Lake Russell November Bass Hotspots

Mike Tarrer’s love of bass fishing led him to start the Georgia Bass Trail tournament series. When he’s fun fishing in the fall, beautiful, undeveloped Lake Russell gets his attention as bass follow bait into the coves and feed heavily.

November can be a spot-fest at Lake Russell as spotted bass move into coves and ditches feeding on shad. You can load the boat with spots—and a few largemouth, too—by fishing ledges in ditches and coves. Typically in November, the bass will be from the mouths of coves to halfway back.

As the days shorten and water cools, shad make their annual migration into coves and creeks. It has long been assumed that bass follow them and feed heavily. Recent studies seem to indicate bass do not follow the bait, but that the resident shallow bass become more active with more bait.

In either case, you can improve your odds by fishing ditches, coves and small creeks from the mouths to about mid-way back. Several baits will catch those more-active bass.

Lake Russell is our newest U.S. Army Corps of Engineers reservoir. Sandwiched between the Hartwell dam and the upper waters of Clarks Hill, Lake Russell’s 26,650 acres of water and 540 miles of shoreline are pristine. As a newer reservoir, environmental regulations are in place, so the corps severely restricts shoreline development. There are no private docks on the entire reservoir. There are, however, many public boat ramps.

The Savannah River runs along the border between Georgia and South Carolina, and either state’s fishing license is good for fishing the entirety of Lake Russell. There are a couple of main creeks, and an endless number of coves and smaller creeks dot the lake. Many are full of standing timber that is usually well-marked. The timber is also the result of it being a newer reservoir—timber was left as fish habitat, versus older reservoirs where much of the timber was cleared during construction.

Mike Tarrer lives near Lake Oconee, but he fishes Russell often and has been fishing it since it was dammed and reached full pool in 1984. Five years ago, Mike started the Georgia Bass Trail, a two-division trail with six tournaments each. It is patterned somewhat after the extremely popular Alabama Bass Trail, and the Georgia trail has a Classic each year. Entry fees in the Georgia Bass Trail tournaments are reasonable, with each team paying $275. The trail pays back a high percentage of entry fees, with 60 teams producing a 1-in-7 payout and a first-place prize of $3,600. The Georgia Bass Trail Classic this November has $27,000 to be won by the top 4 of the 30 teams qualifying. Top teams can also qualify for the BASS Team Championship, a path to the Classic.

Mike also runs several charity tournaments like the Masonic Charity Bass Tournament and the Laurens County Bass Tournament each year. He likes to give back through working with these benefit tournaments.

“Russell bass start moving into coves and creeks, following bait,” Mike said regarding finding and catching bass in November.

He likes to find a cove that dumps into deep water, but also has a ledge along its bank. In his favorite kind of place, the water drops quickly to about 10 feet, and then flattens out a little before dropping from 15 to 20 feet into much deeper water. The bass feed on the slower-dropping ledge.

Mike likes to move quickly until he finds the fish, and then he slows down to catch more. He is able to keep his baits simple, with a crankbait, jerkbait, underspin and Texas rig ready to cast at Lake Russell this time of year. He might also throw a spinnerbait for special situations.

We fished the following 10 locations in the last week of September. The water was just starting to cool, and the bait was beginning to move. A few bass were after the baitfish, and there will be many more actively feeding bass right now in November.

No. 1: N 34º 05.732 – W 82º 43.744 — If you put in at Pearl Mill ramp, a free Department of Natural Resources ramp on Steven Heard Chapter Road, there is no need to go far. The old roadbed runs just downstream of the bridge and causeway, creating a ditch with the old roadbed being a ledge that runs along the downstream side of the ditch.

Stay out between the rip-rap and the old roadbed in about 25 feet of water, and fish up the rip-rap going into the bank across from the ramp. Fish a crankbait on the rocks for feeding fish, especially early, but keep your eyes on your electronics.

If you see baitfish and bass, you know you are in the right area. As you work more shallow, note at what depth you stop seeing the bait. That is a good indication of the depth you want to work when fishing your way back into coves.

Mike has forward-facing sonar (FFS), and he said it helps him see the suspended bait and bass. If he sees a bass, he will cast his jerkbait to it. But, as he says, FFS shows you the fish, but it does not make them bite. And none of the bass that came to look at his jerkbait here hit it.

Before you leave, check the corners of the rip-rap at the bridge. There are some brushpiles on them. Work them with a jerkbait and worm.

No. 2: N 34º 05.443 – W 82º 44.003 — Go upstream and across Beaverdam Creek to the creek running in by Beverly Park. The second cove on your left is a narrow ditch that holds big bass this time of year. The ditch runs out deep, close to the upstream bank, and has a good drop to fish.

Stay out in about 30 feet of water and cast to the bank. Run a crankbait from right on the bank back to the boat. Mike likes a KVD 1.5 or 2.5 in chartreuse and blue for covering water looking for active fish.

Always watch for suspended fish if you have FFS, and cast your jerkbait to them. If Mike sees fish right on the bottom out away from the boat, he will cast an underspin down to them and crawl it through the bass along the bottom. And he will fish the underspin like a jigging spoon if they are right under the boat.

No. 3: N 34º 06.790 – W 82º 46.241 — Run up past the Vana Church Road bridge and the railroad causeway.  Beaverdam Creek makes a sharp “S” bend to the left and back, and then the creek makes a more gentle left turn. The cove to the right at the second turn, at channel marker 41, has water willow on both banks going in.

Stay out in about 20 feet of water, and cast your crankbait to the edge of the grass and fish it back to the boat. Work your jerkbait the same way. The bottom drops fast to about 10 feet deep, and then flattens out some before dropping into the channel.

When you get to the left turn in the small creek, go across to the secondary point and fish it with all your baits. It runs out to the channel and has some brush on it, as well as standing timber on the end. Mike caught a nice keeper spot here on his worm, and I hooked and lost a small spot that chased my jig down as I reeled it in.

Schools of bass will often stack up on key structure and cover on the cove ledges. This point offers a different slope and has cover on it they like. Always watch for any kind of change like this.

No. 4: N 34º 05.548 – W 82º 43.149 — Downstream past Pearl Mill, there are a series of small coves on your left before you get to the bigger creek at red marker 25. The channel runs along this bank, and it drops fast and is rocky, characteristics that spotted bass love.

If you watch carefully, you will see a small rock-and-clay point with some grass clumps on it. It is easy to miss, since it does not stick way out, but it does run out underwater and forms a good change in the steep bank, and this holds fish.

Stop out from the point in 25 feet of water and fan-cast it from all angles. Start with your crankbait, and then try a jerkbait. Mike likes a Megabass 110+ in shad colors. He says this bait allows him to control the depth better and can get it deeper than the 110 version.

Current at this location and on other places helps a lot. You can call the corps and get generation and pumpback times for Russell and generation times for Hartwell. Russell’s pumpback system at the dam means current can flow both ways, so adjust your casts to let your bait move with any current you are noticing.

No. 5: N 34º 05.671 – W 82º 43.364 — Go back upstream a short distance to the downstream point of the biggest cove before the bridge. The water is 42 feet deep not far off the side of this point, and the point offers the kind of ledge that Mike likes. The point runs across the mouth of the cove and is a perfect ambush spot where bass attack shad moving in.

Stay on the creek side and cast across the point with your crankbait and jerkbait, working them from about 5 feet deep out to 20 feet deep. Fish around the point, casting up from the end and across from the cove side, too.

Drag a worm across the point from all angles, too, especially if you see bait or bass, but they just won’t chase a faster-moving lure. Mike rigs a junebug Ol’ Monster worm behind a 1/8- to 1/4-oz. sinker. He likes the lightest weight he can use, based on wind and current, for a slower fall.

Mike will drag his worm without much action, letting the tail do the work. Always feel for brush and rocks, and make multiple casts when you hit cover on the structure that might hold a bass.

No. 6: N 34º 05-489 – W 82º 43.155 — Going downstream, look for red channel marker 25 that is on the upstream point of a big double creek. There is an old roadbed on the upstream side of the point that offers the bass a “highway” from deep holding areas to shallow feeding areas.

Stop on the downstream side of the point, and cast all your baits across it to cover both sides of the roadbed and the point itself. Work all your baits over the roadbed and point from 5 to 20 feet deep, keeping your boat in about 25 feet of water. You have to swing way out as you go around the point to stay that deep.

On the upstream side of the point, you can move in closer and still keep your boat over deep water. The bank drops fast to 30 feet deep a short cast from the bank. Work into the creek until the bottom flattens out and you stop seeing bait and getting bites.

Here and at other places, fish your underspin for sluggish bass. You can run it by suspended bass, crawl it along the bottom for fish hugging the bottom, or you can even jig it for them. Mike rigs a 3.8 white Keitech or similar swimbait on a 3/8-oz. underspin for most of his fishing.

No 7: N 34º 04 535 – W 82º 30.150 — Run all the way down past the mouth of the Savannah River to the first cove on the left below the railroad causeway. The railroad runs along the side of this cove, and there is rip-rap for it near the back on the left. The water stays very deep all the way back to the rip-rap.

Stop on the clay bank just before getting to the rip-rap. This bank drops off sharply, and there is brush from an old state brushpile along it to fish. Keep your boat in 30 feet of water, and work your baits from 5 to 20 feet deep.

Run your crankbait over the top of the brush, trying to get it down to tick the very top. Fish your jerkbait over it, trying different cadences to see what the bass want. Then probe it with your Texas-rigged worm. When you get to the rip-rap, work it with the crankbait and jerkbait. Rip-rap always holds bait that bass want to eat, so fish it carefully.

No. 8: N 34º 04.485 – W 82º 38.253 — Go across the cove to the downstream bank of the cove with rip-rap. Stop at the ditch running off the bank, and fish all the way to the main lake point. There is wood cover from logs and blowdowns all along this bank to hold bass waiting on shad.

A squarebill crankbait works well for fishing wood since it will bump it and deflect off. That deflection often draws a bite, so try to bump the wood. Also carefully work your jerkbait over the deep ends of the wood, and then fish your worm through it.

Here and at all other locations, look for fish schooling on top in November. Mike casts his underspin to them, and he also keeps a four-bladed spinnerbait ready just for schooling fish. He says the multiple blades resemble a school of shad fleeing bass.

No. 9: N 34º 04.350 – W 82º 38.232 — Go down to the cove on the upstream side of the Highway 72 bridge on the South Carolina side. The old roadbed parallels the rip-rap on the bridge causeway. Find the old roadbed—it drops off fast—and start fishing on top of it in 30 feet of water.

Fish up the roadbed, working both sides and the top until you get to where you are casting into about 10 feet of water on top. Try the rip-rap, especially early in the morning, fishing it with your crankbait and jerkbait.

No. 10: N 34º 05.118 – W 82º 42.014 — Go back up to red channel maker CM 14. It sits just off several small rocky points on the main channel. Mike says you can catch bass on all of these rocky points, but his favorite is the one on the downstream point of the biggest cove.

Stay out in 25 feet of water and cast up to the point and the bank leading into the cove. It is rocky and drops off fast. We got several bites here but decided they were either small spots or crappie. But bigger bass will utilize this point more as the water cools.

Here and at other places, wind blowing into or across the point will improve the bite. A ripple on the surface greatly improves the jerkbait bite, but all baits work better with some wind.

Check out these places Mike likes to fish at Russell in November. You can get a good idea of the structure, cover and places to fish to set a bass-catching pattern on a beautiful, uncrowded reservoir.