My father in law is looking at buying a place on lake Livingston and was wondering how the fishing is there. I have never been on the lake so I have no idea. They will be looking to mainly fish for crappie and sandbass. Let me know if this is a good lake to fish and to have a house on. Thanks guys.

Got a lot of whites and I think hybrids.

Kind of meh for me, I know theres a great tackle shop on the north end,

It’s a great white bass fishery and a decent crappie fishery. Navigation on the lake is pretty sketchy because of the stumps and the washing machine effect when busy or windy. We have a waterfront place in the south end (for 18 years) and you’re welcome to direct message me with any questions.

Lots of catfish.

My grandparents had a place on the north end of the lake. It's not a great black bass fishing lake, so it doesn't get a lot of tournament pressure, and a lot of areas are hard to run so you don't have many pleasure boats and jet fleas. The south end is a lot more open water, so you do get more traffic.
Livingston is probably the best cat fishing lake in the state, white bass are plentiful as well. Crappie fishing is average, black bass fishing is below average.
The lake gets muddied up pretty easy and can take weeks to clear up.
Given a choice I would pick Rayburn or T-Bend any day if they don't mind a little company.

Great for white bass, stripers, catfish, crappie....

Is it a DECENT bass lake..? Yes. Do I wake up at 4am to fish Livingston? No, and never would. It's not that great, but it is doable whether these people think it is or not.

With that being said, if I want some white bass action it's the first lake you'll see me at.

North end of lake is difficult to naviagate if you don't know where you are going. South end by Pine Island and the dam is wide open

Also, yes the above is true.. The lake can get muddy easily and quickly. And please, do not under estimate this lake. It gets DANGEROUS REAL QUICK in the right conditions. You'd never believe the waves I've seen out there on that lake. It'll capsize you in a heart beat.. I run a 22ft CC bay boat and Livingston gets stupidly rough even for my rig.

Don't let it discourage you though.. When the conditions are right it's smooth. I've had a 8ft bass raider with a 30lb trolling motor half way to Pine Island from the state park before.

I'll admit I am biased because its my home lake, but I think its a good choice. Bass fishing isn't on par with other lakes but they are there. I don't think there is any other lake in the area that can compare for white bass and catfish. The lake is almost always at kept at full pool so you don't experience the swings like other lakes which is nice especially if you are directly on the water because you don't have to be concerned with your boat being stuck in a lift on dry land or having multiple ramps closed due to water level.

If you are on facebook check out our page, we are working on TPWD to get the lake back into a good largemouth stocking rotation as its been largely neglected for the past 15 or so years.
https://www.facebook.com/LakeLivingstonMythBuster/?notif_id=1591890386385629&notif_t=page_fan