September 15

Lake Russell water levels are at 474.34 (full pool is 475.00) and the lake is typically clear. Morning surface water temperatures have dropped to about 79 degrees.

The bass on Lake Russell are still doing a lot of roaming, and Guide Jerry Kotal (706-988-0860) reports

September 8

Lake Russell water levels are around full pool (full pool is 475.00) and the lake is fairly clear. Morning surface water temperatures are in the low 80s on the main lake.

The bass still aren’t biting too well on Lake Russell, and Guide Jerry Kotal (706-988-0860) reports

August 31

Lake Russell water levels are at 474.49 (full pool is 475.00) and the lake is fairly clear. Morning surface water temperatures are about 84 degrees on the main lake.

It seems like the bass have just started to make an early fall move on Lake Russell, and yesterday Guide Jerry Kotal (706-988-0860) reports

August 18

Lake Russell water levels are around 473.96 (full pool is 475.00) and the lake is fairly clear. Morning surface water temperatures are about 84 degrees over most of the lake.

While the water temperatures are in the 80s over most of the lake, Guide Wendell Wilson (706-283-3336) reports

August 4

Lake Russell water levels are around 474.5 (full pool is 475.00) and the lake is still clear on the main channel. Morning surface water temperatures are about 85 or 86 degrees.

The bite is fairly stable on Lake Russell, and Guide Jerry Kotal (706-988-0860) reports

July 22

Lake Russell water levels are around 474.4 (full pool is 475.00) and the lake is still pretty clear on the main channel. Morning surface water temperatures are around 84 or 85 degrees. 

The fish are starting to group up more on Lake Russell, and Guide Jerry Kotal (706-988-0860) reports

July 14

Lake Russell water levels are at 474.53 (full pool is 475.00) and the lake is still pretty clear on the main channel. Morning surface water temperatures have dropped to about 84 degrees. 

One pattern is still stable with the bass on Lake Russell, and Guide Jerry Kotal (706-988-0860) reports

July 1

Lake Russell water levels are at 474.56 (full pool is 475.00) and the lake is still relatively clear. Morning surface water temperatures have dropped to about 84 degrees. 

With a mild week the bass still haven’t gone much deeper on Lake Russell, and Guide Jerry Kotal (706-988-0860) reports

June 23

Lake Russell water levels are at 474.11 (full pool is 475.00) and the lake is very clear with no recent rain. Morning surface water temperatures range from 85-87 degrees, rising to about 90 in the afternoon.   

Fish are getting into a true “mixed-bag” summer pattern on Russell, and Guide Wendell Wilson (706-283-3336) reports

June 17

Lake Russell water levels are down to 474.24 (full pool is 475.00) and the lake is very clear. Morning surface water temperatures range from 85-87 degrees, rising to about 90 in the afternoon.   

While he would have expected super warm water temperatures to have pushed the fish very deep, Guide Jerry Kotal (706-988-0860) reports

June 9

Lake Russell water levels are at 474.90 (full pool is 475.00) and the lake is very clear. Morning surface water temperatures are about 80 degrees. 

The bass on Lake Russell have now transitioned into early summer patterns, and Guide Jerry Kotal (706-988-0860) reports

May 25

Lake Russell water levels are at 474.93 (full pool is 475.00) and even after a bunch of rain this week the main lake and fronts of creeks are still clear. Morning surface water temperatures range from about 75-78 degrees. 

The bass fishing on Lake Russell is getting a little tougher, and Guide Jerry Kotal (706-988-0860) reports

May 18

Lake Russell water levels are at 474.63 (full pool is 475.00) and with almost no rain in the past three weeks the lake is very clear. Morning surface water temperatures range from about 77-79 degrees. 

The bass fishing on Lake Russell is still in a late spring pattern, but Guide Jerry Kotal (706-988-0860) reports

May 12

Lake Russell water levels are at 474.95 (full pool is 475.00) and with no rain in the past two weeks most of the lake is very clear, with only a slight stain in the very backs. 

Morning surface water temperatures range from about 70-72 degrees. 

Even though Guide Jerry Kotal (706-988-0860) reports

May 4

Lake Russell water levels are at 474.83 (full pool is 475.00) and the lake has mostly cleared. Morning surface water temperatures are about 74-76 degrees. 

It’s been a pretty good herring spawn bite for bass on Lake Russell, and Guide Jerry Kotal (706-988-0860) reports

April 21

Lake Russell water levels are at 474.74 (full pool is 475.00) and the main lake is still pretty clear while you can find stained water in the creeks. Morning surface water temperatures are about 62 degrees on the main lake and 65 in the creeks.   

The herring spawn has gotten underway on Lake Russell, but Guide Jerry Kotal (706-988-0860) reports

April 8

Lake Russell water levels are up to 475.36 (full pool is 475.00) and the main lake is still pretty clear while the creeks are muddy in the backs after almost two and a half inches of rain Tuesday. Morning surface water temperatures are about 60 degrees on the main lake and 62 in the creeks.   

The crappie fishing has turned back on again, and Guide Wendell Wilson (706-283-3336) reports

April 1

Lake Russell water levels are down to 474.41 (full pool is 475.00) and the main lake is pretty clear while the creeks are dirty in the backs. Morning surface water temperatures are about 58 degrees on the main lake and 61 in the creeks.     

The consensus among Guide Jerry Kotal (706-988-0860) and Guide Wendell Wilson (706-283-3336) is that the crappie fishing

March 25

Lake Russell water levels are down to 474.59 (full pool is 475.00) and the main lake is pretty clear while the creeks are a little muddy in the backs. Morning surface water temperatures are about 57-58 degrees on the main lake to 60 in the creeks.     

The bass fishing has been extremely good this week on Lake Russell, and Guide Jerry Kotal (706-988-0860) reports

March 17

After dropping about a foot Lake Russell water levels are back above full at 475.16 (full pool is 475.00) and the water is muddy in the backs of creeks. At least down the lake is still pretty clear on the main watever but even creeks that generally stay clean have now gotten muddy. Morning surface water temperatures are about 56 or 57 degrees.   

March 10

Lake Russell water levels are above full at 475.21 (full pool is 475.00) and the water is getting muddy in the backs of creeks but still clear on the main lake. Morning surface water temperatures are about 57 degrees on the main lake but were warmer in the backs. 

Proving that not all the fish are doing the same thing at the same time, Guide Jerry Kotal (706-988-0860) and Guide Wendell Wilson (706-283-3336) are on completely different patterns

March 1

Lake Russell water levels are at 474.73 (full pool is 475.00) and the water is stained in the backs of creeks but generally clear on the main lake. Morning surface water temperatures are about 55 degrees on the main lake and 60-61 degrees in the backs of creeks. 

In a sure sign of spring the bass have pretty much left deep water, and Guide Jerry Kotal (706-988-0860) reports

February 18

Lake Russell water levels are at 474.62 (full pool is 475.00) and the water is clear except for the very backs of creeks where there is a slight stain. Morning surface water temperatures are about 52-53 degrees on the main lake and 54-55 degrees in the backs of creeks. 

It was a good winter for striped bass fishing on Lake Russell, but Guide Jerry Kotal (706-988-0860) reports