there is a lot of good fishing from the bank all around Livingston. I have caught limits of white bass by sort of wading in the upper parts of small creeks. I catch a lot of catfish in places where there is some bank access. The lake is full of catfish which is why the limit in Livingston is double the standard limit for the rest of the state. Ask around and you should be able to find a nice spot or two. I like to throw out some range cubes to help attract fish.

. Greetings from Riverside Texas. Walker County on the north end of Lake Livingston.

. Greetings from Riverside Texas. Walker county on the north end of Lake Livingston.

I agree. No matter what, knowledge is more important than stuff. Also, survival fishing is totally different than sport fishing. You want small hooks first and then maybe bigger hooks second. there are a lot more small fish than big ones and when you are hungry you want a sure thing. That is more likely to be the little fish. Once you have those and a full belly you can use the parts you didn't eat and try to catch a bigger fish.

I make an emergency fishing kit that will fit into a large straw that is cut to length and then the ends sealed with a lighter and a pair of pliers. Three small hooks, with spider wire wrapped around them, a few split-shot and done. the entire thing is a little over an inch long and less than a 1/2 inch in diameter.

Another one is made with a small medicine bottle filled with hooks, weights, small lures like jigs and spoons and the line is wrapped around the bottle.

You also might think about a Popeil Pocket Fisherman. They are small and actually do work pretty well if you get the original and not a knock off.

Look up "Cuban Yoyo". I have caught some good sized fish with those things.

Emmrods work great but are a bit pricy. Look them up to.

then there are all sorts of travel rod and reel kits.

Howdy from East Texas.

A Zara Puppy.

"Women: Look at that dress!"

WARNING.

If the lady in the dress looks real good you need to shrug and say something like "It looks OK I guess but she isn't doing much for it."

You do NOT say, "Wow, she looks HOT!"

Been married for 46 years and this is one that took me a little while to learn. Honesty is NOT always the best policy!

You will love it for small bass and crappie. The soft action makes it have a very different feel from the much stiffer graphite rods. I prefer fiberglass for spinnerbaits. Graphite allows you to feel the take when a bass sucks it in. If you set the hook then, it is hard not to, you snatch the bait out of their mouths. When I used to tournament fish I used Larry Nixon fiberglass spinnerbait rods and it upped my catch.

There is also a little bit of pleasure for me and some people with going old school. I sometimes fish with older rods and reels and I mean OLD. I like the old solid fiberglass, bamboo and even have a stainless steel true temper rod.

Fishing should be fun and not a style competition.

I have a 5-gallon bucket that everything goes into. Then inside the bucket, I have a tote bag and a carpenter's three pocket nail apron. I do all different sorts of fishing so the bucket serves three purposes. First, it allows me to store my tackle all together and ready to go. Second, it gives me something to sit on when I am fishing with bait like for catfish, or with minnows or worms under a bobber. Third I use the bucket with my tackle in the tote bag to carry home my catch. When I am using lures for bass or perch fishing and moving around I put small tackle boxes in the nail apron and go walkabout. I have rod holders, tackle, a first aid kit with sunscreen and bug repellent, stringers, my fishing hat, knife, and multipliers. I have a couple of boats but sometimes I just love to go pond hopping and walk around on the bank. This is my always ready go kit.

A great day like that is priceless. You will remember it forever. Congratulations.

It hurts my heart to say this but in my opinion and experience, the KastKing reels are better than the ABU reels that are at the same price level. Kastking is currently selling cheap to get their reels out and tried. When you buy an ABU part of the price is that you are paying for the name and their last forever reputation. That, right now, means that at the same price range the KastKings are better reels. The cheaper ABUs are made in China and lack some of the finer fit of the Sweedish made ones.

To some extent, the same will be true of any of the other big-name reels. The other possibility is in Chinese made reels that you can get from places like Wish.com. This is a little bit of a craps shoot. I picked up a small baitcaster from them that I paid twenty dollars for that is smooth as silk and so far works flawlessly. I have also tried another that was only good as a weight to hold down a marker buoy. Even in the same model, their quality varies way more than is acceptable...but at that price, it might be worthwhile to try. If you try casting reels and begin to fish a LOT you might then consider an ABU. The top of the line, made in Sweeden, they really are reels that will last you forever.

Seriously??? Have you gone to their web site?

https://www.kastking.com/

They are a fairly new company but so far their stuff seems to be distinctly different from the purely China made stuff. The biggest thing is that their customer service so far seems to be really good and you can get parts for it unlike the Chinese reels. I recently bought one and so far in about a dozen fishing trips it has worked well and is very smooth. I doubt that they will ever replace my ABUs because they never wear out beyond easy repair but I think that they are pretty good first try entry-level at least casting reels. I haven't tried the spinning reels but the reports that I have read are mostly positive.

I picked up a Rover 60 just to see how it compared to the ABUs that I have. I bought it and then got an ABU6500 Catfish special for Christmas so have been able to fish them side by side. So far after a dozen trips the Castking Rover 60 has cast beautifully and handled everything really well. The drag works fine for me. I fish with 20 to 25 pound test mono and it will break that if I crank it down. Personally I usually set my drag fairly soft and then add to it with my thumb. Maybe because I was raised on the coast and saltwater fishing I never have tried to use my reel as a winch. I work a big fish by pumping the rod and reeling in on the downstroke.

We will see how it lasts. The ABUs are lifetime reels and I still have and use my first one that I got as a birthday present over 50 years ago. It has been hard-worked in both fresh and saltwater. The Kastking looks good and feels great. If you want to give casting reels a try and are a casual fisherman the difference in price makes the Kastking very attractive. The ABU 6500 catfish reel cost about $140.00 the Kastking 60 cost about $45.00. Try it and if you like it great. If you fish a lot and it only lasts a few years THEN the more expensive ABU will be worth the price. A lot of people don't fish over 12 times a year. I have already used it more than that and it is just now breaking in and still working like new.

Welcome to the forum. For Aligator gar, I like to use bluegills. You want one that is big enough that the smaller gar will leave it alone. I live near and fish the Trinity about 175 miles south of you. I don't know what you know about gar so if you know this maybe someone else will benefit from this.

Gar catch and kill their prey by swinging there head with their mouth open. When they hit a fish they try to grab it and hold it until it is dead. They then spit it our and turn it head first and swallow it. When you are gar fishing with a float. when the float bounces around and then goes under you let it go and wait. Then it will come back up when the gar spits it out. When it goes under the second time he has started to swallow it and you can set the hook. If you set the hook the first time you will have a short tug of war and then the gar will spit it out. There is nothing else in the freshwater in Texas that will fight like a gar. They are strong and fast and will strip line off your reel in a hurry. Great fun and sport. Make sure that you use plain carbon steel hooks and after you catch them just cut the line and leave the hook. it will rust and not kill the gar.