A pair of smallmouth

The first smallmouth getting released.

Hit the Upper Potomac today in an area that I am now calling The Community Swimming Pool.  It was a great morning with temperatures in the upper 60s then low 70s and partly cloudy skies.

The second smallmouth.  I was hoping there would be
a muskie trying to photobomb.

Unfortunately, the fish didn't agree with the weather.  I caught two smallmouth -- a skinny one 10-11 inches on a spinnerbait and one around 12 inches on a Whopper Plopper.  At least one was on a topwater, so it counts as five fish.

I also had a hit on the Whopper Plopper when I wasn't even looking.  Just heard a splash, felt tension on the rod, and instinctively set the hook, but the fish didn't stay on.

Other than those three encounters, there wasn't a whole lot going on.  Nothing biting at all no matter what I tried -- wasn't at all like on Tuesday on the Middle Patuxent where there was a ton of activity.

I managed to remember my Nikon Coolpix (I think W100) camera that Karen got me for Christmas.  I had been using a Canon S90 (or a phone) but was always afraid of dropping it or it getting wet.  Or dropping my phone.  The touchscreen on the phone can also act funny (or not act at all) if it's wet or my fingers are wet.

The Coolpix camera is slightly larger than the S90, but it's waterproof down to 33 feet.  I hadn't used it yet for underwater shots until today with the two pictures here.  Obviously, my underwater photo skills need some work.

The photo quality of the S90 is better, but again, it's not waterproof.

A better picture of the first smallmouth.