Five Pound Smallie at Riley's Lock

Type: Nontidal
Region: Central
Location: Riley's Lock

On Sunday March 10th at around 3 pm I was able to land this 5 lbs smallmouth bass from my buddy's boat. This fish bit my jig with a trailer on the Virginia side near Riley's Lock.

A river smallie this size can really tug in that Potomac current. After a great fight and a few doubts from my buddy Jeff that the fish would be big enough to net; we ended up netting this fish with a brand new net that I just purchased recently because I lost a very big largemouth bass a few weeks previous to this trip on the Potomac at another local lake.

We did manage to weigh the smallie with the Boga Grips at 5 lbs. On the tape it measured at 21". I dropped the ball because of the adrenaline rush from catching the big fish and not wanting to keep it out of the water due to the seasonal regulations for smallies. I did get a few quick shots of the Bogas with the weight but I was rushing; therefore the pics are of poor quality and no shots of the tape.

This fish was released unharmed and left with a good tail splash. Lessons learned�.don't panic and next time get the right shots.