Below the Lake Livingston Dam.........

[Gator gar]

Anyone ever had any luck fishing below the Dam, with all the gates open. I was really looking forward to fishing after work today, for some catfish, but the water was mighty high.

[Gator gar]

I am a new member to this forum and I just checked some earlier post and saw where the shad slinger had caught some cats with what looked like a whole lot of water and all the gates open. I guess that answers my question, maybe those bluegills that I had for bait should have been used.

I guess I will take the trotlines and some fresh bluegills and head to a more familiar water hole in Chambers county for some cat action tomorrow night.

It's a pure shame that I have no idea where to fish living this close to Lake Livingston. I live in the Big Sandy area and everyone says there are tons of catfish in the lake, but where.

I guess in time it'll all get worked out. Until then it's a minimum of 1 and a 1/2 hour drive to catch my cats and big gator gar.

[Richlyn Concepts]

You should have no problems catching catfish below the dam anytime. I have caught them with one gate open or 12 gates open. I like fishing when all the gates are open.

And welcome to 2cool.

[cajunasian]

Red....Do you go out on your kayak when all the gates are open like that? I was thinking about it, but thought that if motor boats aren't on the water. How would a kayak do?

[catzilla]

I am a new member to this forum and I just checked some earlier post and saw where the shad slinger had caught some cats with what looked like a whole lot of water and all the gates open. I guess that answers my question, maybe those bluegills that I had for bait should have been used.

I guess I will take the trotlines and some fresh bluegills and head to a more familiar water hole in Chambers county for some cat action tomorrow night.

It's a pure shame that I have no idea where to fish living this close to Lake Livingston. I live in the Big Sandy area and everyone says there are tons of catfish in the lake, but where.

I guess in time it'll all get worked out. Until then it's a minimum of 1 and a 1/2 hour drive to catch my cats and big gator gar.

There are plenty of catfish on the north end of the lake. I even catch them on empty hooks on my trot lines. My place is right across from the jungle on the river channel side. I always catch catfish there, but do not do as well on the White Rock and Caney Creek sections of the lake. So far all I use is shad, but I want to try the Danny King's bait with my rod and reels. If you have a boat, launch at Freedom Shores Marina and give it a shot. It is located on Hiway 356 between Onalaska and Trinity. You can find plenty of shad around the bridge if you have a cast net. Good luck!

[Gator gar]

I went out with my cousin at Penwaugh marina earlier in the year to run his trotlines. That is as far up the lake that I have ever been.


I have three trotlines with about thirty hooks a piece. Hanging on my main line are 4/0 swivels with number 18 tarred twine and topped off with either 11/0 circle hooks or 6/0 mustads. The only problem I see is that all the trotlines out there are in 20 plus feet of water and that is something that I am not familiar with at all.

Where I go, the deepest water I set my lines might be 6-8 feet. I stake them out with bamboo poles about the size of my wrist and about 18 feet long.

I have heard them talk about the lake turning over and the oxygen levels being limited at certain depths. This again is something I know nothing about.

I have a bag full of jugs, the legal kind with the PVC and noodles. I am set up to catch catfish, but it looks like I need to find some shallower water where the cats might be.

Is the oxygen level sufficient in 8-10 feet of water this time of year?

Also, I have a 14 foot deep and wide jon boat with a 9.9 evinrude on it. Will it suffice on the lake on a normal day?

[Richlyn Concepts]

Red....Do you go out on your kayak when all the gates are open like that? I was thinking about it, but thought that if motor boats aren't on the water. How would a kayak do?Absolutely.

The flow rate right now is 8,630 cfs which is not bad. We took our yaks and fished out of them a few months ago when the flow rate was up around 60,000+cfs. We have not problems fishing from them anytime, but if you are inexperienced with kayak fishing in rough water then I do not recommend it.
With the flow rate where its at and dropping, You should have no problem fishing up there right now.

[catzilla]

I went out with my cousin at Penwaugh marina earlier in the year to run his trotlines. That is as far up the lake that I have ever been.


I have three trotlines with about thirty hooks a piece. Hanging on my main line are 4/0 swivels with number 18 tarred twine and topped off with either 11/0 circle hooks or 6/0 mustads. The only problem I see is that all the trotlines out there are in 20 plus feet of water and that is something that I am not familiar with at all.

Where I go, the deepest water I set my lines might be 6-8 feet. I stake them out with bamboo poles about the size of my wrist and about 18 feet long.

I have heard them talk about the lake turning over and the oxygen levels being limited at certain depths. This again is something I know nothing about.

I have a bag full of jugs, the legal kind with the PVC and noodles. I am set up to catch catfish, but it looks like I need to find some shallower water where the cats might be.

Is the oxygen level sufficient in 8-10 feet of water this time of year?

Also, I have a 14 foot deep and wide jon boat with a 9.9 evinrude on it. Will it suffice on the lake on a normal day?





If you want to catch catfish, there is thousands of acres of water like you want on the north end of the lake. From our boat ramp to the main channel of the river is about five hundred feet and about 6 to 7 feet deep. It then drops to 41 feet deep. If you turn north or south from our boat ramp before you reach the channel, you will have miles of water 6 to 7 foot deep. Trust me, there is where you will find the cats. Since the lake was refilled after being 4 foot low for about a year, lots of grass has grown in the shallow end of the lake. Catfish love the grass. And they love shad. There is an old man in our subdivision who runs his trot lines every day, all year long. He catches lots of catfish and sell them to local markets.


I have organized a little fishing tournament with some of the folks I work with. We will be on the lake October 20 and will be fishing for catfish. Give me a shout and maybe we can meet.

[catzilla]

I went out with my cousin at Penwaugh marina earlier in the year to run his trotlines. That is as far up the lake that I have ever been.


I have three trotlines with about thirty hooks a piece. Hanging on my main line are 4/0 swivels with number 18 tarred twine and topped off with either 11/0 circle hooks or 6/0 mustads. The only problem I see is that all the trotlines out there are in 20 plus feet of water and that is something that I am not familiar with at all.

Where I go, the deepest water I set my lines might be 6-8 feet. I stake them out with bamboo poles about the size of my wrist and about 18 feet long.

I have heard them talk about the lake turning over and the oxygen levels being limited at certain depths. This again is something I know nothing about.

I have a bag full of jugs, the legal kind with the PVC and noodles. I am set up to catch catfish, but it looks like I need to find some shallower water where the cats might be.

Is the oxygen level sufficient in 8-10 feet of water this time of year?

Also, I have a 14 foot deep and wide jon boat with a 9.9 evinrude on it. Will it suffice on the lake on a normal day?


Gator, your boat is perfect for trot line fishing. In fact most of the locals use a similar rig. I just bought a new bass boat since my wife likes to fish for bass. I am a lucky man who has a wife who likes to fish. I also have an old 24 foot pontoon boat which is great for rod and reel fishing for cats. I am thinking of buying a boat like yours just for trot line fishing. The lake can turn into a bad place to be during a storm, especially on the south end with all the wide open water. The north end has a lot of coves and creeks that feed into the lake, so you can almost always find a place to fish even if it gets windy.

[Gator gar]

Catzilla, you just name the time and place for the meeting. Since I live in a Kingdom and not a Queendom, I am pretty much free to go and come as I please. Rest assured, my wonderful wife will probably be with me though, because like your wife, mine also loves to fish.

You don't have to do much, except just point to where I might encounter some cats, from what ever boat ramp you are talking about.

I don't have a depth finder, with the exception of my bamboo pole. I like to feel the bottom as I go along and try to stay out of the mud and get on some hard sand or rock.

Fair warning though, I am eat up with catfishing. So I will be in the water a pretty good bit. What we don't eat around here, I usually cook for my church after the evening service.

Anytime that you feel we can meet and you can do some pointing, feel free to say so and I'll meet you. I can do alot of fishing in between now and Oct. 20.

The boat is hooked up right now as a matter of fact. I went and caught a couple more bream a while ago to add to the ones I already have. I'll be below the Dam, first thing in the morning.

I'll keep ya'll posted when I get back.

[cduff]

There is a lot of shallow water along the old HWY 190 road bed as well as the north end of the lake, and the cove there at indian hills boat ramp gives some protection to the rough weather at times. the only problem with the area is on the weekends it gets kinda crouded with unruley jetskis from time to time, mostly on saturdays. There is a lot of water there though that matches the description of what you are looking for. I hope that this helps you out, and gets you on the kitties.

[Gator gar]

I bought a map of the lake today at wal-mart. Now I am seeing what everyone is talking about, when they refer to the old 190 and the jungle. I thought the jungle was probably an amusement park or something.

The jungle looks like what I might be interested in, especially if there are jet ski's all over the place around the old 190 hwy.

I'll look at this map an beat around here and there and hopefully locate a good place to catch some catfish. After all the lake is full of them, right?

Catzilla said there are thousands of acres of water and I plan on fishing them 100 hooks at a time.

[Outklassed]

there are thousands of acres of water and I plan on fishing them 100 hooks at a time

I like the way you think, i bet you will be giving out pointer out soon, good luck to you and your bride