Review of the Maximus Legend-X MSLX19UL spinning rod
In this review we will tell you about a rather remarkable budget UL class fishing rod from the Korean company Maximus. The series is extensive and consists of models from ultralight up to 7 grams, to powerful (test 14-40 grams, 12-36 grams) “sticks” for catching serious fish.
In the memo attached to the input ring of the rod, we see the following information on the MSLX19UL:
- Total length: 190 cm.
- Transport length: 100 cm.
- Sections: 2 pcs.
- Top diameter (top dia): 1.26 mm.
- Butt diameter (but dia): 10.0 mm.
- Weight: 112 gr.
- Test: 1-7 gr.
- Number of rings: 7 pcs.
- Build: fast
- Price at the time of writing the review: 2300-2500 rubles.
First of all, we see a standard two-piece black case for this price range with green frames and ties made of non-staining fabric, on which some information about the spinning rod is written. Having taken out the rod, what catches your eye is probably the main “trick” of this series – the iridescent color of the blank in two colors (olive and reddish). It looks very unusual and beautiful.
Spinning rod Maximus Legend-X MSLX19UL
The rings are nameless SiC, similar to the K series anti-wrap rings in steel frames. Their placement and selection is surprisingly good for a budget UL. Very often you can see on other inexpensive spinning rods a huge input, it’s unclear how the running rods were selected and a hefty tulip. There is nothing even close to that here. The winding of the rings is black with three green stripes of decorative threads. Everything looks harmonious and correct, there are no questions about assembly. But some confusion can be caused by the massive handle for the UL class.
Spinning rod Maximus Legend-X MSLX19UL
Those who remember the previous, unrenewed Legend series know that the handles of the ultralight models differed from the more powerful ones in that they were spaced apart and, as a result, lighter. Here, the handles of the entire series are the same, some rather large metal elements have been added, which critically increase the mass. Taking the lower knee in your hand, you will understand this immediately. I think if the manufacturer had not made such a simplification, but had left approximately the same handle as the old model, it would have been possible to keep the Weight to within 100 grams.
Spinning rod Maximus Legend-X MSLX19UL
Another negative point is the system declared by the manufacturer. Let me remind you that the form contains the word “fast”. I understand that it is difficult to take into account absolutely all the nuances. The action of this rod is closer to slow. Yes, this is such a big mistake. This is very important to know, because when purchasing a new spinning rod for a certain type of bait and type of fishing, they are mainly guided by the action, it determines the purpose, and then the test and length comes.
By the way, the test can also be safely lowered to 5 grams. You can throw 6-7, but if the action is soft, the form will fail on the fly.
You should not expect sensitivity from a budget fishing rod, and the purpose of its use does not require it.
The purpose of Legend-X 19UL is primarily uniform wiring. Spinners up to No. 1, spinners up to 4-5 grams, small crank and fat wobblers within 3-4 grams, depending on the depth and characteristics of the game of a particular model. You can also use this rod for the so-called nano-jig (fishing with a spinning rod using a jig), excluding the lightest weights. At 1-3 grams it gets a good cast and different types of retrieves.
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As a reel, you should choose something from Shimano thousandths or one and a half to two thousandth Daiwa. The test is not specified for the fishing line, but intuitively it can be specified as 3-6 lb.
If it weren't for the heavy handle, the Legend-X 19UL would be ideal for straight-line fishing with light lures in this price range. But how will a fisherman who is looking for a spinning rod for these purposes know about this if the FAST inscription is everywhere in the technical characteristics?
I really hope that this review will help those who are looking for exactly the kind of spinning rod that the Legend-X 19UL is, not on paper, but in reality, because for its real purposes and more than two thousand rubles it is very good.
If you have any questions about this kit, you can always ask the author of the review in the comments.
Author: Artem Petukhov (especially for SpinBait.ru)
Review of the Maximus Legend Ultras spinning rod. Reviews from fishermen about the Maximus Legend Ultras spinning rod
The Legend Ultras series of spinning rods from Maximus was designed for ultralight fishing and will definitely appeal to all fans of fishing with ultralight baits. These rods are distinguished by the highest sensitivity, which is very important for ultralight. The rod blanks are very thin and elegant. The fast action and elasticity of the blanks guarantee excellent throwing characteristics, as well as casting distance and accuracy.
The spinning rod blanks are made of high-modulus IMSE graphite and have a special “chameleon” coating. The spinning rods are equipped with the lightest guides on one support AT-Guid Mini Guide System with SIC inserts arranged according to the K-Guide Concept. The special “tulip” design of the Antitwisting Tip prevents the line from tangling.
An ergonomic spaced handle made of high-quality cork significantly reduces the weight of the spinning rod and has a positive effect on its balance and sensitivity. The ergonomic “warm” reel seat Warm Reel Seat is equipped with a Super Sensitive System carbon resonator, which also serves to increase the sensitivity of the ultra-light spinning rod. The handle has a special wire loop for attaching a hook.
Pros: The quality of workmanship significantly exceeded expectations! Fast build. Throws far and accurately. Comfortable and light. Disadvantages: Deaf.
I was looking for a stick for light twitch. I bought it on the advice of an experienced friend. It was light twitching that became its main application. Throws oscillators perfectly. When guiding the turntables, the jig is silent “like a fish.” Bites are visible only at the tip. The lack of versatility is completely made up for by the spectacle of working with light poppers.
Advantages: Quality of workmanship, lightness, rings, flowing, inexpensive. Disadvantages: Didn't find any
For a long time I chose it as the first chub spinning rod for medium rivers. Met expectations 100%, although for some reason I didn’t trust this company at first. The action is moderately fast, the form works when fishing all the way from the butt, but there is no noodleiness. Throws far for his height. There are no complaints about the assembly at all.
I was in search of another ultralight, to be honest, I went through a large number of options, but the choice fell on this stick, Maximus Legend Ultras 20UL. It won me over for many reasons, and despite the fact that almost always when choosing the next spinning rod I focus on on the performance characteristics, but this time, I was impressed by the design of this stick and its accessories.
Assembly of the Maximus Legend Ultras 20UL rod
The assembly of the spinning rod is at a good level, overall I can give it 4+. There are minor varnish stains on the ring windings (like many spinning rods). The rings are installed coaxially, not quite as small as they could be, but still clogged accordingly in winter. I was more pleased with the rings themselves, the first 3 rings from the butt are single-legged, which reduces the overall weight of the rod, and from an aesthetic point of view they look harmonious on such an elegant stick.
Everything is in order with the joint, the upper elbow is installed securely, I didn’t notice that it would, although not much, rotate during casting. What pleased me was the thickness of the joint, despite the fact that this is a stick up to 7g, the walls of the form are not thin, they are medium, which gives additional strength and you can throw the dough over the top without fear, but more on this a little later.
The test is declared as Fast, in principle one can agree with the manufacturer, but still, it is not much short of “real Fast”, but I also cannot call the stick “noodles”. The weight of the spinning rod is 87g and this is not bad, I would even say that this is an excellent weight, and if the thickness of the walls were thinner, of course we could gain in weight, but not a significant gain in weight, it is not worth thinning the walls of the blank .
But what surprised me most, I would even say amazed me, was how the stick was balanced. First of all, I put the Okuma Ceymar xt-25 fd (exact weight 235g) on this spinning rod, it fit very well and I didn’t feel any imbalance in the tackle. But just for fun, I put an old plastic float reel on the spinning rod, which weighs about 140g, and what’s most interesting is that the balance moved just perfectly to the side of the reel.
Water tests
The rod is advertised as a universal rod, but despite this, most of all I wanted to try it in microjig, since I like to fish with silicone baits to a greater extent. Let me immediately note that I fished with a 0.4 line according to the Japanese classification. And so, let’s imagine that the fishing takes place in absolute calm, the depth is up to 3 m (one of the most common depths when fishing for mikruha), in such conditions you can see the return of 1.5 g of Cheburashka and a 2-inch bait, a 2g stick already shows quite clearly, but still real comfort starts from about 2.5-3g and up to 7g, eight grams is not the same.
With tactile sensitivity, in principle, everything is not bad, on a relatively hard bottom, you can feel 3g well. The stick copes with spinners and various oscillators with a bang, in the entire range of the test, you can very clearly see how the tip “vibrates”, that is, it works with spinners. Unfortunately, I don’t fish with small wobblers, well, it just so happens, I’m not very interested in such fishing, if I fish with wobblers, it’s at least 90 Zoner SP.
The casting stick throws at 4, but most importantly, it throws itself, you don’t need to invest much in casting, it most likely won’t throw further, but I managed to “launch” the same 3g at about 35m (without investing too much). The stick can withstand overload , but not large, most likely this is due to the moderate-to-medium thickness of the walls. When fishing for even a relatively small Perch of about 250-300g, the stick is almost completely turned on, and there are practically no “drains” of Sports Perch.
In custody
For my relatively small money, I think that the stick turned out to be excellent! Excellent work with spinners, not bad work with microjigging, good casting, just a little work on the build quality and it will be good. If you are looking for a good all-rounder for such not a lot of money, Legend Ultras will do just fine.
Probably many are already familiar with the legendary Maximus Legend series of spinning rods. In 2021, the series underwent its third update, and the series is now called Legend Ultras. Moreover, this time the restyling greatly influenced the design of the rod, accessories, and, as a result, the performance characteristics. The design has become noticeably more interesting - the handle has become spaced apart, but is still made of the same cork material, the butt part has received beautiful decorative graphite inserts. The unusual color of the form – chameleon – remained unchanged in the design. The main change in the fittings is the appearance of single-legged rings, which significantly relieved the blank and, as a result, the spinning rod began to have a faster action. This is undoubtedly a plus, since the rod has become even more versatile and now you can fish with more persistent baits; fishing with wobblers and jigs has become more accessible and comfortable. The series includes 4 models. For myself, I chose the lightest and shortest model, 18UL.
The technical data of the Maximus Legend Ultras 18UL model are as follows: - length - 180 cm; — test – 1-7 years; - weight - 80 g.
With a spinning rod, in most cases I used a reel weighing up to 200 grams and a 0.3-0.4 cord according to the Japanese classification, and in some conditions I fished with monofilament line up to 0.16 mm.
In many ways, I purchased this spinning rod for catching pond trout and it coped with this task perfectly. Legend Ultras has a powerful butt, which is undoubtedly a plus in our conditions, since very often in Russian reservoirs the weight of pond trout is very large and reaches a weight of 5-6 kilograms, but mostly 1-2 kilograms, and even for comfortable fishing of trout of such a weight it is powerful butt is a necessary characteristic of a fishing rod. In addition, this will be useful when fishing in competitions, where the pace of fishing is important, especially in the first rounds of the competition, when the fish are active. Legend Ultras handle a variety of bait types well.
With oscillating spoons, it is most comfortable to fish with weights from 1.5 to 5 grams. Casting, bait control, everything is at a good level. You can also fish with rubber of 2-3 inches at a load of 0.1-1 grams. There are also no problems with cranks and non-resistant wobblers. Overall, I was pleased with the Ultras when fishing for trout.
Yes, the rod is short, but nevertheless you can fish with it even with a microjig. It is most comfortable to fish with weights from 2 to 4 grams + bait up to 2 inches. It is on such scales that it is comfortable to fully animate the bait, as well as fully track the wiring. I can’t call the sensitivity extremely good, but it is at a decent level. Still, this series of rods is positioned as a universal rod, and you simply shouldn’t expect high sensitivity. Mostly with microjig I caught perch up to 300 grams. In general, there were no problems with these tasks. The spinning rod is good at tying even small sporting perch, but at the same time it allows you to feel confident when playing for medium-sized fish in some difficult conditions.
The casting, despite its short length, is at a decent level; nevertheless, in dynamics the rod behaves like a semi-parabolic rod.
The rod is also quite suitable for jig fishing, but I would not specifically buy it for these purposes. On a thin fishing line with a diameter of 0.1-0.12 mm, it is comfortable to catch and animate jigs weighing 0.5-1 grams.
With cranks, as I said above, no problems arise when fishing with weights from 2 to 5 grams. With cranks I sometimes went out for small pike and perch.
I also used spinning quite closely and twitched minnow wobblers from 35 to 50 mm. The rod has a fast action and starts to fail when twitching particularly stubborn wobblers. But nevertheless, I caught perch perfectly with non-resistant minnows.
Fishing with poppers and walkers within the limits of the test is still good and there are no problems, again, as long as the baits are not very stubborn when retrieved.
Fishing with oscillating and rotating spoons
Unfortunately, I am not a big fan of fishing with iron and in most cases I only caught pond trout with spoons. But there were also several short trips for perch with spinners and spinners. In general, everything is good, the structure and type of the rod allow you to fish comfortably with lures of this type.
Maximus Legend Ultras 18UL is an excellent universal rod. It allows you to fish with a wide range of different types of bait. Thanks to this, the Legend Ultras series is perfect for beginner spinners who have not yet chosen a specific direction of fishing. The series is also suitable for those who choose a spinning rod for all types of bait. I would also like to note the low price that the manufacturer asks for the rod. I don’t regret purchasing this spinning rod one bit and I’m sure that it fully justifies its cost.
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