MAVERIX RODS By Grant Dixon (Editor)
From the first time I fitted reels to them the Maverix Rods smacked with quality. Their breeding was impeccable. The three styles in the range had been developed by Rex Smith, skipper of the noted Hauraki Gulf charter boat Kiwi Angler who is partnered by his rod maker brother Paul Smith and one other in the business. Over his years of Charter and personal fishing Rex has seen a heap of rods, some good, some bad and some downright ugly. He and Paul have always toyed with the idea of building their version of the `ultimate' rod and Maverix range is the result. Rather than produce a wide spectrum of customised rods Maverix has concentrated on two purpose built blanks, specking them differently. Both are 2100mm (7ft) rods, one rated 6-8 kgs the other 8 -10 kgs. The Ultra Sport 8 and Ultra Sport 8TR are both carbon fibre blanks with medium to fast action sporting 9 hard chrome stainless steel guides with a quality ceramic tip, all under bound and double over wrapped. The only difference between the two is in the reel seats. As the name suggests the 8 TR model features a trigger grip.	All Maverix rods are designed for overhead reels. One of the unique features of these rods are the fore grips. They're triangulated with rounded edges which fit comfortably into your hand with a groove down the top centre for thumb placement. The fore grips are available in three sizes small, medium and large and are 320 mm in length. The rods have a quality gimbal which has a soft cap as a standard accessory along with the heavy duty canvas rod carry bag and a spare tip. The rods look a million dollars. The binding is black on gold thread with the black finished in `Fathom' a special light responsive coating which as the name suggests changes hue depending on conditions. Both the reel seat in the gimbal section a gold trimmed setting the whole rod of nicely. The Ultra Sport 10 and High Roller 10 are based on an 8-10 kg medium fast action blank which like the Ultra Sport 8 features a beefed up butt section to give enhanced the lifting power. The two 8 - 10 kg rated rods are 2 100 in length have all the	features of there 6 - 8 kg counterparts with two exceptions. There is no trigger grip model, and the High Roller is fitted with 10 Aftco lightweight roller guides. The High Roller model weighs 350gm compared with 365gm from the hard chrome guide version and 265gm for the 6-8 kg models. I've had the pleasure of fishing with a number of the development rods over the summer and they quickly became my preferred rod option for light tackle fishing. One of the best catches was a 20kg Wahoo landed on the High Roller 10 with 8kg line while on a recent trip to Samoa. Charter boat skipper Peter Meredith is a firm believer in not playing with your food in other words use heavier line weights for everything! But even he had to admit the rods certainly dealt to these Pacific speedsters is with ease When stray lining for snapper and jigging for Kingfish in lighter line weights I have found the Maverix rods a pleasure to use. One of their endearing features of is their ability to retrieve heaps of line with each stroke and	in this department I struggled initially until I fitted a reel with a higher gear ratio. On the Ultra Sport 8 TR, I have been using an ABU C6400 C4 Elite reel which has a retrieve ratio of 6.3 to one. If you use the tackle properly, where the rod does the retrieval work in the reel simply stores line rather than acting as a winch, this was a great combination. The Ultra Sport 10 was fitted with a Penn GLS 25 and 10 kg while the High Roller 10 utilised a Di aw a SS 50 H Tournament spooled with 10 kilo for trolling. Both worked well with the rod reel combinations complementing each other. Bo th rod weights are excellent for casting and their light weight is an added bonus, you can use them all day without getting a sore arm. Over the four or so months I have had the Maverix rods they have done a fair few miles and they have stood the test of time. The bindings remain uncracked top and bottom and despite plenty of knocks associated with normal fishing the still look new. Owning a Maverix will not come cheap but like most things in life, and you get what you pay for .
Reprinted with permission from June 1999 issue NZ Fishing News.

Wayne Bridger holds a serious number of NZ records, won  the Furuno in 2000 and has numerous other contest trophies. A consistent big fish man he says: ìI feel after 40 years of fishing I have gained a huge amount of knowledge and experience on all types if fishing including big snapper. Part of that knowledge is knowing that I can still learn more by looking and listening to other anglers I fish or associate with. . . The rod needs to have a sensitive tip section then loads up slowly down to a powerful butt. The reel seat should be in a confortable position when the rod is sitting in the gimble. You need to be sure that your rod can do the job right and help you land that big fish. 
All of these features are found in the Maverix Rods I use and have helped me to land big fish in trying conditions.î

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