The guides are well-positioned and placed just right to allow even load of the rod, and the blank has a nice action.

The reel seat uses a carbon tube that screws up to secure the reel and holds it rock-solid on the rod. The butt section is perfect with enough length to place under the arm: excellent for working jigs. The six-foot Zion has a really nice grip configuration that allows the rod blank to bend from butt end to tip. Rated for PE 1 and 2 or 5.4 to 13.6kg, the blank is designed for jigs from 60 to 150 grams. Reading the tags, the rod is made using silicon carbide rings in the guides, but it’s the rating and design which really grabbed my attention. It was clear once the sleeve was removed that this had some nice features. I was curious to check the rod out though, as Pioneer is a brand I’m not that familiar with.

The Rod The rod arrived a short time after the reel and I knew it would be a good match, as both are made with light jigging in mind. This is a stunning piece of engineering everything about the Maxel Hybrid 20C reel just oozes good quality. The reel’s main frame is one piece, machined out of aluminium - but it’s the amount of precision-machined stainless steel components that really impressed me the most. Just prior to my writing this, the reel was dismantled for further inspection and its exterior look of quality was true of the internals, too. The drag is a star type system and has really nice adjustment with a clicker to help refine this. Once you have a decent fish on, the drag runs super smooth - not surprising, with a good number of drag washers inside the reel. This certainly assists with increased hook ups, and the powerful winding into the fish also sets the hook better. The retrieve ratio is nothing short of spot-on it can be fast-cranked or used much more slowly with quarter winds, allowing you to create different actions. Because the thumb is positioned across the release bar it’s easy to stop the spool, causing the jig to stall as it drops down. It also boasts a cast control system which is probably more designed around casting jigs up-current or ahead of the boat drift and offers excellent control, preventing overruns of the spool that usually cause bird nests in the line.

The thumb bar is smooth, yet feels very positive when you’re releasing the spool to lower the jig. The Hybrid reel is perfectly balanced and comfortable in your hand, which makes it easy to operate. I never really appreciated what this type of quality reel provides until my first couple of outings - where it just ate up every bit of punishment thrown its way. Before pulling it apart for close inspection I put the reel through its paces on a large number of fishing adventures, both from the kayak and boat. The exterior finish on the reel is superb and looks beautifully made - but it’s not until you look inside that the Hybrid’s true quality is revealed. It fits around 300m of PE2 braid, and the gear ratio is 6.0.1 which produces an impressive 93cm of line retrieve per crank of the handle. The reel has a classic jigging design but is small, weighing just 378g - yet it boasts a massive 13kg of drag. The Reel Having used predominantly low-profile baitcast-type reels for light jigging in the past it was clear to me that this little beauty was definitely a cut above them in both feel and power. Review: Maxel Hybrid 20C & Pioneer Zion Light Jigging Rod Review: Composite Developments Extra Sense Nano spin rod Review: DAIWA BALLISTIC EX 4000H SPINNING REEL Review: ABU ORRA S20 REEL AND VERITAS SP61 JIGGING ROD Review: SHIMANO CURADO 200HG AND BACKBONE ELITE COLT SNIPER 20-60G Review: SHIMANO Stradic FK 2500HG Spinning Reel Review: DAIWA EXCELER 3000DX & PROCASTER PRA702HFSE-AX ROD Review: TD SOL II FISHING REEL AND TEAM DAIWA ROD Review: Shimano Stradic FK2500 + Energy Concept Micro Jig Combo Review: SHIMANO CASITAS 150 & SHIMANO ENERGY CONCEPT INSHORE JIG O/H ROD Review: TiCA New Graphite 9’ Rod and Samira SAAT2500 Reel Review: Daiwa Saltist Hyper 792H Rod and Daiwa Saltist 5000 Reel Review:Daiwa Saltist BW 962HFS Rod / Daiwa BG 5000 Reel Review:SHIMANO TWIN POWER XD C3000HG REEL Review:Maxel Rage 25H Compact Jigging Reel Review:Daiwa Laguna X 702 LFS Rod and Laguna 2500 Reel Review:Okuma Tournament Concept 8’ Rod and Helios HSX-30 Reel

Maxel hybrid hy20c reel review