The quadrant’s generous adjustment range allows for a gradual ramping up of drag power, which includes a “Strike” indent about two-thirds of the way to the “Full” setting. The drag is silky smooth with a click lever that stays in place. Other high-end components on the Rage reels include a dual drag design, nine stainless steel bearings, a drop gear box and a removable reel foot for easy cleaning or replacement. A cold-forged aluminum sideplate on the crank handle side of the Rage, along with tempered stainless steel gears, add to its overall bullet-proof design. Maxel accomplishes this shedding of unnecessary weight by starting off with a billet of aluminum that is CNC machined with various spaces, gaps and geometric holes in its frame and side to save a few precious ounces, but not sacrifice the metal’s inherent stiffness and strength. At only 14 ounces, it’s easy to hold in your hands all day long with a minimum of fatigue. Right from the get-go, even an untrained eye will realize that this is no ordinary downsized jigging reel, but a high-end piece of well-constructed machinery. My sample featured a black body with a gold spool and trim, and had striking good looks. I requested the micro-sized 25H model in whatever color was available from their kaleidoscope of options and it showed up a few weeks ago. Its predecessors had brought a lot of stripers, deepwater sea bass and tog, summer flounder, cod, pollock and football tuna to boatside for me and my charter customers and I was well aware of the positives and the occasional negatives of the Maxel product line. I currently use the Hybrid star drag and the Ocean Max lever drag reels, so I was anxious to get my hands on a sample of the newest Rage to see how it measured up to its siblings. The Rage jigging reel models represent the top of the line for Maxel. ![]() The heavier Maxel Rage 60H, 90N and 90 are meant to handle larger near offshore and deepwater gamefish, but are still relatively light weight with run-stopping drag capability. ![]() The smaller 25H right and left hand models are a huge hit with the “slow pitch” jigging crowd looking for a powerful micro-sized outfit. These reels grabbed a lot of attention for their smooth gears and drags, combined with a tough as nails construction and do-it-all attitude. Introduced last summer at the 2018 ICAST tackle show, Bimini Bay Outfitters made a big splash with the USA debut of their proven high-end Maxel Rage lever drag reels.
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