piscicidal

That's a good choice. Get a M or MH with xtra fast tip for soft plastics. IMO, for a first setup, I would get a good rod like the Crucial, Avid, etc.. with an extra fast tip and go with a quality brand used reel (Revo, curado, PQ, Quantum PT, etc..). You can pick up a good used reel for 40-60bux on ebay which will clean up and work like new. You can always upgrade the reel later if you want a prettier one 8-) .And if you wish to upgrade the rod, you will have no problem selling it ( to me... )

I don't have one (yet ) but that Daiwa Viento is used by some really good flippin guys (i.e. Jay Yelas). The "twitchin bar" allows you to take up line with one hand. The Quantum Accurist PT (i.e. Gary Klein) is a good one as well. It is a big advantage to be able to flip with either hand, and both these reels have center-mounted actuators which instantly engage the spool.

I would try working a T-rigged soft swimbait (Lake fork magic shad/skinny dipper/Big Ez) through the grass. Which bait to use would depend upon the size minnow you are seeing chased. A willow blade spinnerbait would be worth a throw also. If I couldn't get hit on the swim/spinner bait, I would try ripping a trap (provided the grass isn't too thick). The action of a lipless crank ripping out of grass can sometimes trigger a reaction strike. Remove the center treble to make it more weedless.

Got a couple bass walking the golf course behind my house last night. Walkin a spook.

Listen to what the fish are trying to tell you.

Any recent reports? I have been out four times the past two weeks. Have done OK at Lox. Last three trips have resulted in about 40 fish...probly a dozen fish over 3lbs with a couple 5s. Every fish caught flipping. Last week, I fished Luke's night owl tourney at the Alley. My first time fishing that one...those guys don't play around! We caught our share of fish, but you better stick a couple toads to have a chance in that one. Didn't happen for us this week... My work has settled down a little bit. I'm gonna try Okeechobee/Istopoga this week...

Chris, I am going off memory here, but I am 99% sure that both spring washers on my accurists are round on both ends (no tabs). Can you upload a picture?

I agree, Dale. Use a heavy diameter 5/0 straight shank hook, instead of EWG. If you are tieing the hook straight to braid MAKE SURE the hook is welded as mentioned above...I've had big fish pull braid thru the junction of the eye. One thing I have been doing lately which has helped me is tieing a short piece of leader material (~12", #30 flouro) to the main braid. This has three effects...1.) you get the added abrasion resistance of flouro 2.) the leader material is very stiff and helps prevent the weight from wrapping around the line as you're flipping 3.) the junction knot acts as a natural bobber stop, pulling the bait down. This allows the weight to go thru itself first, then the falling momentum of the tungsten weight can help pull the hook/bait thru the slop. One more benefit...the flouro leader material is big enough in diameter...you won't have to worry about pulling thru the eye if you don't have welded eye hooks. At times, I prefer this method of using the small flouro leader. I think the fish hang onto the bait a little longer, not having the bait directly pegged to the heavy weight. And this setup provides a little more natural action to the bait (think unpegged versus pegged T-rig).

spook, buzzbait, frog, 1/2oz jig with trailer, 10" worm. All in dark colors.

Quantum AC501PT: $100 Diawa Cielo (TW): $125 ------------ Total= $225 If you plan on doing any pitching at all with this rig, I think this is the way to go. I've seen the left handed version (AC501PT) of this reel for even less than $100 on EBAY.

Wow...nice work, Vinny. 7lb bass is very impressive for Minnesota (I grew up in St Cloud area.)

I have both a Soron STX20 and a Shimano Stradic 2500. If you made me choose one of these, I honestly don't know which one I'd take. I like the bail action on the soron a little better. Both are awesome reels with good drag. If it helps your decision any, I have the stradic mounted to the better (Avid) rod. You really can't go wrong with either.

Prestige worldwide. LOL. Eric, I got that beer for you bro. Hang in there...this economy blows, but along with struggle comes opportunity.

wow...you listed five of the six bands on my pandora playlist. I love Within Temptation also, although they have almost nothing in common with those five.

x10 Berkley vanish is the worst. The only thing that vanishes is your chance of catching a fish over three pounds. My first experience with flouro was with this stuff. I basically gave up on flouro for about a year after that experience. I tried again later with a spool of BPS flouro (XPS) and haven't looked back.

x2. No point in using artificials...the goal here apparently is not sport, but catching as many small fish as possible. Artificals just can't measure up to live bait for catching fish. With artificials you're fooling em, with live bait you're feeding em. You can't fool all the fish all the time. Grab the kids, and a bucket of small minnows and go have fun.

There are my "core" setups... Worm (1/2oz or less): 7' M/XF Rod. 6.3:1 Reel. 12lb flouro. Worm (1/2oz or more): 7' MH/XF Rod. 6.3:1 Reel. 15 lb flouro. Swimbait (small): 7'6" MH/F Rod. 5.1:1 Reel. 40lb braid Crankbait (shallow): 7'6" M/M Rod. 5.1:1 Reel. 12 lb flouro. Crankbait (deep): 7'6" MH/M Rod. 5.1:1 Reel. 12 lb flouro. Frog/Flip (light): 7'6" H Rod. 7.0:1 Reel. 40lb braid. Flip (heavy): 7'6" H Rod. 7.0:1 Reel. 65lb braid. Topwater: 6'6" MH/F Rod. 6.3:1 Reel. 12lb mono. Spinnerbait: 6' MH/F Rod. 6.3:1 Reel. 17lb mono. Carolina Rig: 7'6" MH/F Rod. Spinning Reel (3500). 17lb cxx. Finesse: 7' M/XF Rod. Spinning Reel (2500). 8lb flouro. I have a dozen more setups stacked up in the garage. If I'm going somewhere where I know I'll being alot of a particular kind of fishing I can put together a couple more setups of that type. I prefer a spinning rod for Carolina rigging. I am probably in the minority on that one, but I get a better feel for the bottom with the spinning rig.

Welcome. We have a good group from South Florida that post here over at the Southeast forum. Look forward to seeing you there.

I like #17 pline cxx for jigs/flipping and #12BPS flouro for light plastics.

The fluke is awesome also if the bust happens very close to your boat. I had this happen to me at Okeechobee two weeks ago. I was fishing a cut and my boat was nosed into some slop. A group of shad started getting busted about ten feet from the back of the boat. I pitched a weightless fluke in there and caught fish on five straight casts (three 3 lbers). To me the answer to this question (what to throw?) really depends on your proximity to the bust. The aruko shad (or similiar lipless) is great for launching baits to them from long distance. Medium distance (15-30 yards) I like the lake fork magic shad...that bait best mimics the size/action of a shad, IMO. Up close, the fluke is hard to beat...the vertical action keeps the bait in the middle of the commotion and looks just like a dying shad.

boat (def.)= a hole in the water into which one pours money.

Lake fork live magic shad (3.5") Also: spro aruko shad, zoom super fluke When at okeechobee I have a set up with the magic shad setting on the deck at all times, waiting for the busting shad.

You've got a honey hole. I would hit that first thing in the AM. If they're there, you'll know it...if not work the adjacent stuff. Those kind of spots are awesome for tournaments, as they'll reload after you pull a few fish off of them. I'd make a plan around hitting that spot 3-4 times during the day and working the adjacent structure while waiting for it to reload.

Makes sense to me...I was mostly on the southwest side. I think there may be some schooling activity on the south end near the shoals but I did not make it down there. Anxious to hear other reports...I ran about 50 miles and only found fish in a couple spots. But when you find them it's on...caught fish on five straight casts in one spot.

I was there 12 days ago. Seems like 1% of the area is holding 99% of the fish right now. Not fast action....I caught about 15 in six hours fishing, but decent size. At least four were over 3. Hand-to-hand combat (flippin) in the slop was the only thing that worked for me. Spent some time looking for schoolers on the outside grass edge, but never found em.