Paul_B
Well-known member
I can only assume they're waiting for Mr LangleyWhere, though?
I ordered a line and a mile of backing from maxcatch at the start of the month and its still work in progress, makes you wonder what the problem is
Maxcatch
- Thread starter jaybeegee
- Start date
I ordered a line and a mile of backing from maxcatch at the start of the month and its still work in progress, makes you wonder what the problem is
Tangled
Well-known member
- Joined
- Dec 28, 2015
- Messages
- 5,571
I can only assume they're waiting for Mr Langley
I ordered a line and a mile of backing from maxcatch at the start of the month and its still work in progress, makes you wonder what the problem is
All sorts of problems now with shipping from China - especially low value items I expect.
Covid-19 Shipping Problems Squeeze China’s Exporters
Surging demand in the West and port delays are driving up costs for companies that have fueled the country’s economic recovery.
www.wsj.com
I once waited about a month before an order started to show life. I’d send a reminder, but I’d only get a reply once it started to move.I can only assume they're waiting for Mr Langley
I ordered a line and a mile of backing from maxcatch at the start of the month and its still work in progress, makes you wonder what the problem is
Paul_B
Well-known member
All sorts of problems now with shipping from China - especially low value items I expect.
Covid-19 Shipping Problems Squeeze China’s Exporters
Surging demand in the West and port delays are driving up costs for companies that have fueled the country’s economic recovery.
I think we can forgive them for a few delays given the cost, the quality and free shipping
Once they have a van full of free post orders I'm sure it'll set off if Covid restrictions allow, but they chuck in plenty of free goodies to cover the inconvenience so no worries, including the compulsory neck warmer come face covering
My UK bought vest has set off from china, so maybe my maxcatch stuff is on the same van
shortcircuit
Well-known member
- Joined
- Apr 18, 2016
- Messages
- 275
I'm only getting a chance to review the rod I got as a Christmas present.
I got a 9' 4# SkyHigh rod, which is actually the top end 4 weight that they do.
www.maxcatchfishing.com
Comes in a nice hard carbon tube with a nice brass screw cap. Cloth bag within. I actually prefer the divided cordura tube that the cheaper rods come in, because there is no messing with a bag, just drop the sections straight into the tube.
The handle of the rod is nice, there is a bit of filer in the cork, but not a huge amount. There is none of that cork composite ("chipboard") that is quite common these days. The handle itself is really nice and slim. The reel seat has nice gold effect aluminium fittings.
Rod is nicely finished and has alignment dots, which some people don't care for but I like.
In terms of feel ,the rod is extremely light. Because it is 9 foot it felt a bit tip heavy without a reel but when I put on a reel (a 3/4 Maxcatch Eco) the balance point of the rod was right in the middle of the handle. I would have loved to have gotten this rod in 8" or even 8'6" , but it is not available in that size for a 4#. I think an 8' one of these would be an absolute wand.
I only got to give this a few casts a few days after Christmas before we were locked down. I was using a RealGold #4 line that was on my reel already. By coincidence, they gave a gift of another #4 Real Gold line plus the cheap moss green line in #4, so now I have plenty of spares.
The rod feels great to cast and gets line out with very little effort. Where I can feel the difference between this and the last Maxcatch rod I had is in the loading . This rod loads up well with short lengths of line out but doesn't struggle when you have 30 feet out the rod tip. I was able to get out a nice bit of line with a couple of false casts and then I was able to shoot plenty of line after. With the last rod I had (Trout Lite 8'6"), once I got 25 or 30 feet of line out, the rod really felt overpowered.
This rod certainly feels like a more accurate rod also: I was able to throw tighter loops and pick up and hit targets a lot easier.
The real test of this rod will be when I get it out on the river and I need to have accurate casting to rising fish. But so far so good.
In terms of overall quality, the only top end rod I have as a reference is a Hardy Zephryus which I was able to cast a couple of years ago. There is no doubt that the Hardy had more of a "wow" factor. I just picked it up and it felt like a magic wand in my hand I was shooting line out and hitting targets like lasers. I don't think this rod is in the same league. However, the Hardy is about 8 times the price, but it is definitely not 8 times better! I think for about €100 this rod gives fantastic value for money and I'm sure would stack up well against competitors at multiples of the price.
I got a 9' 4# SkyHigh rod, which is actually the top end 4 weight that they do.
EXPERT DESIGN Professional Toray Japanese carbon Fast action Nano fly rod Black<Lifetime Warranty>
Buy quality skyhigh fly rod with carbon tube directly from China. Fast action and super light design. Multi size is available. Fast delivery and lifetime repairing warranty.
www.maxcatchfishing.com
Comes in a nice hard carbon tube with a nice brass screw cap. Cloth bag within. I actually prefer the divided cordura tube that the cheaper rods come in, because there is no messing with a bag, just drop the sections straight into the tube.
The handle of the rod is nice, there is a bit of filer in the cork, but not a huge amount. There is none of that cork composite ("chipboard") that is quite common these days. The handle itself is really nice and slim. The reel seat has nice gold effect aluminium fittings.
Rod is nicely finished and has alignment dots, which some people don't care for but I like.
In terms of feel ,the rod is extremely light. Because it is 9 foot it felt a bit tip heavy without a reel but when I put on a reel (a 3/4 Maxcatch Eco) the balance point of the rod was right in the middle of the handle. I would have loved to have gotten this rod in 8" or even 8'6" , but it is not available in that size for a 4#. I think an 8' one of these would be an absolute wand.
I only got to give this a few casts a few days after Christmas before we were locked down. I was using a RealGold #4 line that was on my reel already. By coincidence, they gave a gift of another #4 Real Gold line plus the cheap moss green line in #4, so now I have plenty of spares.
The rod feels great to cast and gets line out with very little effort. Where I can feel the difference between this and the last Maxcatch rod I had is in the loading . This rod loads up well with short lengths of line out but doesn't struggle when you have 30 feet out the rod tip. I was able to get out a nice bit of line with a couple of false casts and then I was able to shoot plenty of line after. With the last rod I had (Trout Lite 8'6"), once I got 25 or 30 feet of line out, the rod really felt overpowered.
This rod certainly feels like a more accurate rod also: I was able to throw tighter loops and pick up and hit targets a lot easier.
The real test of this rod will be when I get it out on the river and I need to have accurate casting to rising fish. But so far so good.
In terms of overall quality, the only top end rod I have as a reference is a Hardy Zephryus which I was able to cast a couple of years ago. There is no doubt that the Hardy had more of a "wow" factor. I just picked it up and it felt like a magic wand in my hand I was shooting line out and hitting targets like lasers. I don't think this rod is in the same league. However, the Hardy is about 8 times the price, but it is definitely not 8 times better! I think for about €100 this rod gives fantastic value for money and I'm sure would stack up well against competitors at multiples of the price.
noel
Well-known member
Nice review , we await the reports of you catching trout and Grayling.
shortcircuit
Well-known member
- Joined
- Apr 18, 2016
- Messages
- 275
Just trout Noel! I don't think I'll be catching grayling in Ireland unless I can travel back in time to before the last Ice Age !
What's the action like? Medium-fast on the 4wt?I'm only getting a chance to review the rod I got as a Christmas present.
I got a 9' 4# SkyHigh rod, which is actually the top end 4 weight that they do.
EXPERT DESIGN Professional Toray Japanese carbon Fast action Nano fly rod Black<Lifetime Warranty>
Buy quality skyhigh fly rod with carbon tube directly from China. Fast action and super light design. Multi size is available. Fast delivery and lifetime repairing warranty.
Comes in a nice hard carbon tube with a nice brass screw cap. Cloth bag within. I actually prefer the divided cordura tube that the cheaper rods come in, because there is no messing with a bag, just drop the sections straight into the tube.
The handle of the rod is nice, there is a bit of filer in the cork, but not a huge amount. There is none of that cork composite ("chipboard") that is quite common these days. The handle itself is really nice and slim. The reel seat has nice gold effect aluminium fittings.
Rod is nicely finished and has alignment dots, which some people don't care for but I like.
In terms of feel ,the rod is extremely light. Because it is 9 foot it felt a bit tip heavy without a reel but when I put on a reel (a 3/4 Maxcatch Eco) the balance point of the rod was right in the middle of the handle. I would have loved to have gotten this rod in 8" or even 8'6" , but it is not available in that size for a 4#. I think an 8' one of these would be an absolute wand.
I only got to give this a few casts a few days after Christmas before we were locked down. I was using a RealGold #4 line that was on my reel already. By coincidence, they gave a gift of another #4 Real Gold line plus the cheap moss green line in #4, so now I have plenty of spares.
The rod feels great to cast and gets line out with very little effort. Where I can feel the difference between this and the last Maxcatch rod I had is in the loading . This rod loads up well with short lengths of line out but doesn't struggle when you have 30 feet out the rod tip. I was able to get out a nice bit of line with a couple of false casts and then I was able to shoot plenty of line after. With the last rod I had (Trout Lite 8'6"), once I got 25 or 30 feet of line out, the rod really felt overpowered.
This rod certainly feels like a more accurate rod also: I was able to throw tighter loops and pick up and hit targets a lot easier.
The real test of this rod will be when I get it out on the river and I need to have accurate casting to rising fish. But so far so good.
In terms of overall quality, the only top end rod I have as a reference is a Hardy Zephryus which I was able to cast a couple of years ago. There is no doubt that the Hardy had more of a "wow" factor. I just picked it up and it felt like a magic wand in my hand I was shooting line out and hitting targets like lasers. I don't think this rod is in the same league. However, the Hardy is about 8 times the price, but it is definitely not 8 times better! I think for about €100 this rod gives fantastic value for money and I'm sure would stack up well against competitors at multiples of the price.
I bought the 7'6" 3wt last year, broke on first use unfortunately, still waiting for the replacement pieces (Seems they are now going to send a replacement rod and not just the two pieces that I need, will update if they do that, think stock is an issue on the 7'6" at the moment)
Last week they did sent me a Skyhigh 8'4" 3wt.... to use while I wait for my 7'6" 3wt replacement, obviously I get to keep the 8'4" as well. So the support on these rods are great haha.
The Skyhigh rods are accurate as you say, and very light
I took the 8'4" to a local pond yesterday. Feels like a moderate action rod to me which is not an issue, but they call it fast action. Had to slow my casting stoke way down, but was able to hit small targets up to 50ft away, didn't try to cast further as I don't need to in our small streams. If you do a 30ft cast in a river here is a long cast.
The gold reel seat is a bit shiny on the 8'4" rod, luckily the 7'6" does not have that reel seat. Anything shiny is a no no on our small streams, trout are full of crap haha
It also does not look like the factory cares about placing the guides on the spine of the rod pieces, some pieces are fine and some not. So it looks strange if you look down the rod, it's not straight at all. Not sure if it affects casting, don't think so but it puts me off seeing a rod that's not straight. The alignment dots are way off on the 8'4", was also not in line on the 7'6" but this one is totally off. And also the hook keeper is not center either, but that's not a big deal.
I can only compare it to a TFO Finesse and a few Orvis 3wt rods, but this one is not in the same class, still very nice for the price you pay though, especially the warranty they give.
As you can see the fish are very small in our small shallow streams, a 0wt, 1wt or 2wt is fine but the wind is an issue so sometimes you need to go up to 4wt.
I mostly use a 7'9" 2wt, Xplorer T50 rod, local brand, also out of China, very fast action rod, not sure if it comes out of the same factory (Leichi) as Xplorer rods were available before Leichi started making fly rods. Xplorer reels do come out of the Leichi factory though.
Last edited:
shortcircuit
Well-known member
- Joined
- Apr 18, 2016
- Messages
- 275
Thanks for recounting your experiences Shawn, you've had quite the ride.
Yes, I would say so. The previous rod I had was medium to medium-slow!
OK so I just checked mine and thankfully the reel seat, hook keeper, alignment dots and rod rings are all in line. I also checked and there is about 2 mm space between the end of a rod section and the guide whipping. Some people seem to count that as a mark or poor craftmanship, I'm not an expert so it never caught my eye before.
Yes, I would say so. The previous rod I had was medium to medium-slow!
OK so I just checked mine and thankfully the reel seat, hook keeper, alignment dots and rod rings are all in line. I also checked and there is about 2 mm space between the end of a rod section and the guide whipping. Some people seem to count that as a mark or poor craftmanship, I'm not an expert so it never caught my eye before.
My 7'6" was straight at least so it's not all of them, had a SaltPro 7wt from Maxcatch that also had one piece not on the spine but I'm not sure if that's too big of a deal cause it never seemed to have affected accuracy or distance. Also had a Redington and TFO that was also not straight but that was 10+ years ago.
I told my friend he can have the Skyhigh 8'4" once my 7'6" arrives as it's definitly a upgrade over his Echo Base 3wt
My friend's V-Gold 5wt is fine, another's Premier 7wt is also fine at least. I'm sure if I mention it to them they'll probably send a replacement piece, but by now I feel I received enough already, especially if they are sending a whole new 7'6" and not just the 2 middle sections I am looking for. To get a replacement rod (actually two rods) for 1$... doubt anyone else would do that
Think quality control is the issue there, it would save them a lot if they tighten that up
running bear
Well-known member
Waiting on an order since the 10th August, continually told that it was shipped and on it's way.
I only give them this long due to lockdown. Anyway, initiated PayPal resolution and wont be bothering with them again.
I only give them this long due to lockdown. Anyway, initiated PayPal resolution and wont be bothering with them again.
running bear
Well-known member
An update from maxcatch
'Already refund you the customer service is good but the shipping is shockingly poor, but we are not a shipping company.'
They then sent another message telling me I'd to pay if it was received, or I had to send it back. So who can give me a chineese translation for 'I am not an f'ing shipping company...'
Placed an order yesterday evening for a sink tip line, some hooks and a couple of other bits which came to less than twenty quid after discount. Had an email this morning to say my order has been packed and shipped express.
B
B
noel
Well-known member
Keep us informed my order is still at Heathrow .
Will do Noel.
B
