Combine this with a comfortable, long handle and you’ve got yourself a jigging reel which puts the pain on the fish, instead of on the angler. The 4.0:1 ratio means the reel returns 94cm of line per crank, and the 9+2 bearings make each turn of the reel unbelievably smooth. Jigging is hard at the best of times, and when you’re not catching, it only gets harder on the body – but after numerous unsuccessful drops with this combo, I was still happy to keep going. I’ve fished a number of jigging setups in recent years and have a couple in my personal collection, but after one retrieve in 50-odd-metres of water, there was no doubt that this was the smoothest and most user-friendly combo I’d ever used. While the kingfish weren’t loving my jig, I immediately knew the Maxel R90/JigStar Phantom combo was something special. I was one of these hopeful, and ultimately unsuccessful, team members who had taken the reel out in the Hauraki. Bad weather, jig-shy Hauraki Gulf kings, and the biggest hindering factor of them all, an extended lockdown, meant that after a few months, no one in our office had landed a fish on the setup.
When it arrived, every member of the editorial team, as well as a couple from sales, volunteered to put it through its paces – but things didn’t go to plan. The conspicuously purple Maxel R90 jigging reel was a troubling presence in NZ Fishing News’ office throughout lockdown.
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