Maxel vs JM

[fishingjack]

Well thanks to getting some of that magic blue grease from mr. Tani,
I was able to prep my Maxel reel for a trip next month to Thailand vs some freshwater giant catfish and hopefully siamese carp.

The similarities of this reel are remarkable to that of the Jigging masters as pointed out by many in the past. It's actually the reason I decided to get this reel.

I was in Thailand for a few years and I can tell you that i've been through my share of poorly made asian rods and reels. This maxel is certainly not one of them.

Living in Europe now I got some Alutecnos Gorillas once I was fed up of being let down by cloned reels. However the size of the Gorillas makes them difficult to cast when paired to a short jigging rod. 50 metres is about my best cast with a 1.57m 500g jigging rod and the Thai style bait, shapped like a softball and about 5oz.

I had used some jigging masters before and I really liked them but the import price was just too high for me. I got a Maxel at a good price. The reel has great freespool. It cast really well and feels like casting an Avet sx. The dual drag washers means this reel would be difficult to add a magnetic brake to. It might be possible to somehow fashion a centrifugal or a friction brake. Maybe tightening the preset to the point where some drag rubbing slows the cast. I actually prefer to cast reels unmagged and use just my thumb. I've had plenty of practice.

So here are the internals, before extra greasing. The reel came heavily greased in the right places which is good to know. The drag is also very powerful. The drag washers looked greased already but I re-did them with  cal's to be sure.

I will report how this reel faired once I am back from my trip. My honest thoughs at this stage would be that Maxel's really are pre-branded JM reels. Also possibly pre-JM tweaks such as uprated drive shafts, cogs, AR dogs etc. I'm happy with the reel. It casts twice as far as my Gorillas.

The steps I used to open and rebuild my reel were exactly the same as the instructions for the Jigging masters in the 'other reel tutorials and questions' section.

some practice casts post rebuild, lubrication, drag grease and bearing mod.






























Took out the spool bearings. They are shielded. I decided to take out the inward facing shields and lube with teflon oil after degreasing with acetone. This wasn't strictly necessary as the freespool of this reel was the best of any I have seen out of the box.

[redsetta]

Nice work FJ, and good luck with the catfish and carp.
Post some photos when you return!
Cheers, Justin

[fishingjack]

Well the reel performed very well. It never felt pushed despite some very big and strong catfish. In fact after the first day I had to lessen the preset as the drag was so strong. A big fish took my bait, I switched to strike and my 100lb braid snapped under the shock (forgot it was set so high) at the knot attaching the hook. Even after lessening drag considerably I had a big fish straighten a hook. Wow would I love to have seen the fish. I matched the reel to a 400g jigging rod to throw some massive baits and to have the backbone to bully any fish.

After a lot of headaches with PE line floating all over the place and manaully removing about 300 yards of braid off 3 reels by hand I settled on 50lb mono  

50lb mono however snapped a number of times in the following days when I had to put the heat on fish heading for structure. Losing floats, hooks, swivels and feeders was enough to make a move to 70lb line.

The 70lb mono had a diameter of 0.80mm. Pretty big for a PE5. I settled on spooling 50% 100lb braid and 50% 70lb mono, attached by a FG knot. I now think I could have spooled straight 70lb line as the fish never got down to half the spool. Still I always want to be prepared for any monster that swims along. The 70lb line was great. I could put lots of pressure on fish but I was still careful. I still never pushed the lever past strike.

The reel was really smooth to use and I actually find the quality to be as good as my Alutecnos Gorilla 12's. They are very different reels though. The G12's crank with much more power and are pure jigging reels. The Maxel is like an Avet SX or Abu 6500 on steroids.

As my reel is about JM PE5 size it could be cast vey far. Have your thumb ready though as dual drag means no mag or centrifugal brakes. I actually like my conventionals brake free.

I got my reel in Germany and there seems to be some differences in US models. There may also be a problem in the US with the dual drag patent being infinged?

[fishingjack]

I have since been again fishing for a total of 5 weeks with this reel on big fish and let me tell you the reel is a lot of fun loaded with 130lb braid and cranking the drag to the max!
Throws incredibly far with a very well educated thumb (no brakes) and the drag is just solid!

[hafnor]

how much is it for this reel in germany? what bearing brand is it?

[fishingjack]

370 Euros now but 300 when I got it thanks to the foreign exchange 

[fishingjack]

Sorry can't remember the bearings in this reel.

[hafnor]

thats nice! are there any models similar to a jm pe3?

[fishingjack]

Yes, the sealion 5 is PE3 size but single speed only. Mine is the sealion 8.

[hafnor]

is there any dealers that can ship to Norway?

[alantani]

if you can find in the us and get them to ship the reel to me, i can send it to you. 

[Dr. Jekyll - AKA MeL B]

hafnor, i think terminator tackle(360tuna) will be selling the M&W ones if you are interested.

[hafnor]

Thanks guys, Will do some research first. I actually have a friend living in china... may be easier that way. I love my JM's so it would take a lot for me to switch over. Again thanks Alan, too kind!

@Mel B, I saw Joe's post on 360 regarding his new lineup. Will let some other guys try them out before I decide on anything:) Best!