Just an fyi on the braid, depending on the brand, braid actually floats if you're talking about a spiderwire type with no additional coating on it. The ones with coating may or may not add a little weight to make it sink (hence not good for most topwaters).

Much about using braid is the rod. This past weekend almost all my rods were braid due to fishing the stained water of Blue Lake and heavy cover I planned on fishing. The action and drag setting are paramont to the success of using braid.

Jdub, as you may have read in the past I am a huge user of braid as the sensitivity is unmatched. Getting used to it can be a pain but I believe the reason I have done well in tournaments where flippin dominated (like Spring Lake) is due to my feeling more bites than other competitors. Not that you're not supposed to be watching your line like a hawk (critical) but being able to feel exactly what is going on is paramont. Although the line is more visible, when flippin heavy cover the fish do not have the time to see it.

I also think your decision to use 17# mono might be a little lite on Spring as there are some heavy pigs in there. It would seem 17# would be hard to break but if you're flippin' way back like I do you'd be amazed at how often you'll need to retie or you WILL break your line!

Good luck out there and hope to see you on the water soon.

Todd