Playing With The Abu Garcia Max STX
By: Phil Foo
Colours are important especially for anglers who have higher visual sensitivity levels. What I meant is that some people are more sensitive to sounds. Some people are more sensitive to touch and feel. Some people are simply more sensitive to images and visual stimuli. I am attracted to visuals too. Hence why when I saw the Abu Garcia Max STX rod, I was instantly attracted to it like moth being attracted to light.
[ I made a cast with a decent amount of force and shot the grub all the way into the other pond… ]
The Abu Garcia Max STX rods are mainly orange in colour. Orange is one of those colours that calls out to one’s eyes whether far or near. When I first saw it I just walked over to it and picked it up. I studied the rod closely looking at the subtle designs. Although primarily orange, the rod has areas of grey, and black as well. Orange and black goes really well. Orange and grey too. The orange area at the butt section has shapes in it with different shades of orange. Awesome design.
The orange upon orange sections of the Abu Garcia Max STX rods.
Ok, here’s why I was so attracted to it. I really do like the orange, black, and grey theme. In fact, just the day before I was looking at a Porsche 911 (997) RS GT3 in a very similar colour scheme. Thus when I saw the Abu Garcia Max STX rod my mind was like wow! Both the rod and the car fitted so well in my head. What’s even better is that I was pairing the rod with the new Abu Garcia Jordan Lee low profile baitcasting reel. That reel too comes in orange, grey, and black.
Allow me to make one thing clear before I continue. The Abu Garcia Max STX rod is not in Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Philippines, Thailand, Brunei, and Vietnam just yet. In fact, it is not most countries yet. Yes, you can buy it if you’re in America but that is pretty much where they are available right now. That said, worry not. They will be coming to our side of the world really soon.
Out on the water with the Abu Garcia Max STX rod – an awesome, awesome rod.
Playing with the Abu Garcia Max STX rod, I was impressed with it. It felt light and is very well balanced. This rod that I am playing with is the baitcasting model. I instantly fell in love with it. I picked up the awesome Abu Garcia Jordan Lee low profile baitcasting reel and secured it to the Abu Garcia Max STX rod. Wow! They match really well. Now if only I had the Porsche. If I did, I would feel like James Bond, or perhaps James Pond; since I am an angler and not a spy.
The Abu Garcia Max STX rod and the awesome Abu Garcia Jordan Lee low profile baitcasting reel.
Time To Play In The Field
I took the Abu Garcia Max STX rod, the Abu Garcia Jordan Lee low profile baitcasting reel, and a few other setups to my favourite test site. Note that this is the first field test I have done in months. I have not fished since the government announced a lockdown to “flatten” the crappy piece of s#$% corona virus. Anyway, I was so excited I hardly slept the night before.
Notice the blank loading up to shoot the softbait out.
At the pond I made the first two cast and on the second cast I managed to catch the characteristic of the Abu Garcia Max STX’s tip. It is one of the more fun rods rated at 24ton to cast with. The Abu Garcia Jordan Lee low profile baitcasting reel is an awesome reel to cast with too. The combination that I am playing with is fabulous. Every cast was effortlessly executed. I didn’t have to use much force to get my 3 inch Berkley Powerbait Pro Grub flying very good distances.
[ When it comes to the backbone and its power curve; the Abu Garcia Max STX rod has a consistent power curve with no “dead zones.” ]
I was having so much fun casting I decided to just see how far I can cast with it, since the pond was relatively empty. So I did. I made a cast with a decent amount of force and shot the grub all the way into the other pond. It flew across the pond I was fishing at, and landed over 3 quarters of the other pond. I was surprised but elated.
Casting distance is awesome. In this cast I wanted to see just how far I could cast. I actually cast my softbait into the other pond.
Ok, casting was awesome and fun. How would it handle a hard fighting fish? When it came to the serious business of catching fish, the Abu Garcia Max STX rod has plenty of power in its backbone to handle hard fighting fishes. I was fishing with the medium light model and had no issues managing the hard fighting fishes here. Amongst the fishes subdued were hard fighting groupers and golden snappers.
Awesome backbone with consistent power when handling these hard fighting groupers and snappers.
There was also a time when a hard fighting golden snapper took the grub near a snag; a waterwheel. It shot straight for the waterwheel. I managed to turn it away and it swam back out into the open. It didn’t take long to bring it up for the camera. The Abu Garcia Max STX rod definitely has power to turn the heads of these hard fighting fishes.
Consistent Power
When it comes to the backbone and its power curve; the Abu Garcia Max STX rod has a consistent power curve with no “dead zones.” What I meant by “dead zones” are sections of the backbone that loses power. It is like you are exerting a certain amount of power as the fish runs. The pressure goes up but suddenly it just goes limp. This is the “dead zone.” The Abu Garcia Max STX does not have it. This is awesome.
Awesome backbone managed to stop this hard fighting snapper from reaching the snag – waterwheel.
Over all I like the Abu Garcia Max STX rod. It is a joy to cast with. It is lightweight and so well balanced. It feels awesome and it looks so good especially when paired with the Abu Garcia Jordan Lee low profile baitcasting reel. I now want to play with the Abu Garcia Jordan Lee rod too. If the reel pairs so well with the Max STX rod, I can only wonder just how well the Abu Garcia Jordan Lee rod and Jordan Lee reel will perform when put together.
Plenty of hard fighting snappers and groupers landed during our test.
What, I have field tested is the final approved prototype. The only difference between the production rods and this is that the production rods will come with Abu Garcia’s custom integrated reel seat with molded polymer comfort grip. This prototype has a similar looking reel seat without the polymer comfort grip. Still it feels awesome.
ROD SPECIFICATIONS
Rod brand: Abu Garcia
Series: Max STX
Model: MSTX632ML A
Length: 6’3”
Action: Medium Light (ML)
Lure: 1/4 -5/8oz.
Line: 6-15lb
Blank type: Graphite
Blank rating: 24ton
