Russell Bass Bite Returns For Fall

The look exchanged by my fishing partner and I was one of surprise, almost shock… a “can you believe that” kind of look.

It was late afternoon on a beautiful mid-October day on Lake Russell.

What could we possibly have seen that was so surprising?

It was another boat, the first and only boat we saw that picture-perfect October 12 day.

I love this lake!

A day of fishing on Russell would be heaven for me if I never got a bite. Fortunately, not only is Lake Russell completely and solely unique in its lack of boat traffic, but itʼs also a very good bass lake.

The best indicator of how a Georgia lake compares to other area reservoirs and rivers is the Georgia Bass Chapter Federation (GBCF) creel data from bass-club tournaments. Dr. Carl Quertermus, of State University of West Georgia, compiles and analyzes this data every year, and the 2004 data shows that Lake Russell was the top Georgia lake in most categories­:

• Russell tied for No. 1 with Allatoona for number of bass weighed-in per angler-hour fished; 24 percent above the average for Georgia lakes and rivers.
• Russell was No. 1 in pounds of bass weighed-in per angler-hour fished; .446 pounds at Russell, while the average was .367 pounds.
• Russell was No. 1 with the highest percentage of anglers who caught five or more bass (23.4 percent).
• Russell tied for No. 2 with the best average weight of bass weighed during tournaments; 2.2 pounds at Russell, while Seminole was No. 1 with 2.31 pounds and the average was 1.76 pounds.

Jamie Sykes with a 2-lb. Russell largemouth caught in mid-October. Though the water has been late to cool this fall, this bass had moved up into a short, small pocket in Gray Branch off the Beaverdam Creek arm of the lake. Jamie coaxed the bite by fishing a Carolina-rigged, green pumpkin Trick Worm down the middle of the pocket.

Itʼs obvious from the bass-club data that Russell is a very good bass lake, but one thing the data doesnʼt show is the time of year of the 36 bass-club tournaments on Russell that were analyzed.

Russell is a very good bass lake — during certain times of the year. November is a month when Russell bass fishing is good enough to match the solitude, peace, and beauty of the lake itself.

Bass fishing at Russell during the summer, on the other hand, can be tough. When the lake was built, the trees werenʼt cleared from the lake basin. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers topped the timber at 13 feet below the full-pool level. The submerged timber creates a unique situation on Lake Russell in the summertime. On other reservoirs the bass and shad move offshore in the summer and relate to bottom structure, like humps, ledges, or channels.

On Russell, the bass move out into this forest of submerged timber and suspend during the hot, summer months. They relate horizontally to the timber instead of vertically to the bottom structure. They can literally be anywhere in the lake because the topped timber is everywhere, and finding a bass is like finding a needle in a haystack. If you find one, then thereʼs the issue of catching a bass suspended 20-feet down in timber over water that could be anywhere from 25-feet deep to 60-feet deep.

Bring on the fall, when the nights of October begin to cool the water, and the bass move out of the timber to places where anglers can find and catch them. Fall bass can be scattered, but in November they will be aggressive and hungry, and often you can simply find the threadfin shad and find some bass willing to bite.

My fishing partner two weeks ago was Jamie Sykes. Jamie lives in Calhoun Falls, S.C., almost on the lake, and he makes a living as a fisheries biologist for the corps, working Russell, Hartwell, and Clarks Hill.

He also loves to fish, and with Russell at his back door — from his work and his home — this lake is often where youʼll find Jamie wetting a line.

“In the fall, fish are going to move back up shallow,” Jamie said. “Theyʼre accessible again. Thatʼs relative, theyʼre not in two feet of water, Iʼm talking five to eight to 10 feet of water.

­“Like most people, the lack of boat traffic is something I really enjoy about Russell,” Jamie said, “but the fishing is good. I think a lot of people come here and have trouble because itʼs so different than most lakes — the way the timber was left — but itʼs a good fishery.”

I asked Jamie about his favorite November pattern for Russell bass, and his answer was about as shocking as seeing that one boat. I expected a typical, shallow fall pattern.

“This isnʼt going to be the most popular way for people to fish this time of year, but we catch a lot of good largemouths fishing deeper structure with a Carolina rig,” Jamie said.

The key, he explained, is the mixing of the oxygenated water that occurs when the lake begins to cool. In the summer, the oxygenated water stops at a certain depth. In the fall, there is suitable oxygen for bass and baitfish at deeper depths. The fall migration of bass is not only to shallow structure, but also to deeper structure that now has suitable oxygen levels.

“About the only color worm I use on this lake is green pumpkin,” Jamie said, and heʼs partial to a Zoom Trick Worm on his Carolina rig.

An excellent deep-water structure to key on at Russell this time of year are the roadbeds, and there are plenty of them that are easy to find. A quick look at a topo map will show dozens of options in just about any part of the lake you choose to fish, and because the lake is relatively new compared to most reservoirs, the roadbeds are easy to spot along the banks.

The paved roadbeds are generally better because they offer a drop on both sides, plus they often have old ditches along the sides and culverts that will hold bass. However, donʼt overlook the old woods roads. While they wonʼt have much if any of a drop-off on the sides, the cleared path they offer through the topped-off timber and through the standing timber creates an edge and these roadbeds are used by bass moving shallow and deep.

A good topo map will tell you which old roadbeds are paved and which were old dirt roads or woods roads. On the map, all flooded roadbeds are marked with a dotted red line, but if there is a solid black line leading up to the lake bank that then continues into the lake as a dotted red line, itʼs likely a paved road. A dotted black line leading to the lake is likely an old woods road.

A great example of a paved roadbed is right at the Elbert Ramp at the Hwy 72 bridge. The old Hwy 72 runs parallel and to the north of the newer highway and bridge. On the South Carolina side, the roadbed enters in the back of the pocket just north of the bridge. In the fall, if you run this roadbed and watch your electronics, youʼre likely to find bass from a few feet of water out to 30 feet of water.

Thereʼs also an excellent roadbed up the Savannah River arm on the Georgia side that comes off the big point at the Richard B. Russell State Park. This is the old Ruckersville Road. It crosses Van Creek and intersects with another roadbed on the opposite side of the creek from the park. Then it continues into the mouth of a smaller creek and then turns east into the back of a short pocket just before the standing timber begins in the smaller creek.

If you head up Rocky River on the South Carolina side of the reservoir, there are a series of roadbeds that cross to both sides of the channel between markers 15 and 20.

Those are just a few well-known and productive roadbeds, there are others all over the lake, although there are fewer roadbeds south of the 72 bridge.

Another structure that Jamie loves to fish this time of year are old bridges that were left standing and were flooded when the lake was constructed. When we fished on October 12, the lake had just begun its fall mixing, and Jamie wanted to try a sunken bridge up Beaverdam Creek.

“They should just be getting on it,” Jamie said. “We test water quality all the time on Russell, and last week it showed that the lake was beginning to mix. We catch bass about 30-feet deep and deeper on that bridge,” Jamie said.

Unfortunately, outboard trouble kept us from making a run to Jamieʼs favorite submerged bridge. While that was the bad news, the good news was that our limited range forced us to fish some areas more thoroughly, and we found that Russell bass were already on some other fall patterns.

Jamie Sykes, through his position as a fisheries biologist with The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, has worked on several projects to improve fish habitat at Lake Russell. Last year several trees were cut and cabled to the stump, providing blowdown cover.

Our best bass of the day, a fat 2 1/4-lb. largemouth, came on a Carolina-rigged Trick Worm fished down the middle of a short pocket about halfway back in a creek. Small coves and pockets off the creek arms are excellent in the fall. If the bass are biting good, fast and aggressive presentations like spinnerbaits, hard and soft jerkbaits and small crankbaits will draw strikes. If theyʼre not on a heavy feed, drag a Carolina rig or a jig ʼn pig down the middle of the pockets.

We also caught several bass and missed several others on floating worms. Jamie was throwing a Trick Worm, and I was fishing much faster with a Super Fluke. We basically just worked the banks and picked off a few aggressive bass along the way, then as we hit a pocket, weʼd fish it more thoroughly with the Carolina rigs.

The corps and South Carolina biologists have planted and experimented with several types of native vegetation. So far, water willow has done the best.

As you work toward the backs of the creeks, watch for schools of threadfin shad. This time of year youʼll see them rippling the surface, and usually theyʼll be toward the backs of the creeks. Itʼs almost a guarantee that if you find shad — even if you donʼt see bass busting — you can catch one or two bass by throwing a fluke or hard jerkbait around the school of shad.

“With November fishing, you can run into some schooling fish, particularly in the middle portion of the reservoir, areas like Pickens Creek, Allen Creek, Bond Creek, Coldwater. That is a productive part of the lake,” Jamie said.

He likes to keep a Sammy, Chug Bug or Pop R on the deck in case he sees bass busting on top.

Just like on any Georgia reservoir during November, you can catch bass at Lake Russell on a variety of patterns. Itʼs one of those months where you can almost pick your favorite way to fish and stick with it — while mixing in a few other techniques — and generally have a good day on the water.

Hereʼs a guarantee. Spend a fall day on Russell, and whether you catch a bunch of bass or not, youʼll have a good day. I bet you donʼt see a jet ski. You might not see a boat.