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April 25
Lake Russell water levels are still very full at 474.95 (full pool is 475.00) and clarity is normal. Morning surface water temperatures got as high as the 70s but have dropped back to the low to mid-60s on the main lake after the cool mornings.
April 11
Lake Russell water levels are still above full at 475.09 (full pool is 475.00), and the lake was clear as of yesterday afternoon. Morning surface water temperatures are around 61-63 degrees at the front of creeks.
March 28
Lake Russell water levels are very high at 475.73 (full pool is 475.00), and the main lake and creeks are clear although yesterday’s rain is muddying up the very backs. Morning surface water temperatures are around 57-58 degrees.
March 20
Lake Russell water levels are still very high but down to 475.66 (full pool is 475.00), and the water remains a little colored on the upper end and the backs of some creeks – but it’s clear again on the main channel. Morning surface water temperatures range from the low to mid-50s.
March 14
Lake Russell water levels are up to 476.92 (full pool is 475.00). It’s murky on the upper end and the backs of major creeks are muddy, while the front of creeks and the mid-lake down on the main lake are fairly clear. Morning surface water temperatures have dropped to about 55 degrees on the lower end.
March 7
Lake Russell water levels are at 474.83 (full pool is 475.00) and – as of yesterday afternoon – the lake had cleared significantly. But with the rain that may have already changed. Morning surface water temperatures were as high as 60 degrees, but after the rain plummeted to the mid-50s.
Read more fishing reports from Lake Russell and other popular places at the AHQ Report!
The newest, middle and smallest of the three Savannah River chain lakes managed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Lake Russell is located in the Piedmont region of South Carolina and Georgia between Lake Hartwell to the northwest and Clarks Hill/ Lake Thurmond to the southeast. The Russell Dam is located 30 miles downstream from Hartwell Dam and 37 miles upstream from J. Strom Thurmond Dam, and the lake is situated in Anderson and Abbeville counties in South Carolina and Hart and Elberton counties in Georgia. Construction began in 1974, and the lake was impounded beginning in October of 1983 and reached its full pool elevation of 475 feet in December of 1984. Lake Russell contains 26,650 acres of water and 540 miles of shoreline, and surrounding the lake there is a 300-foot publicly owned setback which prohibits private docks or clearing trees. Development on adjacent private land is generally not visible on the lake. While jet skis are allowed on Lake Russell, personal watercraft can’t be stored on private docks and have to be trailered there, which seriously limits the numbers. The relative absence of recreational boaters make this deep, clear lake filled with standing timber a fisherman’s paradise!
Anglers target a variety of species on Lake Russell, including largemouth and prolific spotted bass, trophy striped bass and hybrid bass, healthy populations of crappie, channel catfish and white and yellow perch, and an abundance of bream – particularly small ones. The forage base on Lake Russell is very healthy, and there are prolific numbers of threadfin shad, gizzard shad and blueback herring. In fact, herring are so common in Lake Russell that commercial bait fishermen drive hundreds of miles to fish this lake.
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