Lake Livingston fishing: Largemouth Bass, Blue Catfish, White Bass
Target species: Largemouth Bass, Blue Catfish, White Bass, Striped Bass
Best months: May, Jun, Sep, Oct for Largemouth Bass
Second window: May, Jun, Sep, Oct for Blue Catfish
The lake
Lake Livingston covers 83,215 acres in Texas, across 6 counties: Trinity, Walker, San Jacinto, Polk, Madison and Houston. It is a lake: 95.4% of it is 40 feet deep or less; the deepest point measured is 73.7 feet (22.5 m). Our records hold 7 species for this water.
Depth: down to 73.7 ft at the deepest measured point
Deepest measured point: 73.7 ft (22.5 m). 95.4% of the water is 40 feet or shallower.
- 0–5 ft: 16.8% of the water
- 5–10 ft: 10.9% of the water
- 10–15 ft: 11% of the water
- 15–20 ft: 12% of the water
- 20–25 ft: 15.3% of the water
- 25–30 ft: 10.2% of the water
- 30–35 ft: 10.1% of the water
- 35–40 ft: 9.1% of the water
- 40–45 ft: 3.1% of the water
- 45–50 ft: 0.9% of the water
- 50–55 ft: 0.5% of the water
- 55–60 ft: 0.2% of the water
- 60–65 ft: 0.1% of the water
4 target fish, led by Largemouth Bass
- Largemouth Bass — Best months: May, Jun, Sep, Oct.
- Blue Catfish — Best months: May, Jun, Sep, Oct.
- White Bass — Best months: Nov.
- Striped Bass — Best months: Nov, Dec.
Also recorded here: Bowfin, Common Carp, Grass Carp.
Water and conditions
Our water temperature readings average 77°F; they do not cover the whole year, so this is not a yearly average. The coldest single reading we hold is 54°F and the warmest is 94°F; the warmest monthly average is 88°F. pH averages 7.2. These readings span 2016–2026.
What is hard here
Wind is the limit, not the fish: 83,215 acres of open water build a short steep chop, and there is no shelter in the middle. Winter water drops to 58°F, and the warm-water species stop feeding well before you do. Summer water sits at 88°F: heat and afternoon lightning are the real risks, not the fishing.
Where this data comes from
- Texas Water Development Board — Texas Water Development Board: depth contours: class A, a survey of the bottom, 2019.
- EPA NLA — EPA National Lakes Assessment: class B, a depth figure measured and published by an agency, without a bottom map, 2007.
- Webster, K.E., McCullough, I.M., Soranno, P.A. LAGOS-US DEPTH v1.0, EDI, doi:10.6073/pasta/64ddc4d04661d9aef4bd702dc5d8984f (CC BY 4.0); Cheruvelil et al. LAGOS-US LOCUS v1.0 (EDI) — LAGOS-US DEPTH v1.0: Lake depth for 17,675 lakes in the conterminous U.S.: class B, a depth figure measured and published by an agency, without a bottom map.
