Maxcatch Ultra-Lite Fly Rod for Stream River Panfish/Trout Fishing 1/2/3 Weight and Combo Set Available

I'm a fly and mostly have experience with spin rods, so take my review with a grain of salt, but I've taken this out with me a dozen times or so and it's been all good experiences with it. For the price it seems to be a great value. If you're interested in getting into fly fishing but still a little unsure and don't want to go all in on an expensive name brand, I think this is a great purchase to feel things out and learn without investing too much. Very happy with it so far.

I was not paid for this review, so if you want an honest assessment of these rods read on: The summer of 2016, I needed a quick budget solution to outfit a number of my family with lighter tackle to use on smaller streams - mostly streams in New Mexico and Oklahoma. I purchased 3 rods 2 X 7' 3WT and 1 X 7'6" 3WT. I used the rods in a number of conditions some from rocky, brushy conditions requiring a number of casting techniques. The rivers were the Lower Red River (NM), Rio Costilla (NM), Upper Red River, (NM), Coyote Creek (NM), Latir Creek (NM) & Lower Mountain Fork (OK). I'm a seasoned fly fisher using both Orvis and TFO gear.. I purchased all MaxCatch, Rod, Reel, Line, chest packs and fly boxes. The rods come with a tube and tie-able cloth rod pouch that fits in its host tube. The rods assemble using dots to line up guides, I found the dots to work well and the guides lined up nicely. Each section is marked with WT and Size so you can differentiate each section if, like me, you find the price point so irresistible that you buy three. I also liked that I could get everything on Amazon and avoid the crowds of Cabellas, and high prices of Orvis. The action on these rod are really good - if not better and similar for rods that sell for hundreds more.. Comparable to my Orvis Clearwater or TFO Lefty Kreh. For my experience the line glided effortlessly through the guides and the action of the rods provided a great feel on both back and forward casts. In fact I found that at times I could get as much energy than the afore mentioned rods. Given the brush on the banks and tight quarters of smaller streams, the setup gave me just the right finesse and power i needed to put flies in any pool, run and hole. Customer Service: I had written a prior review about an issue with customer service. The quick back story is that my 3 rods were caught in a mishap with a power window and negligent driver who decided to roll windows up without looking and (yours truly) and "crack", 3 broken rod tips. This was a bit of a gut punch considering we had only hit 1 of the 4 streams we planned to fish.. After a quick field fix with some glue and rod tips that cost some loss in action and fod feel - I got busy working with MaxCatch customer service. They were extremely responsive through Amazon. Unfortunately I was using my phone to communicate and think some of my explanations were lost in translation. I waited a couple of months before writing my initial review. Almost within the hour of that review, they promptly contacted me again and we figured out that my beloved iPhone hadn't sent pictures of the parts they needed which helped convey the parts I needed to replacce. Once MaxCatch understood I needed new tip-top sections, they allowed me to purchase new sections for $14 a piece. Compared to what some "lifetime guarantee" rods charge for replacement parts ($30-$50); this - yet again - was a complete BARGAIN!. I received the new parts about week from purchase, acceptable considering these were special order. The delivery of the parts came in a nice tube, reinforced with foam with each tip suspended in its own section of foam. The tube itself was wrapped in a foam tape adding to the protection of the parts. I was able to replace the tip-top sections and now have a full setup for small stream fishing using entire MC gear. See my reviews under their chest pack, fly box, fly line and reels.

I have hit the streams and small tributaries well suited for this 3 weight rod many times - I broke it recently by tripping over a log and bought another one. I have a famous fly shop near me and know the owner well, I was busy and had him put on backing and flyline on my reel, I came back a few hours later and he said he wanted to test out the rod, as his shop sells quality, high-end flyrods. He said he was blown away by the quality of manufacturing, overall feel, and balance that the rod had provided. I know this as I am very satisfied with the durability and action. Please note a 3weight is not for a river monster for sure, but you can delicately land a fly on top of the water, and feel comfortable that this rod will serve you well. One very minor concern is that there is only one reel seat nut, and the quality of the steel is a bit substandard. Just keep out the dirt and don't over-tighten. Hence 4 stars. Caught plenty of feisty trout on this and will keep it going! I do have Orvis fly rods that are heavier in weight and higher in quality and price, but this is a winner!

This is a wonderful, wonderful little rod. I'll admit it: I was drawn to it originally for the color. Silly, I know. But the reviews were positive enough for me to make this small investment (and when I say "small", I mean holy mother of all that's holy: it's an order of magnitude less than other rods also made overseas). The action is medium/medium fast, which is fine with me: I'm still a developing fly caster. With light flies (i.e., tricos, caddis, hopper patterns), this thing casts beautifully. In fact, this was the rod I was using when I "discovered" how to cast properly. :) It forms nice, supple loops and allows control over them (definitely pair it with a 2/3 weight reel). It's a wondrous alpine creek/alpine lake rod. It backpacks perfectly, being a 4 - piece. It's also short (and forgiving) enough for our 10 - year old to cast well. Recently, however, I've been using it to land 16" - 18" trout on one of my favorite rivers. Quite a rush watching those 2 - 4 pound fish bending this thing over and over again, but still giving me enough backbone to land them. To go after some of these big-uns, especially in winter, I've had to "break the laws" of balance a little: using heavily weighted flies chunked upstream and stripped back down. This rod was definitely not meant for it, but once you get enough line in the air, it handles just fine. On one particularly blustery day, I actually *broke my beloved 3 - piece. While casting into a 50 MPH gust (long story). When I got home, I sent MaxCatch a message asking if I could order a replacement section. I fully expected either a) a "form letter" response or b) a sad, "no". Honestly, I was fully happy with buying another rod from them to replace this one, but then they emailed back saying I could just order the tip section from Amazon. Therein lied the rub: I broke the section right *below the tip (long story, like I said). Here's their response: "May I ask if you need the section which is close to the tip top section? Please purchase the tip top section directly. And we record your need and will send the correct section to you. Merry Christmas!" And that, they did. Very, very, VERY happy with MaxCatch. I'll be buying from them again. And MaxCatch folks, if you're reading this: thanks for making fly fishing affordable to those of us who can't drop $1000 on a setup. :) Time to hit the river! #tightlines

Great little rod for the money. Love the color the green ish color reminds me of a local caddis larva hatch. Over all the rod is extremely nice for the price . Now it dose come in a hard protective tube . But inside the tube is a cloth bag with compartments for each section of the rod. I've got this rod pair up with a 5/6 weight reel even tho it's a 3/4 rod and the reason is the 5/6 reel has a UK brand micro special tapper fly line that is just out of this world and affordable and puts orivis line to shame. I also have a cheap 4/3 weight reel I have as a backup and have cast both reels on here got the same distance and accuracy. Now this rod is alot shorter them your average fly rod length and this is where it shines bright like the beautiful gem it is. Having a shorter rod is great for low hanging brush and branches also a shorter rod helps keep you in good habits with really making your understand the mechanics behind a fly cast thus pushing you to your limit with accuracy. Now this rod isn't going to cast you'd fly 50 feet that was never what it was meant for . It was made to cast short distance but extremely accurate with practice and good skill . This rod I can cast accuracy out to 25 to 30 feet and its very smooth cast good power and load up nice balance. This rod is one of my go to rods cause it was bought with understanding this isn't the cast 50 feet or for days rod. This rod I got for small natives and rainbow and cut throat in narrow local water ways with lots of brush and low hanging trees this makes hitting the seems and pockets on the runs alot more easy then a full length rod this also allows me to have a much more accuracy and making a perfect presentation. Highly recommend this rod it's worth the money. No I don't have any cons about this rod but I do have a suggestion for the company that makes this rod . I think if the company would include a extra tip section so you have a back up tip if you were to break it I think it would increase sales as well as be a even nicer touch on this rod set up. Over all if you don't have one these rods pick one up you want regret it. Also it's perfect size to teach younger ones to fly fish and cast. I now own 2 od these rods . Just bought another one and I have to say having 2 of these rods these are now my go to trout pan fish and crappie rods . Since I've bought these and pair them both up with 3/4 weight reels these actually cast better then my orvis rod and my moonshine drift rod . I plan on ordering more to swap out on my 5/6 rod . I really thunk alot of people are sleeping on this rod and I do like how you can order a extra tip so of you break your rod tip

Honestly overall I love this little outfit. I got the 7'6" 3wt outfit, and all the parts seem pretty nice. The rod is responsive and casts prettt well, especially for small streams and creeks. It's sensitive and flexes pretty far down the rod, feels like a medium action. It roll casts and mends really well, although I only got to test up to 40ft. It can cast small streamers and dry dropper rigs decently, but it definitely works a lot better with smaller flies. The reel is alright, the drag seems kinda too strong or too light, but honestly I think it's better to just leave it pretty loose and just use your palm to slow it down if a fish really starts to pull line. Another thing is the retrieve is almost too smooth, which can make it awkward to pick up line, and it's also very quiet which I personally don't like but others might. The line seems good enough but time will tell as far as durability. The box it comes with is decent but the flies are trash, maybe would work on panfish but I wouldn't bother for trout. For 100$, I'd say it's totally worth it and a great backup or second rod.

I got the 6’6” 2wt and it was a decent rod at first, but it wasn’t long before the top section broke in half. I only got to use this rod a couple Times and now am stuck with a broken rod as maxcatch wont honor their warranty for products bought on Amazon yet I can’t find any warranty info on Amazon. Severely disappointed with the rod and the customer service, just save yourself the headache and get shell out the extra dollars to get a rod that wont leave you stranded and will actually last.

I have compared this nicely-finished, light fly-rod with several others that I have of similar length and line weight. Typically, going up one line size allows one to cast more precisely because one is casting with a short segment of line even though these line weights are judged by a 30 ft. length for their weight-class. A 2 Wt. line, 30 ft., weighs 80 grains, but one is only casting the first 15 or 20 ft., so one needs 80 grains to load the rod properly. A 3 Wt. line, 30 ft, weighs 100 grains. So, effectively, 20 ft. would weigh about 65 grains, and still allow one to deliver fake flies in a delicate manner and allow proper loading of the rod for casting. For clear waters and wary trout, it is better to deliver a lighter line than to splash the water with a heavier line. Many line manufacturers overweight their lines by one-half size heavier for the newer graphite rods that require a bit of an overload. This rod is not a high-end, springy, premier grade item, but the price is attractive and it casts well, if overloaded a bit.