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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: 1 foot below 475. Temp: 60-65 degrees. Clarity: Clear on main lake with some stain in the creeks. Bass: Tournament angler Kerry Partain reports, “Now is a perfect opportunity to catch fish and take a kid to enjoy the great outdoors. The month of April is one of the best times to catch bass in a variety of different ways. If you like to fish shallow, you can catch them in the creeks on crankbaits, spinnerbaits and a Texas-rigged Zoom Baby Brush Hog or lizard. There will also be some prespawn bass out on the points and in the major pockets cruising before they go on bed. For these bass, I like to throw a Blade Runner with a Zoom Fluke or a shaky head out deeper on the points. Later in the month the topwater bite will start to turn on with the herring spawn, and I…
Read MoreLake Russell Articles
With cooler nights and dropping temperatures on the state’s reservoirs, the crappie fishing is getting ready to pick up from the doldrums of summer, when it’s hard to catch these tasty fish, unless you’re willing to stay out all night. Expert anglers around the state are wiping the dust off of their ultra-light gear,…
The carp finning through the shallows of Lake Russell fairly glowed in the glare of floodlights lighting up the dark. The fish was in range. Jason Cathey drew his bow, aimed some- where under the moving fish and released his arrow. The white fiberglass shaft launched from the bow like a white Polaris missile, a…
If you are looking for a lake that has a natural shoreline, limited access and is full of spotted bass you should head to Lake Russell. This U.S. Army Corps of Engineers lake has very restricted shoreline development, and you can fish for miles without seeing a dock or house. You will see spots though,…
In tournament fishing, the name of the game is to come in with five bass that weigh more than the five bass anyone else on the lake has caught. When Trad Whaley fishes a tournament on Russell, he says he’s swinging for the fences — and he has often been successful bringing five, big, difficult-to-catch…
I gave my line slack, and somewhere down in the tangle of tree trunks and branches 40 feet below the boat, my jigging spoon fluttered down like a dying shad sinking toward the bottom. When I pulled upward the jig felt like it bumped something. I pulled up gently, maintaining pressure, watching the rod tip.…
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 |