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Lake Russell
Lake Russell is one of Georgia's youngest reservoirs, completed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in 1983 with construction of the Richard B. Russell Dam on the Savannah River bordering Elbert County, Georgia and Abbeville and Anderson counties in South Carolina. Lake Russell is 26,650 acres and sits between Lake Hartwell to the north and Clarks Hill Lake to the south. As a newer reservoir, environmental laws impacted construction, one factor being that thousands of acres of standing timber were left. Lake levels don't fluctuate much more than 5 feet. Pumpback features at Russell Dam can both pull and release water into and from the tailrace. In addition to the Savannah River, major tributaries include Beaverdam Creek on the Georgia side and Rocky River in South Carolina.
Lake Russell Resources
Russell: Level: 0.4 feet below 475. Temp: 66-70 degrees. Clarity: Stained Bass: Tournament angler Kerry Partain reports, “The water is turning over in a lot of areas and causing many sections of the lake to be brown or off colored. When this happens, I look for the clearest water I can find that has baitfish, or I just fish shallow in the areas where the fish have been active previously. Early in the day, I like throwing spinnerbaits and crankbaits. Then, as the day goes on, I switch to a jig or shaky head with a Zoom Magnum Swamp Crawler. As we head into November, the water will begin to clear up as it continues to cool off and the bass will get more aggressive. Once this happens, I try to find big schools of baitfish and catch the active bass on a jigging spoon and an A-rig. Lake Russell…
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Does catching 100 bass a day sound good, even if they are smaller spotted bass? Lake Russell is full of spotted bass in the 11- to 13-inch range to the point of being badly over crowded with these aggressive bass. That makes Lake Russell a great place to go this month to hone your hook-setting…
If you want to see some big spots before your eyes, grab your favorite baits and head to Lake Russell this month. Keep it simple with a jig, underspin, shaky head and crankbait, and concentrate on fishing rocks and clay to catch some quality spotted bass in March. Russell is our newest Corps of Engineers…
Luke Wilson caught this 1-lb., 4-oz. lake-record yellow perch on Lake Russell on Sep. 22, 2016. Yellow perch are common on the upper Savannah River reservoirs and in the Georgia mountain lakes, but many anglers don’t go after these tasty fish. Here’s an article from the GON archives that details how to catch yellow perch…
If you want to catch a lot of bass on a beautiful lake with a natural shoreline and clear water, head to Lake Russell. Just make sure you keep some small spotted bass for a fish fry! Lake Russell is a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers lake on the Savannah River between Hartwell and Clarks…
Mike Strickland caught this 6-lb., 8-oz. lake-record spotted bass on Lake Russell on April 6, 2013. Spotted bass have all but take over what used to be great largemouth bass fishery on Lake Russell. For lots of articles and information on catching spots at Lake Russell, click here.
Lake Russell Record Fish
| Largemouth Bass | 13-lbs., 4-ozs. | Eddy Propes | 03/04/90 |
| Spotted Bass | 6-lbs., 8-ozs. | Mike Strickland | 04/06/13 |
| Striped Bass | 63-lbs. * | Terry McConnell | 04/03/09 |
| White Bass | 4-lbs., 4-ozs. | James L. Payne | 04/12/94 |
| Walleye | 11-lbs., 6-ozs. | Neal Watson | 09/11/95 |
| Brown Trout | 10-lbs., 8-ozs. | Tim Harris | 07/04/93 |
| Black Crappie | 3-lbs., 6.08-ozs. | Aaron Jenkins | 02/23/24 |
| White Crappie | 3-lbs. | Tony Baker | 04/03/03 |
| Hybrid Bass | 14-lbs., 9-ozs. | Wayne McCollum | 01/11/04 |
| Yellow Perch | 1-lb., 5-ozs. | Vern Fulmer | 09/27/23 |
| White Perch | 1-lb., 4-ozs. | Eric Young | 01/02/21 |