Who knows better? KVD or Clunn?

[falcon]

Squarebill rod?

Clunn utilizes a 7' H fast action rod. KVD uses a 7' rod also but uses a light M moderate action cranking rod or beefs up to a MH cranker. Powell designed a XF action rod which seems to be a H in line to what Clunn uses for Jared and he's idea of the best rod.

I been fishing squarebills for years and recently sold my squarebill rod to a friend my rod was the 6'10H falcon headturner. I been considering a custom but I'm more torn now then ever on the type of blank to utilize.

I see negatives and positives to each. Just guess I gotta weigh each side and decide.

[BB144]

Rick Clunn uses the same 7' H F rod for all his techniques. Personally, I don't like fishing any treble lures on Heavy power, Fast action rods. Although I fish squarebills a lot like regular cranks most of the time, only throwing them around heavy vegetation/wood once in a while.

[Nitroman77]

they both catch fish, so they are both right..
I talked with Clunn at length about this last year while working the BP fishing classic and he likes to DRIVE the hooks in as he wants to also horse those fish out of the nasty stuff..

[OhioChamp183]

I like a MH power, moderate action.

I'll be using a Dobyns 685CB graphite for shallow cover squarebilling, and a 705CB graphite for throwing other shallow cranks & squarebills in more open water.
I like a MH power, but still like using a somewhat moderate action, since tebles are involved.

I think KVD used a 7'0MH Quantum Tour crankbait rod in the Classic. I'm guessing on the "MH" power, by just watching the show. When he had those 5lb fish hooked, the rod did not bend that much, so I really don't think it was a medium moderate.

[falcon]

Everything I hear is he used a M.

I understand the treble hook idea but hooks on rc squarebills and the lil johns are bigger stouter hooks. I also don't feel I get as accurate a cast when using typical cranking rods.

The blanks I'm considering are going to be cut to 6'10. I'm looking at the scIII 7'mhf casting and spinning blanks and the ScIIIHM.

[damian_megabass]

I can feel the issue on the rod situation but I think line and presentation also plays a role too. I mean I'm like a gazillion miles away from Clunn and KVD as far as fishing wise but I also match the lines with my action rods.

I use braid or floro for Moderate action rods and I use mono for the F to XF rods. Although I am using braid for my jerk rod, it's only because I hate losing 110's to toothy criters. 12lbs mono or floro will be a knife through butter for those criters.

[LilMofo]

Obviously kvd knows better...
rick clunn knew better.....past tense.

Thats why kvd in on top of the world not clunn.

[tracker01]

Clunn, yesterday, KVD, today.

[smalljaw]

Rick Clunn uses the same 7' H F rod for all his techniques. Personally, I don't like fishing any treble lures on Heavy power, Fast action rods. Although I fish squarebills a lot like regular cranks most of the time, only throwing them around heavy vegetation/wood once in a while.

Spot on!!! Clunn says he uses the same rod, power and action for everything he throws so he doesn't have to adjust his feel to a different rod when changing baits. For square bills, shallow cranks, and jerkbaits I use a medium power/fast action rod, I like the way the fast action can move the bait plus it does a great job or ripping baits off of grass and the medium power is forgiving enough so I can fight the fish without ripping the treble hooks out, so far it has worked pretty good for me. BTW, look for W&M to come out with a Clunn signature rod and reel, he signed with them also.

[falcon]

Yes Clunn does use all the same rods but on lucky crafts website and others of him discussing squarebills he says for this techniques it's even more critical he uses this rod.

Also talking about the M fast i understand your logic as I had the same but many of these squarebills you are at the top of these rods lure weight ratings.

[Heavy Action]

For true combat cranking with fat BDS and fat DTs I like a loomis mbr843 with 15lb. mono. I start with 15lb. and will go up from there. If bouncing them in the junk I got a 844 with 20lb. mono in the boat. I also throw spinnerbaits, buzzbaits and the occasional sammy/spook on this same combo. I use a totally different set-up when throwing mann's 1-minus and mini sr's in more open water. Man, I bet that head tuner would have worked great for these presentations. I think I might need a head turner!

[Carlos Carrapiço]

To fish square bills in heavy hood cover, my small personal experience tells me that fiberglass rods allow the crank to deflect better and avoid snags. Also the softer actions lets the fish eat the lure deeper.
Last, the fiberglass rods can be forgiving during the fight but also very strong so you can horse the fish out without high tension peak in the line avoiding line breakage and lost fish.

[RIK]

I think the answer is they're both correct, but what they're correct about isn't which is better, it's which suits their style and preferences. I think being aware of one's own tendencies and fishing style is really overlooked, and KVD vs. Clunn's answer to this question is a really good example of two guys who clearly are aware of it and account for it.

For Clunn, the predictability of common equipment lets him focus on the mechanics of presenting the lure and not have to account for differing feel, rod length, blank speed, etc. that play into those mechanics.

For KVD, matching the gear to the presentation lets him use the rod/reel/line combo to get the lure behavior he wants in a given situation. I guess the argument is the differing variables in feel, etc., are made up for in optimizing the gear choice for the lure behavior.

Really, just two different ways of skinning the same cat. The interesting discussion might be which approach has a shorter learning curve...

[btune]

Rick has won a lot of money and tournaments so I cannot say he is "wrong: but he has allways followed his own path. The trick would be to find out what works for you. For me I prefer moderate action rods for cranks or at least one with a soft top section so I tend to agree more with KVD. But that is just my opinion!

[SPAZ]

It's all a personal preference. I don't like using moderate rods but for me it was a necessity to switch because I was losing too many fish with a fast action graphite rod when using lipped cranks.