I thought about that when I was watching a DVR'd episode of 'The Bass Pro's' with KVD fishing Falcon lake.  He was killing the bass, but every cast with his 1/2oz spinnerbait made a very audible wheezing sound which didn't seem healthy at all.  His casts weren't going any farther (if even as far) as I can throw with my Daiwas.  His reels sounded like they were due for their mid-season trade-in  .  No way they were special in ANY way!  I'm sure he has a storage shed full of new reels from Quantum ready to go, and I bet he changes them out twice a year.  

I thought about that when I was watching a DVR'd episode of 'The Bass Pro's' with KVD fishing Falcon lake. He was killing the bass, but every cast with his 1/2oz spinnerbait made a very audible wheezing sound which didn't seem healthy at all. His casts weren't going any farther (if even as far) as I can throw with my Daiwas. His reels sounded like they were due for their mid-season trade-in . No way they were special in ANY way! I'm sure he has a storage shed full of new reels from Quantum ready to go, and I bet he changes them out twice a year.

...Really?

The sponsored guys I know are always given plenty of un-modified reels to last them a season.  Any mods done are done by them and not the factory.

I am pretty sure that "wheezing" sound is coming from the centrifugal brakes on his reels. That sound is always present to some extent on centri-brake reels, even Shimano. All of my Quantums and Abu rounds, make that sound. I have actually grown quite fond of it, and miss it when I use a magnetic brake reel. As for distance, everyone(including myself) talk about thumb control on the spool. Yet, I rarely see the pros truly thumbing the spool, unless they are flipping or trying long distance casts. There is no way that KVD can fling those spinnerbaits like he does(thumb up, not on spool) without using alot of brakes.

I wonder what those guys are casting when the camera's aren't running?