
The drag is buttery smooth, and there’s plenty of it – 28 pounds! This awesome power can stop fast-running school tuna, turn a powerful striped bass away from a jetty or win the argument when hauling a blackfish away from a wreck. When short stroking fish from deep water, the ratio is just perfect for gaining line and keeping it tight on every down stroke of the rod. It’s plenty fast for bluefish jigging at a quick pace, or with slowed down handle cranks it’s great for slow-pitch jigging. The Hybrid’s 5:1 gear ratio really hits the sweet spot.
#MAXEL HYBRID REVIEW FREE#
When bass or blues hit the jig on the drop down in free spool, you come tight to the fish in a nano second soon as you crank the handle. Re-engaging back into gear is instantaneous with a forward crank of the reel handle, which is great for jigging. While palming the reel in my left hand, I could quickly depress the thumb bar with my right thumb with no fumbling at all. I fished a Hybrid 25 for bottom fishing and also for jigging, and really liked the thumb bar spool release feature. The overall handle length is perfect for rapid line retrieval without being awkward. The round handle knob has a non-slip surface, and a small but very fisherman-friendly feature is the machined hourglass shape of the handle knob shaft that helps the angler’s fingers get the best grip on the knob. At only 13 ounces, it balances nicely with rods from 6 to 7-1/2 feet."Īdding to the comfort and superior design is an S-shape handle that keeps the handle knob closer to the center of the reel to minimize reel wobble while the angler is cranking fast for speed jigging. "You can buy one reel and use it for just about everything," said Jerry Gomber, Director of Development for Bimini Bay Outfitters, the Maxel distributor, "and the round shape and recessed reel foot positions the Hybrid low on the rod so it’s very comfortable to fish whether bottom fishing or jigging. The Hybrids are true multi task reels equally at home drifting for fluke, live lining for stripers, chumming or jigging bluefish, bottom fishing for sea bass and tog, and light trolling for dolphin and albies.

You can also get a left handed model in silver.They’re called Hybrid because they combine the engineering, machining and impeccable high standards of the company’s Ocean Max lever drag reels, but in a star-drag configuration. They are available in black/gunsmoke and silver/gunsmoke. Maxel Hybrid Star Drag Reels are perfect for fishing braided lines. It's also a great casting reel! If you are in the market for a modern star drag reel, and want a reel that you can hand down to your kids after a generation of use, this is it! Its 5:1 gear ratio combined with the torque it generates will allow you to reel in big fish. This is not something you normally see on this powerful of a reel, and anglers love thumb bars! With stainless steel gears, seven shielded stainless steel ball bearings and a clutch bearing instant anti-reverse, the Maxel Hybrid Star Drag Reel is corrosion resistant and won't fail under pressure. The Maxel Hybrid's most striking feature is its thumb bar design that allows you to easily engage the reel.

It is constructed of aluminum and weighs just 13 ozs while delivering 28 lbs of fish stopping power with its top of the line carbon drag system. The Maxel Hybrid Star Drag Reel is the future of star drag reels! Fishing reels are getting lighter and more powerful and this reel hits on both notes.
