The 2013 Bassmaster Elite Series: Mississippi River Rumble is June 20-23 in La Crosse, Wis. This is the eighth year of the world’s premier competitive bass fishing circuit for top anglers.
These top anglers will be on the hunt for the Upper Mississippi River’s finest bass in navigation pools 6 through 10.
One of the success stories that has helped restore and maintain the fish populations on the river is the Upper Mississippi River Restoration - Environmental Management Program (UMRR-EMP). This was the first program in the nation to combine ecosystem restoration with scientific monitoring and research on a large river system. It has served the nation since 1986, completing 54 habitat projects benefitting more than 100,000 acres of aquatic and floodplain habitat and contributing significantly to our scientific understanding of this complex ecosystem.
The program has two major elements: restoring habitat and monitoring/research.
Restoring habitat is accomplished through Habitat Rehabilitation and Enhancement Projects (HREPs) element that use a wide range of construction techniques and approaches to help mimic natural river processes and provide benefits to the river system locally and regionally.
To date, 19 projects have been completed in Mississippi River Pools 6-10, and another 6 projects are in progress. Together they will restore more than 43,000 acres. Some of the significant projects include Pool 8 Islands, Lake Onalaska, East Channel and Long Lake.
The monitoring and research work is conducted through the Long Term Resource Monitoring Program (LTRMP) element, a federal-state effort that collects Mississippi River health information to aid in the wise management of its natural resources.
The program collects information on water quality, vegetation, and fish, along with developing systemic datasets such as land cover, topography and bathymetry maps. These data are FREE, and available via the web to the public through graphical data browsers. The graphical browsers are simple point and click ways to see the status and trends of fish, water, and plants over time, even allowing comparisons between different river reaches (Pools 4, 8, 13, 26, the open river below St. Louis, and La Grange Pool on the Illinois River).
The information can’t tell people how to catch fish, but allows fishermen to see where professional biologists have sampled bass and other fish species in the river over the years.
Important UMRR-EMP Web Links:
Habitat Restoration element
Habitat Restoration Project Maps - Pools 6-10
Long Term Resource Monitoring Program element (USGS science oversight & management)
Fish Information - Graphical Fish Database Browser
Graphical Fish Database Browser for Synthesized Long Term Resource Monitoring Fisheries Data (pdf fact sheet)
UMR Status and Trends Report
Mississippi River Historical Web Viewer