Line Colour Change

nottskev · Nov 29, 2017

I know there's a wealth of knowledge out there, but can anyone tell me, without telling me a) Maxima is rubbish and b) they prefer brand x with its far superior etc etc, why I can only seem to get Maxima in a strong, rusty reddish colour these days?

For donkeys' years it had a very "right-looking" two tone, greeny-brown colour.
There are several big tackle shops nearby which only offer the dubious-looking red stuff.

Anyone still finding it in the original colour?

rayner · Nov 29, 2017

Is this red called Chameleon or another made for the Yanks.
Just had a look and it is called Chameleon, strange colour. Not one I will use.

sam vimes · Nov 29, 2017

I suspect that the multitude of different colours that Maxima has done doesn't really help. They currently do Ultragreen, Chameleon, Clear, Crystal Ivory, Hi-Viz and Tuna Blue. However, they have definitely done a Chameleon Red in the past, which you can still buy in some places.

As far as I'm concerned, the original Maxima Chameleon was always brown with a very slight hint of red in the right light. It did tend to look more brown with a bit of use and once it was put on a dark reel spool rather than the white Maxima spool. This is the stuff I can still get and still buy from time to time. I don't believe that there has been a significant change in it since I first started using it in the mid 80s.

The genuine Chameleon Red stays very, very, RED no matter what. The packaging of Chameleon Red should make it very obvious that it is Chameleon Red.

I can only speculate that what you think of as "Maxima" must have been Maxima Ultragreen, or at least an earlier version of it.

S-Kippy · Nov 29, 2017

I used Maxima Chameleon for years. Fresh off the spool I remember it as being greeny/brownish but after a couple of outings went decidedly darker....almost red/brown.

I wonder if this browner stuff might be old line ?

sam vimes · Nov 29, 2017

Maxima Ultragreen photo.

Maxima Chameleon photo.

Maxima Chameleon Red photo.

nottskev · Nov 29, 2017

sam vimes said:
I suspect that the multitude of different colours that Maxima has done doesn't really help. They currently do Ultragreen, Chameleon, Clear, Crystal Ivory, Hi-Viz and Tuna Blue. However, they have definitely done a Chameleon Red in the past, which you can still buy in some places.

As far as I'm concerned, the original Maxima Chameleon was always brown with a very slight hint of red in the right light. It did tend to look more brown with a bit of use and once it was put on a dark reel spool rather than the white Maxima spool. This is the stuff I can still get and still buy from time to time. I don't believe that there has been a significant change in it since I first started using it in the mid 80s.

The genuine Chameleon Red stays very, very, RED no matter what. The packaging of Chameleon Red should make it very obvious that it is Chameleon Red.

I can only speculate that what you think of as "Maxima" must have been Maxima Ultragreen, or at least an earlier version of it.

Hmm. I'm aware of the colour options, but I've been using Maxima for decades, and never bought anything not labelled "Chameleon". I'd hardly fail to notice if I'd bought something labelled differently. Indeed, the other options barely, if ever, appear on the shelves of shops I buy in. I'm not sure the photo brings the difference out clearly, but both of these spools were loaded from spools of Maxima Chameleon; one bought recently, the redder of the two; one from a large spool bought a year ago, both stored identically and neither used more than the other. Staff in the shops agree it looks different, but say that's how it is these days.... hence my post.

sam vimes · Nov 29, 2017

This is the problem in trying to describe things rather than using pics. I can't quite fathom where the "greeny-brown colour" you mentioned would come into it.

The mislabelling comments were mainly due to knowing folks unintentionally buying, or just seeing, Chameleon Red due to poor websites or failing to read packaging properly. I also know folks that have bought other colours of Maxima without realising that most folks, and most tackle shops, mean Maxima Chameleon if they say Maxima.

nottskev said:

However, what I see in that picture is pretty much what I'd expect to see in normal Maxima Chameleon. I'd expect the slight redness apparent in the newer stuff to dull down with use and time.

Perhaps it has changed. Maybe the newest stuff I have won't dull as I expect. I haven't really use my newest Maxima enough to worry and it's been fine in use anyway. It's interesting to see a long term user thinking it's changed recently though. Most folks I know swear blind that it changed sometime in the early 90s.

thecrow · Nov 29, 2017

I have used the redish Maxima on one of my pins ( 6lb ) for still waters and find it no different to any other Maxima I have used in the past, I have had no problems with it.

nottskev · Nov 29, 2017

sam vimes said:
This is the problem in trying to describe things rather than using pics. I can't quite fathom where the "greeny-brown colour" you mentioned would come into it.

The mislabelling comments were mainly due to knowing folks unintentionally buying, or just seeing, Chameleon Red due to poor websites or failing to read packaging properly. I also know folks that have bought other colours of Maxima without realising that most folks, and most tackle shops, mean Maxima Chameleon if they say Maxima.

However, what I see in that picture is pretty much what I'd expect to see in normal Maxima Chameleon. I'd expect the slight redness apparent in the newer stuff to dull down with use and time.

Perhaps it has changed. Maybe the newest stuff I have won't dull as I expect. I haven't really use my newest Maxima enough to worry and it's been fine in use anyway. It's interesting to see a long term user thinking it's changed recently though. Most folks I know swear blind that it changed sometime in the early 90s.

Yes - describing colours is not easy, in different lights and between people who may see colour slightly differently. My greeny-brown description reflects how the darker spool looks to me in some light. I can see how it has reddish aspects too.

That said, when you've been looking down at a line on your reel for decades, and quite accustomed to how it looks, you do notice when it's suddenly looking different!

I only use it in strengths between 1.5 and 4 lb, for sinking line float fishing and light leger/feeder, and, cue general debate, I've found nothing better for robustness and general behaviour in use. It's amazing what can be done with the lighter strains for light waggler. I've found it can be a bit prone to misbehave on first use, but after that will be trouble-free and reliable til you decide to change it. The first time I was given a spool of the "redder" Chameleon, for want of a better term, not only did it look weird, I also felt the texture was slightly different - a bit wirier and less slick in its surface - and for the first time ever, had been badly spooled in the factory: as you loaded it, loose loops from a level below the top coils coming off the spool got caught up in the coils coming off and I managed to salvage about 70m from a 100m spool. I'm aware that a bad first impression - looking wrong - predisposes one to find other faults, but this was not the line I knew.

I'm asking about it as I'm pretty fussy about reel lines, have tried and rejected a fair few, and I'm of the "not broke, don't fix it" school of thought, wanting to get to the bottom of the Maxima puzzle.

flightliner · Nov 29, 2017

Same with me Graham, I did notice the change on a couple of spools but no apparent change in its qualities when being used

iannate · Nov 29, 2017

I see the greeny bit as well, so you're not alone; as said, our eyes are slightly different.

I used to use nothing but chameleon for float and lead, the changes in the 90s (which is when I stopped using it) I put down to old stock as that was when all the 'super' lines started to appear with their low diameter, no / controlled stretch and I couldn't get a decent spool of chameleon (felt wrong, snapped too easily {even when tying hooks} looked wrong} so I kept changing and changing until I found something I'm happy(ish) with; if I could trust maxima, I would use it again - but I bought a spool a couple of years ago and had the same problems. As you say Kev, 1.5lb for float fishing, although I did go up to 6lb [on the lead] for barbel and carp fishing.

sam vimes · Nov 29, 2017

I really, really hope some folks never do any kind of wiring work!

S-Kippy · Nov 29, 2017

sam vimes said:
I really, really hope some folks never do any kind of wiring work!

Ha ha ha.....not in my house anyway.

Are all these various hues of Maxima the same basic line but different colour? I ask because I once bought some Maxima from a trout fishing outlet which I swear was completely different line. This was Ultragreen as opposed to Maxima Chameleon during one of my " I don't like dark line" phases.

nottskev · Nov 29, 2017

thecrow said:
I have used the redish Maxima on one of my pins ( 6lb ) for still waters and find it no different to any other Maxima I have used in the past, I have had no problems with it.

Ah ha! I put it to you then, Mr Crow, that you admit to noticing that what you refer to as "reddish Maxima" was indeed more red than the previously less red version?

Sorry. Think I've been in the house too long. But it's nice to know that others recognise what I mean by the colour change to "Chameleon".

Alan Tyler · Nov 29, 2017

I've still got a couple of Mustad 90340's or whatever the barbless, odd-numbered maggot hooks were, tied to Maxima, and kept for special occasions. No snaggy swims for those babies.

sam vimes · Nov 29, 2017

S-Kippy said:
Are all these various hues of Maxima the same basic line but different colour? I ask because I once bought some Maxima from a trout fishing outlet which I swear was completely different line. This was Ultragreen as opposed to Maxima Chameleon during one of my " I don't like dark line" phases.

I've no idea. Until fairly recently, I've generally had a similar aversion to the lighter greeny to sandy brown coloured lines. I've got over that in the last five years or so, but I've not seen Maxima Ultragreen to buy in a bricks and mortar shop. I may have given it a whirl if i had.

Alan Tyler · Nov 29, 2017

I can't remember whether it's called dichroism or birefringence but the the colour change thingy is due to the colour looking different in transmitted light to what it does in reflected light. If you ever get a chance to look at a jar of flourescein, it's either green or screeching orange depending on whether you're looking through it or at it.

Just how a bit of line that behaves in that manner manages to look less "threatening" than line that's trying to look transparent, I don't know, but sometimes it does appear to make all the difference.

Edit -crossed posts - I'm talking about the original chamaeleon stuff.

Is it green? Is it brown? Hang it, I'm having that maggot---whoops!

nottskev · Nov 29, 2017

Alan Tyler said:
I can't remember whether it's called dichroism or birefringence but the the colour change thingy is due to the colour looking different in transmitted light to what it does in reflected light. If you ever get a chance to look at a jar of flourescein, it's either green or screeching orange depending on whether you're looking through it or at it.

Just how a bit of line that behaves in that manner manages to look less "threatening" than line that's trying to look transparent, I don't know, but sometimes it does appear to make all the difference.

Edit -crossed posts - I'm talking about the original chamaeleon stuff.

Is it green? Is it brown? Hang it, I'm having that maggot---whoops!

Yes, the colour business is not so simple. It's not every day a post has two words that go straight over my head; let me offer you my contrafibulations

Alan Tyler · Nov 29, 2017

Thanks, I'll keep them to hand in case of discombobulation.

Philip · Nov 29, 2017

Dont Maxima sell Chameleon under the premise that it changes colour and hue to match the surrounding water and light conditions ..hence the name.

Doesnt explain two spools looking different under the same light however as the earlier photo showed. Although perhaps thats just the age of the line.

Line Colour Change

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The fish made me do it!

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