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Yes you really need a 7' or longer to get the casting distance for the deep divers

I have a med mod-fast St Croix Premier glass that is 6'6", so probably similar and rated for 1/4-3/4 lures. Really it is a target caster/square bill/buzz bait/lipless crank rod. Too short for deep divers. Great rod though.

I still have a Daiwa Apollo rod and Daiwa Silvercast reel from when I was a kid in the 80s. Caught alot of fish of all kinds on it. My 1st strictly bass tournament type rod and reel was Shimano Citica 100DSV and Team All Star SBR1 rod. I still have the rod I use as all purpose for river Smallies the reel was sold(now use Pflueger Asaro very similar reel).

The bigger DT 14/16/20 I have not had breaks, but definitely the smaller ones have including the DT Thug a smallmouth catching machine. At least they are not real pricey.

Fenwick HMG med-hvy/fast rod and either a Daiwa Fuego CT or Shimano SLX reel.

Its usually the small ones that just grab the tail but you definitely need to wait a sec to set the hook.

Does MLF still have the 12" size limit? I always thought just going to 15" fish would make it less a dinkfest. That's actually why I usually do not watch MLF. I can go out to a lake nearby and catch 20-30 12"s in a day, but finding 15"+ bass is tough, so I am not impressed by pros catching dinks. Actually I think it is too bad BASS & FLW were not the ones to merge.

It also means less payout. The FLW pros are now essentially Triple A to MLFs pros, and making 6 day tournaments with a mix of old and new style tourneys seems lame to me, I like the traditional way.

I just saw this on FB. Hopefully B.A.S.S. keeps on trucking.

Netbait Paca Chunk and Chunk Jr

Before I had my own boat I often caught more in tournaments in the back of the boat than the boat owner because they were primarily Senko fishermen and I used a hollow belly swim bait before the A-rig crap made em famous. Hollow bellies cast further, are weedless, and are not worked quite as painfully slow, and catch bigger fish on average. Senkos are a great lure, sure, but there are alternatives .

Clunn, Hibdon, Nixon, and Brauer all had their own Daiwa rod in the 90s and Ike had his own line when he was with them.

100% true these days. To answer the question though just get a FuegoCT on ebay/Amazon for $70ish.

I met the KVD at a Bass Pro, really nice guy just like he is on TV, and he had people ask him for rod/reel recommendations and he took them straight to Quantum's products. Good salesman to have.

KVD's own website claims 3 wins.

You either have to look for a used rod, or go with a 6'10" H rod while they still exist(Shimano/Daiwa/Falcon).

He did win some MLF events and that's where the big money is right now, so he is staying. Personally I do not like the dinkfest MLF is and would like KVD , Ike and others back in B.a.s.s.

I catch more bass on short arm colorado blade spinnerbaits than chatterbaits or double bladed spinnerbaits. Most people only use them in black for night fishing and I think that is a big mistake. Having said that at times the chatter bait is what they want just have to experiment.

I always have a lipless tied on either a Xcalibur one knock, or occasionally the rattling version, or the Sebile snagless. They work all year not just cold weather like most people, here in Indiana anyway, think.

I use Spro split rings and KVD Mustad trebles or Gammys in odd sizes .

I plan on doing some zander/pike fishing myself when I visit family in the Netherlands. Look on ebay.uk for a US seller that will sell a Daiwa Fuego CT or Shimano SLX internationally. Daiwa has 2 piece rods in some of their lineups, Arid or Fuego are fairly cheap. BTW-You have an interesting name, Iceni was Boudiccas tribe I believe.

The little bro of the BG, the Daiwa Eliminator-great reel.

Don't be naive. There is so much money in pro bass fishing, golf, tennis if a pro sees an advantage in non sponsored equipment they are going to use it, and as long as they say the right things and wear the right hat/jersey/polo etc I doubt the sponsors care. Sure KVD or Amart are going to out fish all of us on here with ugly sticks and zebcos but they are not out fishing each other that way, they are looking for any advantage. The best example of this that I saw on TV was an FLW tournament where Bryan Thrift was on the leader board and clearly was using some full cork handle rods probably GLoomis, but in the short technique segment FLW always had Thrift was using and promoting his sponsors rods-Damiki which were split grip eva foam. BTW a quick Google search will show Tiger used Mizuno irons early in his career.

Well 15+ years ago rumor was KVD was using Shimano made up to look like Quantum until their quality improved. Also supposedly Tiger used Mizuno clubs made to look like Nike until they got him clubs he approved of. But really these days the South Korean made reels like Lews are pretty good and probably on par with Shimano or Daiwa.

I have 2 SLX reels and 2 Tatula CT reels, both are great. I like the SLX better because it is compact and reminds me of the old 100DSV Citicas I had, but the Tats do hold more line and I think you can pitch easier with the T Wing so really the Tats are more versatile.