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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: 75-80 degrees. Clarity: Clear on the main lake, but the creeks are stained. Bass: Tournament angler Kerry Partain reports, “The bass fishing has been a little slower, but they have started to transition to the summer pattern and become a little more predictable as they relate to the deeper water. We have been catching a few good spotted bass in 20 feet on main-lake humps, points and brush. There will still be some fish shallow in the creeks, and a Texas-rigged Zoom Ol’ Monster worm or jig with a Zoom Speed Craw around blowdowns and timber is good for some big largemouth. Right now, the fish seem to be scattered everywhere, but as we head into June, look for them to concentrate more as they begin to setup on the main-lake points around baitfish.” Lake Russell Page: Archived Articles, News & Fishing Reports
Read MoreLake Russell Articles
Mike and Sabrina Millsaps earned another 10 points in the Team Power Ranking race after their May 20 win on Russell at the Southern Bassin’ Couples tournament. “The last time I fished Russell was six years ago, I’ve fished it twice in my life,” said Mike. “Thursday and Friday all I caught was short fish.…
The older gentleman with the walking stick leaned his foot on the guard rail of the bridge over Allen Creek on Lake Russell and yelled down to Troy Morrow, who was rigging a rod on the deck of his boat. The man, who was taking his morning walk, saw Troy and asked, “You caught anything…
Standing timber everywhere! Sounds like a fisherman’s dream, but on Lake Russell a combination of factors that center around abundant standing timber have created a tough bass-fishing situation. Luckily, GON readers have folks like Bobby Stanfill of Greenwood, S.C. to help put together the puzzle that is summertime bass fishing on Russell. Bobby is a…
It is time to take Staysee fishing. At Lake Russell. On main-lake points and humps south of the Hwy 72 bridge. According to bass fisherman Brandon Davis of Athens, that’s the formula for some great spotted-bass fishing in April. On March 18, Brandon and I were on the lake to test the theory. We put…
During the early winter months as water temperatures drop into the low 50s on Georgia reservoirs, large schools of baitfish, like threadfin shad, move off the main lake and into the coves and creeks. This massive migration of bait is followed closely by concentrations of larger fish that move along under the schools and feed…
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 |
| White Catfish | 4-lbs., 6.72-ozs. | Garrett Duncan | 05/06/25 |