Ranking Pools for smallmouth– any thoughts?

I am new to river fishing and was wondering how one would rank catch-and-release smallmouth fishing by pools? If I were to guess Pool 4 is the hottest smallmouth area based on my research. Does that mean Pool 5 is better than Pool 6 and Pool 6 is better than Pool 7 and so on? Within my driving range Pools 7-10 is what I will be trying for the most. Is it worth driving to fish Pool 7 and have better chances at catching smallies vs.
Pools 8 and Pools 9? Or are these three pools all pretty close in rating?

PS- I realize that I will be needing to use a guide service for several outings to learn the river and what to do and I am glad I found this site as a reference. Thanks for the info!!

Support catch and release!!!!

From my experience, pools 5 & 6 have some incredible smallie numbers. They are both plentiful and large. I stick mostly to pool 7 and do real well on that water. Pool 7 does get beat pretty hard by the tourney anglers and a lot of fish leave the pool and get transported to pool 8. Spring and fall can be the best times for big smallies. I have consistently caught 3-3.5 lb smallies into the middle of June. They do however seem to drop off when the warm summer sun heats the water. Pool 8 is the same way. There are nice smallies to be caught there also. It is pretty much a toss up. I would pick a pool and stick with it and then move on. It can get frustrating going from pool to pool especially when the fishing is tough and you are unfamiliar with the water.

To answer your question I would rate them pretty even. People have there favorites and may very well disagree with what I posted here. I am going from my experiences. If you want to get out on pool 7 PM me and we’ll set something up. I live on the pool and am out alot.

The pic I attached I have posted before. It is of a great friend of mine. Both fish are over 3lbs. Both were caught on topwater in early june.

OK, let me try this again. Here is the pic.

I think the Smallie fishing is excellent on all the Pools from 4-8. May be good above and below these, I just have more experience fishing these pools.

I do think the Largemouth fishing is better on 5a and 7 than on 5 and 6 however. I’m sure you can find guys here with differing opinions on that though too!!

I think pool 5 is probably one of the best pools on the Mississippi for smallmouth. However I know this part of the river very well. Every spring I catch a handful of bronzebacks over 20 inches! I”m sure some of the other pools are just as good!

I think pools 9 and 10 are two awesome pools for largemouth and smallmouth fishing. But those are the two pools that I fish consistently. I think the River as a whole is a phenomenal fishery that doesn’t get the credit it deserves. As long as we practice catch and release the Mississippi bass populations will continue to thrive.

Boy each pool has such a different personality that it is kind of hard to compare. From fishing and guiding every pool from 4-10 I would have to say with the exception of 4&7 which I really don’t fish much for bass all the others have given up great days of numbers and size.