Some of the top weekend tournament anglers in the nation will battle it out for a share of the huge $1-million-dollar purse on the Upper Mississippi River on May 28-30. The field will include the top six boaters and top six co-anglers from each of seven regional tournaments and one wild-card event held last fall. This could prove to be a difficult tournament for the contenders, with locks and dams, unpredictable spring water levels, and tournament waters that don’t boast quite the same population of bass as pools to the north. Here’s a look at each of the five pools competitors may fish.

Pool 13: 34.2 miles long; 29,997 acres
Pool 13 is the biggest, and undoubtedly the best of the five tournament pools. It produces 18- to 20-pound limits when the fish are “on” in the spring. But it’s also the furthest away from the launch site: 43 miles to the bottom of Pool 13, to be exact. And to reach what locals often refer to as the Savanna Pool, competitors will need to pass through three locks along the way since the tournament launches at the upstream end of Pool 16 at Sunset Park. Locking takes up precious fishing time, and a round trip to and from Pool 13 will include six lock passages.

But this trip has been made before. The 1995 B.A.S.S. Top 100 tournament launched from the same ramp, and some estimate that well over half the field made the long run to Pool 13 on each of the competition days. David Wharton finished 2nd by running a tandem spinnerbait through silver dollar pads and new coontail emerging on shallow flats in the area known as Mickelsen’s Landing.

Anglers making this trip will likely only have around three hours or a letter better to fish on Pool 13, so they’ll have to be on fish to make it pay. While no regional circuits have events planned on Pool 13 for the weekend of the All-American, the tournament popularity of this pool means that there could be one of more club tournaments on Saturday. If the Army Corps of Engineers cooperate with set lock times (which is unkown by Big River Bass at this time), it could make locking less risky, but it won't necessarily increase fishing time.

Pool 14: 29.2 miles long; 10,291 acres
The next best pool is probably Pool 14. It offers fewer large backwaters than Pool 13, but it has some with decent depth and cover. Aquatic vegetation is not as prevalent as it is on Pool 13, and this is especially true in the spring. Water levels will be important, as some areas that hold fish in higher water levels may not be fishable if the water is low. Likewise, very high water can blow a lot of areas out as current pushes over island heads and main river banks.  Anglers fishing this pool will add an hour and a half to two hours of fishing time compared to those making the run all the way to Pool 13. There is a charity tournament scheduled to launch on the 30th from the lower end of Pool 14, so there will be some added angling pressure on Saturday.

Pool 15: 10.4 miles long; 3,626 acres
The smallest – and least interesting – of the five pools is Pool 15. Situated almost entirely within the Quad Cities metro area, this stretch of river is very industrial, with various factories and commercial docks along its shores. This pool has the least amount of backwaters. There are a few small boat harbors, but some are private and do not allow boat access. Keeper bass do live here, though, and it could provide a few important fish for anglers who have time between locks. While it’s doubtful this short pool will serve as a primary fishing area for competitors, the winning fish in the very difficult American Bass Anglers Rock Island Regional tournament in September of 2007 came from Pool 15. And very surprisingly, they were smallmouth. However, this tournament was in the fall under low-water conditions. Fishing was down and it only took an average of about 9 pounds each day to win.

Pool 16: 25.7 miles long; 11,630 acres
Locally known as the Andalusia Pool, the tournament launch is in the back of Potter's Lake at the top end. But competitors who decide to stay here to maximize their fishing time without looking at the other pools could be making a mistake. This river stretch was battered badly by the 1993 flood. Consequently, the backwater lakes on this pool suffer from siltation problems that limit critical overwintering areas for bass, crappies, and bluegill. The bass population isn’t what it once was here. But like Pool 15, keeper bass still swim in Pool 16 and each year a few four pounders turn up. Finding fishable water could be a challenge. The Rock River is a major tributary and dumps into the top of this pool. It can really dirty the water if it’s running high and muddy.

Pool 17: 20 miles long; 8,130 acres
Muscatine, Iowa is the major community on this pool. It has few backwaters, but the few it has can be decent. Many local anglers would rank this pool as a sleeper behind pools 13 and 14. If a lot of boats go there, it could fish very small. If the pressure is sparse, somebody might be able to put together some fish. The Big Timber backwater area was deepened years ago thanks to a habitat project and holds decent numbers of bass throughout the winter as well as offering spawning habitat.

How it could go down
In all likelihood, this will be a backwater tournament. Some fish, maybe even most of the fish, will have spawned if the weather has been warm and stable. If the weather hasn’t cooperated, there will still be prespawn and spawning fish. It’s probably several weeks too early for there to be big numbers of fish out in the current of side channels or the main river. Smallmouth numbers, while increasing in recent years, are still low on these pools and putting together a consistent smallmouth pattern is not probable.

But just when you think the fish are sure to zig, some zag. If an angler finds an area that fish are using to get out of a spawning area, a self-replenishing hot spot in mild current could serve up enough fish to win.

Big River Bass will play the odds, though, and call a backwater victory for someone who can get the right bites up on Pool 13 in a short amount of time, and maybe pick off one or two key fish on the way up or back. This won’t be an easy tournament. There will probably be a lot of long faces among the contestants when it’s all over since the best fishing areas will have plenty of pressure. Winning weight? We'll go 38 to 40 pounds over the three days. Chunking spinnerbaits and pitching soft plastics should do the trick, with the potential for some buzzbait fish, too.