# 'visitor' on Lake Livingston



## LR95S97 (Feb 2, 2011)

On Monday morning the wind finally laid down, so the FIL and I launched at Waterwood and headed north. Fished several spots along the channel markers, then headed back south a ways to a small cove. 

Suddenly, a 'visitor' showed a huge interest in the topwater my FIL was walking. This 4 1/2 footer was eventually lured right next to the boat.

We get back to the house and proceed to tell the story and show the pictures to my daughters. My youngest (14 years old), in her best Swamp People impersonation, says "why didnt you choooot it". It was a good laugh!


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## FISHROADIE (Apr 2, 2010)

Very nice picture.


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## midnight5 (Apr 26, 2012)

He just wanted a boat ride to the other side. j/k Cool pic.



Russ


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## Sunbeam (Feb 24, 2009)

Nice pic.
It is surprising how many gators are able to survive on Livingston and the feeder creeks in this day and time of so many thoughtless people roaming our water ways.
A majority of people think of them as a menace or just another thing to kill for fun or "sport"
There are hundreds in the old oxbows and large ponds that surround the lake proper that act as a hatchery and farm system that helps maintain their numbers on the public waters. 
They have been in this ecosystem for eons. It will be a sad day if they are lost forever.
sorry for the soap box rhetoric. Just feeling a little low today.


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## bwebster (Dec 7, 2006)

They do love a big topwater


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## markbrumbaugh (Jul 13, 2010)

Sunbeam said:


> Nice pic.
> It is surprising how many gators are able to survive on Livingston and the feeder creeks in this day and time of so many thoughtless people roaming our water ways.
> A majority of people think of them as a menace or just another thing to kill for fun or "sport"
> There are hundreds in the old oxbows and large ponds that surround the lake proper that act as a hatchery and farm system that helps maintain their numbers on the public waters.
> ...


You took the words right out of my mouth. We used to have one over at alligator hole. The grandkids would be so excited to be able to see a real live alligator swimming around. He was always right there where I had left him from the last visit. Ad do-gooder decided that he should be removed.


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## D.L. (Sep 13, 2007)

I own a little lake around the main one.... I dont wanna be a hatchery in the place where my kids swim all the time! We run them out... Saw this one a few weeks ago leaving Broken Arrow


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## pYr8 (Apr 17, 2012)

Very cool pic!! Most I've come across are kinda shy.
There's still a ton of gators on the north end of the lake. One, named Walter by the locals, was hanging around White Rock Marina when I was juggin up there. Full grown & heavy, he sounded like a truck hitting the water when he went off a high bank, LOL.


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## NitroTexan (Aug 23, 2011)

I have never had gator but I hear it's tasty and that we can take 1 per year in Texas. Is it potlicking if I ask for the GPS coordinates?


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## pYr8 (Apr 17, 2012)

It's tasty but I think chicken tastes more like chicken than gator does, LOL.
Remember, gotta wait til Sept 10-30 for the core counties & have only til June 30 for non-core private property hunting.


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## Whitebassfisher (May 4, 2007)

I enjoy seeing gators. The ones I see are usually very shy though. To me they are a neat symbol of nature and wildlife.


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## tbone2374 (Feb 27, 2010)

They're just trying to get through life... as best as they know how!


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## Sunbeam (Feb 24, 2009)

NitroTexan said:


> I have never had gator but I hear it's tasty and that we can take 1 per year in Texas. Is it potlicking if I ask for the GPS coordinates?


Check the laws very carefully. There are a lot of "ifs and buts" in it. In fact I would only feel safe in being legal if I was hunting with the GW.
The words "private land" keep coming up in most of the rules.
I just wonder if, in a legal sense, there is any private land surrounding the physical shore line on Livingston. TRA owns the easement up to 135 foot elevation so any access to the waters edge is across their property.
I know the private land owner has control and use of the easement but I would want to know the legal definition. Sure would not want to fine out when the State of Texas and Feds were trying to take away my freedom and fortune in a court of law.

Yeah, old Sunbeams nitpicking again. But think how boring it would be if y'all did not have me to jerk your chain every now and then.


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## BlueWaveCapt (Jan 8, 2007)

We ran across one on the island a couple years ago. She looked to be nesting (according to a jr. game warden in the group) and everyone out there left her alone. Nobody would go into the woods after word spread there was a gator in there.


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## DrummerBoy471 (Nov 3, 2009)

BlueWaveCapt said:


> We ran across one on the island a couple years ago. She looked to be nesting (according to a jr. game warden in the group) and everyone out there left her alone. Nobody would go into the woods after word spread there was a gator in there.


Yea I've seen that one a few times. She's in that creek that runs through pine island. Pretty big gator...


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## jfish87 (Feb 15, 2010)

its so weird how wildlife is so different from one state to the next. In louisiana there are so many they are a nuisance on many lakes, especially if your trying to throw topwater. This past weekend I caught a little one, just by luring him to the side of the boat and my brother grabbing him, and we can do that every trip if we'd like no matter what size they are. But they are real fun to watch, and I love showing them to my fishing guests who don't get to go very often


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