piscicidal

Thanks, Robert...me/Jack have realistic expectations in these Okeechobee tournaments. I've fished the lake a little over a dozen times now....we don't expect to compete against guys like yourself, McMillian, Val, DeMott, Bruce, Carmen, etc, etc....We fish it because we like the tournament, and the money is going to a good cause. Our outlook kind of changed when we had two ~5lbers in the boat by 9:00AM, though. We had a 10minute stretch in the morning that was pretty unbelievable. We had a little dry spell from 10-1...but then we stuck a 5.6lb early afternoon. At that point, we were one more big bite from cashing a nice check. That big bite never came, but it was fun to be in that situation.

Jack and I weighed 18.86lbs, today. 10th place, I believe. One team had 29lbs...very impressive....It wasn't easy out there. Brandon McMillian finished 2nd with 24. I dropped off a beast next to the boat that would have put us near that number. I'm sure most the field has a sad tale of fish lost today, though. Fun day on the lake....very friendly and well-run tournament and we caught a lot of fish (40-50 with some big ones thrown in)

Gambler Loco Lizard? It is kind of like you described with the rings around the neck and the ribbontail. The Loco Lizard is a little different than your picture in that it has paddled feet.

Sounds like a plan. My first choice would be Lox or Clewiston/Belle Glade.

spot remover shakey head w/gambler sweebo worm 5" senko drop shot or weightless fluke sweet beaver rigged with heavy T-rig (reaction bite) If they aren't chasing the moving baits and I can't get bit on one of the four items above, then it's time to go home.

I don't have too much experience on the lake...I've fished it maybe a dozen times, now. But, I actually seem to do better with the lower water. The best day I've had (4-11-2011. 28.8lb bag) the water level was about 11.5. I had about a 20lb bag when I went there on Labor Day weekend when the lake was @ ~10.5. Maybe I just don't know any better, but I seem to have a little easier time finding them in the low water. Intuitively, it would seem that the lower water should be easier...alot less places for those fish to hide. I've never even fished the lake at 13feet, so maybe my ignorance is actually helping me right now... The lake is coming up real fast right now, though. 11.49 this morning. At this rate, it will be about 12.5 by Ghosts and Goblins. I'm gonna have to find some new spots, in a hurry.

In that price range, I say used Crucial/Avid or new Veritas. A little above your price point, but I bought a Dobyns SS735C for ~$130 when BTD had their 20% off sale, and it's one of the best purchases I've ever made...

Looks like the soaker this weekend is having a pretty big impact on the lake depth. It is up to 11.35 this morning.

Geesh...I thought I was good. You're All-Pro, my friend. At least hurricane season is almost over. The car should be alright out on the driveway... Now you've got an excuse to build the 3-car garage (to fit the bass cat, later).

On the news this morning they were saying that the rain we got this weekend dropped ~foot of water in Kissimmee. They said when that water works it's way down to Okeechobee, it could raise the water level to ~13 feet. I'll believe it when I see it...doesn't seem possible that a 1.5ft raise in Lake Kissimmee would coorespond to a 1.5ft increase @ Okeechobee. Okeechobee has 10x the surface area. Regardless...we should start seeing some positive effects of this weekends rainfall soon... http://www.sfwmd.gov/portal/page/portal/xrepository/sfwmd_repository_pdf/nr_2011_1010_rain_kissimmee.pdf

Sorry....when I said "John" I was referring to John Francho. I should have been more clear.

Paddletails versus "real" swimbaits....different tools for different jobs, IMO. No doubt a huddleston type swimbait will be much more realistic in a clear, open water environment. In South Florida, everyone throws the soft paddletails, in the slop. The ultimate goal (no matter what bait you're throwing) is to present a bait in the most realistic way possible. IMO, there is almost no artificial bait setup that is more realistic than a keel-weighted skinny dipper slithering thru eel grass/kissimmee grass. That bait literally revolutionized fishing on Okeechobee. Granted, I take that skinny dipper and throw it on a weedless flat and it doesn't get hit. The hard swimbait will undoubtedly outfish the paddletail in this condition. Different tools for a different job....

John's #19 post was in response was to my #17 post. At the time I thought the Smoke was a better reel than my Curado. Since then I've bought two more Smokes (and one more Curado 200E7) and I still feel that way. Nothing I've fished with outcasts this reel. I have not experienced any of the quality issues John was talking about. Again, maybe I got lucky with my three reels and his friend had really bad luck with his two (no doubt, if a reel cannot free spool more than one turn then something is drastically wrong). If there is a chronic issue with the Smoke design, in general, I have not heard about it or experienced it. Tackle Tour (held in high regard on this forum) rates the Smoke a 8.80 out of 10. Of the dozens of baitcast reels I researched, it was the second highest rated. The Revo STX was rated slightly higher (9.00) but being 2.5oz heavier than the Smoke was kind of a deal breaker for me on the moving bait setups. I say continue to do your homework....you could choose from any of Smoke/Curado/Revo STX/Lews Tournament reels and be happy with the purchase, IMO.

I just received my third Smoke reel by USPS on Friday. I love these reels...I am in the process of changing all my moving bait setups to Smoke/Veritas. There is not a lighter, better performing $250 moving bait setup than Smoke/Veritas, IMO. That combo looks bad azz, also, if that's important to you. BTW, I bought this last reel off ebay, and I also paid $157 for it. I bought it from 701nodaksports. If that is who you are looking at as well, you can purchase with confidence.

WBM, If you're a Walleye fisherman, chances are you already have a good candidate for a spinning/finesse bass rod. My finesse rod is a Med/Fast 7' St Croix Avid with a Stratic 2500 spinning reel. It is the oldest rod in my arsenal and used to be my Walleye Lindy-Rig rod. Now it is my shakey head/fluke/senko/wacky setup. Got a 4lber on it last night...

I got to witness this bad boy in action yesterday. Pretty awesome watching this fire-breathing beast fly by you at 90MPH with what seems to be about half a prop in the water. Without a doubt the fastest bass boat I have ever seen.

Excellent post, Rolo!! I agree with your rankings almost exactly. IMO, the skinny dipper/Big EZ are #1 and #1a, the nod going to either one on a particular day. One additional comment I would make, though, is regarding the susceptibility to get weeded up. The skinny dipper has a very sleek, round nose on it. That bait slithers thru eel grass in a way that is nearly perfect in it's presentation, IMO. The Big EZ has a more blunt, squarish nose and does seem to hang up a little more often in the grass. However, I have caught some pretty big fish ripping that bait off of vegetation before, so getting hung up is not always a negative as long as you don't pick up the weed on the bait. In general, I would say I catch more fish with the skinny dipper, but bigger fish with the EZ. When fishing eel/kissimmee grass, I usually start out with the dipper as a search bait and when I find them, change to the EZ looking for bigger fish.

I agree with the point about balance as it pertains to moving baits. The variability in resistance associated with moving baits, really makes trying to achieve a "balance" a moot point, IMO. To me "balance" is important on the finesse and esp. jig/flipping/pitching rigs at which point slack line ergonomics come into play...

I would start my search with a 6'6" to 7'0" rod with a fast action and a short handle. The short handle is a must for me with topwaters/jerkbaits.

I agree with most of the sentiment here. It's difficult to find one rod to do all the cranking. I have two crankbaits rods...both 7'6". One MH/moderate and the other M/Moderate. If I had to choose one, I would choose the MH/Moderate. The MH can do most anything the M power rod can (some sacrifice on casting distance on small baits). The same cannot be said vise-versa.

Sir Snook, Snakeheads are difficult to gaff, even the big ones. In fact, at the last snakehead round up Capt Shane's partner caught the biggest snakehead of the tournament (~35"??). Shane has a video of them catching that fish on his you tube channel and they are struggling to gaff the fish. And this was the biggest of the ~150 fish caught that day...imagine trying to gaff the smaller ones. They have a hard smooth skin, small profile, and they spin/thrash violently at the boat. Couple this with fishing them in a smaller boat rocking around and you get some idea of the issues trying to gaff these fish. Certainly it can be done, and people do it. But gaffing is not always the most expediant method for getting a snakehead in the boat/on shore. If I am fishing them from shore, I will swing them up on the bank. The preferred method, if there isn't too much debris, is to just slide them right up on the bank. Use their small, sleek profile against them. Either way, I have had no issues with the BPS extreme rod swinging big snakeheads up onto shore.

Jeremy, at the BPS store in Davie where Shane and I both shop, there is a big white sign at the exchanges/returns counter saying that Shimano/St Croix customers must return warranty equipment directly to the manufacturer. The same sign says Abu Garcia equipment can be exchanged in store. I've never challenged that policy, as I've not yet broken any of my St Croix/Shimano rods. However, I have returned BPS and Abu Veritas rods at the store and the process was as painless as could be.

I'll be at Ghosts and Goblins again this year. I'm hoping for more treat and less trick!

Shane, in my humble opinion the Cumara is overkill for snakeheads. As you well know, their bite is not subtle and I don't think we need that kind of sensitivity for this fishing. I broke a Dobyns rod on a snakehead also....a 735C that I got back about a week ago. These higher modulus/thin walled rods are going to have issues with a thrashing snakehead on a short line. I've been doing more snakehead fishing in my golf course ponds, since our conversations at Lox and at the snakehead round up. As I mentioned to you, I think I've killed a couple world record (Bullseye) snakeheads (one 37" and one 38") that I've caught from these ponds. Lately, I've been going out there a couple nights a week trying to get another one of those monsters. I got a 34" Friday night, but the world record still eludes me... Anyway, my current snakehead rod is a 7'6" MH BPS Extreme Rod with a Curado 200E7. I've been swinging thrashing snakeheads with no problems with this setup. They sell regularly for $99 at BPS and you can often get them cheaper. I would also look at the Veritas rods. Super light and strong...good for a long day of casting frogs. That rod is a little more fragile, but if you do have any issues you can return it right to the Davie BPS store and replace it instantly. Shimano has a good return policy, but I would rather replace a rod instantly in the store rather than have a 2-3 week down time waiting for a replacement in the mail.

I like black during low light conditions and bullfrog when the sun gets up a little higher.