Lake Russell Fishing Report – May 2008

Russell: Level: Down 2.4 feet below full pool. Temp: 68-72 degrees. Clarity: Clear.

Bass: Excellent, with a postspawn, topwater bite producing good catches of quality largemouths. Tournament angler Trad Whaley said the last wave of spawning bass is up right now. “We’ve been catching them on the herring on the rocks and the points,” Trad said. First thing in the morning, fish the shoals, points and rip-rap with a Sammy, Spook, swimming jerkbait or a fluke. Once the sun gets up, the bite is tougher, but Trad said you can still catch bass at the ends of the points where herring were spawning by fishing a Blade Runner. “You can also go back in the pockets and throw a floating worm and catch postspawn fish. And the spotted bass are everywhere. A Spotsticker and a Bladerunner will catch you all the spots you want,” Trad said.

Crappie: Fair. “They caught them good in the back of Allen Creek trolling jigs this weekend,” said Charlie Dowlis. “Two weeks ago they were about to bust with eggs, so they should be spawned and moving out to deeper water.” Charles said to look for brushpiles in 20 feet of water, and tightline minnows down about 10 feet.