didn't have a scale in the boat to verify. Needless to say I am HOOKED and will be attempting to further master this technique and add it to our guide service offering. This stuff is fun and Lake Livingston is loaded! All fish released fat an sassy to make someone else's day.







Posted By: BigPoppa007

Re: Monster day on Lake Livingston 12 fish over 20# - 12/29/17 06:59 PM

banana Oh Ya ! Definately a couple 30’s woot
Posted By: JJ4MEL

Re: Monster day on Lake Livingston 12 fish over 20# - 12/29/17 06:59 PM

Holy cow!! That was a good outing!!
Posted By: Ed-n-eddy

Re: Monster day on Lake Livingston 12 fish over 20# - 12/29/17 08:08 PM

daaaaaang! cheers
Posted By: Chris Richardson

Re: Monster day on Lake Livingston 12 fish over 20# - 12/29/17 08:39 PM

Thanks guys.

Here are a couple screenshots of what we were looking for. The fish were stacked.


Posted By: oakpointaggie

Re: Monster day on Lake Livingston 12 fish over 20# - 12/29/17 09:26 PM

I have a question about that bottom picture.. Am I seeing shad at the top, hybrids in the middle and cat's on the bottom.

Appreciate your input.
Posted By: oakpointaggie

Re: Monster day on Lake Livingston 12 fish over 20# - 12/29/17 09:28 PM

I have a question about that bottom picture.. Am I seeing shad at the top, hybrids in the middle and cat's on the bottom.

Appreciate your input.
Posted By: Dothead

Re: Monster day on Lake Livingston 12 fish over 20# - 12/30/17 12:54 AM

Great Job and trip!!
Posted By: DEWAYNE BULLARD

Re: Monster day on Lake Livingston 12 fish over 20# - 12/30/17 02:44 AM

Nice day for sure wtg.
Posted By: taterpop

Re: Monster day on Lake Livingston 12 fish over 20# - 12/30/17 05:18 AM

Nice haul!!
Posted By: Littlefeather

Re: Monster day on Lake Livingston 12 fish over 20# - 12/30/17 10:00 PM

Awesome! Thanks for sharing
Posted By: Capt. Michael Littlejohn

Re: Monster day on Lake Livingston 12 fish over 20# - 12/31/17 12:03 AM

Ur infringing on our epic day a few years back!!! roflmao

Nicely done! Y’all whack’em down there!
Posted By: banker-always fishing

Re: Monster day on Lake Livingston 12 fish over 20# - 12/31/17 04:32 AM

Solid post and solid fish. Good job. cheers
Posted By: Catfish Lynn

Re: Monster day on Lake Livingston 12 fish over 20# - 12/31/17 04:45 AM

Well Done!!! Learn that there are patterns (in everything in this physical universe), then utilize it. That's how I figured out my Catfish Calendar concerning Yellows & Blues, as well as Gator Gars. When you get on a roll & it seems something is up that is a gamechanger, usually it is. Then search it out in depth. And then you'll KNOW!
Posted By: Catfish Lynn

Re: Monster day on Lake Livingston 12 fish over 20# - 12/31/17 10:38 PM

I forgot to ask what day you & your Uncle caught them.

One article a few years back, explained that the bass would tear into the school of shad. The remnants would fall & the Cats were waiting eagerly below for their feast.
Posted By: Chris Richardson

Re: Monster day on Lake Livingston 12 fish over 20# - 01/02/18 02:27 PM

Originally Posted By: oakpointaggie
I have a question about that bottom picture.. Am I seeing shad at the top, hybrids in the middle and cat's on the bottom.

Appreciate your input.


I'm no sonar expert, but yes those are definitely shad at the top and catfish at the bottom. The fish in the middle could be catfish or could be some other rough fish like buffalo or drum. Lake Livingston isn't stocked with hybrids but there are some in the lake. Lake Livingston is FULL of buffalo and drum. The drum mark very similar to striper/hybrids and have fooled me many times on that lake. We've set up on deadstick drifts and caught five pound drum one after the other before. I have yet to do that on any other lake. It seems to me that catfish usually mark lighter than fish with scales and the arches seem to be tilted while hybrids are more defined with even yellow and straight arches. I usually rely more on historical knowledge of what type of fish should be where and see how the react to different techniques to determine exactly what they are. Hope that helps a little
Posted By: Chris Richardson

Re: Monster day on Lake Livingston 12 fish over 20# - 01/02/18 02:31 PM

Originally Posted By: Catfish Lynn
Well Done!!! Learn that there are patterns (in everything in this physical universe), then utilize it. That's how I figured out my Catfish Calendar concerning Yellows & Blues, as well as Gator Gars. When you get on a roll & it seems something is up that is a gamechanger, usually it is. Then search it out in depth. And then you'll KNOW!


These pics were from 12/28 an yes patterns are the way to go. This is the game changer that comes with experience. There are new "honey holes" all over the lake when you establish a pattern.
Posted By: Chris Richardson

Re: Monster day on Lake Livingston 12 fish over 20# - 01/02/18 02:40 PM

Originally Posted By: Capt. Michael Littlejohn
Ur infringing on our epic day a few years back!!! roflmao

Nicely done! Y’all whack’em down there!


Man 12 over 20# is a far cry from 14 over 40#! That day was unbelievable! That double pic with the two 59's is epic, and I still can't believe that fish that size were STACKED up the way they were. That lake truly is a Texas gem.
Posted By: Chris Richardson

Re: Monster day on Lake Livingston 12 fish over 20# - 01/02/18 02:44 PM

It looks like the pattern is holding!






Posted By: Capt. Michael Littlejohn

Re: Monster day on Lake Livingston 12 fish over 20# - 01/02/18 11:12 PM

Heck yeah guys!!!! Y’all smok’em!
Posted By: BigDozer66

Re: Monster day on Lake Livingston 12 fish over 20# - 01/08/18 03:03 AM

Very nice! cheers
Posted By: J Lowe

Re: Monster day on Lake Livingston 12 fish over 20# - 01/08/18 11:33 AM

Nice fish, guys. Fun times!
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