Lake Russell Fishing Report – April 2007

Russell: Level: Down 1.7 feet below full pool. Temp: 64-66 degrees. Clarity: Mostly clear.

Bass: The largemouths are going to be coming off the beds and settling into a postspawn pattern that should last until the end of May. Early, try topwater plugs on secondary points. As the sun gets on the water, continue to fish secondary points, but use Super Flukes and crankbaits. There are lots of bass already pulling back out into the standing timber. Early in the day and all day when it’s cloudy, fish a buzzbait or topwater prop bait like a Devil’s Horse next to and over cedar trees. When the sun is out try a spinnerbait or a Texas-rigged Ol Monster worm next to the trunks of trees with bass holding eight to 12 feet down. For spotted bass, fish the main-lake points with a hard or soft jerkbait. (See article on 104 for April bass patterns.)

Crappie: It’s been real good, according to Jerry Craft. He said most of the better fish are spawned out already, but some smaller crappie might still be on the banks. Jerry recommends using your electronics, and look for schools of postspawn crappie over the creek channels. “Find out what depth they are, and drop a minnow down to them, slowly move along with the trolling motor. This year we’ve been catching a mix of good fish and pretty small fish, we’ve caught some 2-pounders and heard of a 3-pounder,” Jerry said.