[Lastcar]

What is Chameleon and why isn't it used in lieu of Ultra Green?

I have read the company's spiel, I am curious what local fishermen and women think?

 

[HOOK]

the Chameleon is "supposed" to be more abrasion resistant than the other Maxima lines BUT its not I tried it when it first came out and found it broke ALOT MORE!!!! :'( which in turn made me go back to the Ultragreen :thumbup: and then they have the Maxima Perfection which is the clear line and is more supple and intended for spinning reels as it memories less :-\ I thought this would be good for leader material but low and behold i was seriously WRONG!!!! it just didnt stand up to the fight of the fish and broke alot also.


for myself I fish nothing but Ultragreen :thumbup:


tight lines

HOOK

 

[Dogbreath]

Chameleon is much stiffer and much more abrasion resistant than Ultra Green.

In that regard it's harder for people to tie strong knots in and just a gnarlier product.

So many people in BC are hynotised by Ultra Green, it's a decent product but way overpriced there are many better value alternatives.

 

[Bent Rod]

Maxima's reputation was built by calling their line lighter than it actually is, 15 pound Maxima is really 10-12 etc.....

It's good line IMO, just not much better or as good as some others.

 

[professori]

Chameleon is much stiffer and much more abrasion resistant than Ultra Green.

In that regard it's harder for people to tie strong knots in and just a gnarlier product.

So many people in BC are hynotised by Ultra Green, it's a decent product but way overpriced there are many better value alternatives.

Maxima's reputation was built by calling their line lighter than it actually is, 15 pound Maxima is really 10-12 etc.....

It's good line IMO, just not much better or as good as some others.

I use Maxima Ultragrfeen for all my leader material, except for those times I am using Florocarbon. I am very satisfied with it, but as my leaders are almost all knotted tapers, and I go through a lot of leader material, I would be happy to try other types. Both you guys claim there is better stuff than Ultragreen out there. How 'bout naming the alternatives? What do you use, if not Ultragreen?

 

[Lastcar]

It is interesting...Maxima has the market so 'cornered' that I didn't even think to ask about alternatives to Maxima period. I simply went exploring amongst Maxima's product line.

Anyone willing to share which other companies and lines they use or recommend? I have read on here someone suggesting Suffix, which I used on a spinning reel on our trip to Florida and some of the braid lines. I think there may have been a thread discussing this earlier, I will do a search...

Prof do you use Ultragreen on still waters? On still waters while fishing chironomids I use Berkley vanish in 8lb. It is awesome, very supple, no memory, fluorocarbon, and cheap. So cheap in fact if I get a tangle of any magnitude or 'wind' knots I simply cut it all and start again. Re rigged in about a minute.

 

[Silex-user]

I have being using Maxima Ultragreen for over 30 years and I stopped using them for many reasons. First of all, they are overprice, secondly, they tend to wear or fray lot faster after using about 2-3 fishing trips for me. I don't think they are strong as they advertised for example, I brought new spool of 30lbs Ultragreen to fill up my Dawia mooching reel for saltwater fishing trip. First time salt water fishing with it got a floating kelps reeled it in the mainline (Ultragreen) snaps. Fighting a 20 lbs spring pump and reeled.......close to the boat mainline snapped again. Got back home, unwinded the rest of Ultragreen lines back on to the line spool and return it back to Berry's Bait. That was 13 years ago. After that being experimenting with different brands until about 5 years ago and settled on P-Line X-Strong, this is the best line I ever use. Not as expensive as Maxima Ultragreen. They are stronger, don't fray as fast as Ultragreen and I do not stripped off and cut 30yards off lines (Ultragreen) every times.The diameter line (pounds) size are about same or less than Ultragreen. This is only my observation and fishing experiences of over 40 years of fishing. ;D

P.S When I buy fishing lines I always try to go to popular Sporting Goods (fishing) for fishing lines. This way I know they fresh and not collecting dusts. :

Silex-user.

 

[fishin30]

Maxima's reputation was built by calling their line lighter than it actually is, 15 pound Maxima is really 10-12 etc.....

It's good line IMO, just not much better or as good as some others.

If this were true than 12 lb would actually be 15

As for price of maxima I respool old spools with bulk maxima cuts the price in half.

 

[Tacheeda]

the Chameleon is "supposed" to be more abrasion resistant than the other Maxima lines BUT its not I tried it when it first came out and found it broke ALOT MORE!!!! which in turn made me go back to the Ultragreen

I've had the exact opposite, have never had much problems with chameleon, but alot more on ultragreen (still less than many other brands). Each line also has its place, chameleon is a stiffer line. Ultragreen is the combo of both, pushed as a saltwater line up north here. Have had little problems with it.

 

[rln]

Over the many years of trying almost every brand of mono out there , I can say that there are not many lines "better" than Maxima for the BC market place. There are other lines that will perform as well though. Some to look at at Stren "DuraTuf" and Trilene "Big Game". Maxima is under rated, 20lb breaks at 27lb and that's why most anglers like it. Chameleon is a stiffer line and works well for mainline but due to it's color it is not a good leader line for clear water conditions. If one looks at pricing of Maxima, you can purchase many other brands of lines like Ande and Mustad "Pro Plus" along with P-line along with Big Game and DuraTuf and get Maxima like performance by changing it on a regular basis due to the fact these other brands are a lot cheaper than Maxima. Over the years when fishing long days and using 20lb main, 15 leader or 25lb main and 20lb leader, I found that it would take on average about 7 days of hard fishing to have the portion of line that was regularly being worked over by casting, stretching, hooking fish, etc, become an overall lesser strength than a brand new fresh peice of leader and I would then start having the mainline break on a regualr basis if bottom was hooked. I found then it was better to use Maxima Ultragreen for leader and use a more cost effective line like Big Game for mainline and just change it on a somewhat regualr basis. Your experience may vary.

 

[cobble]

I find chameleon to be stiffer and not hold as much memory as the ultra green. I find chameleon fishes great on a center pin and it rolls off evenly. I regularly used ultra green for leaders and on level wind reels. Flurocarbon is excellent for leaders, but costs more.

 

[Cyrus]

I use the chameleon for bar fishing springs, it has not let me down yet and find it to be very trouble free. no issues with the knots!!

 

[vicsteve]

I've used Maxima my whole life. The chameleon is great for saltwater, and centrepin reels on the river. For levelwinds I think the Ultragreen is nicer to cast and control while fishing.
Maxima all the way!

 

[flatlander]

Great point by Silex-user...seems every so often you get an 'old' 'fragile' buy of line...this can be especially true if you want to get some deals on e-Bay...

I got stung only once with Maxima...moved to P-Line products and they are great. Cover the whole range from Flouro to Co-P to mono. Until burned will stay with these guys.

 

[firstlight]

I dont like the Chamelion because of its wiry nature and have allways used Ultragreen.
Unfortunately Ultragreen breaks down quickly but its still the best line on the market imo.

 

[Merc]

I've been using a line called Izorline which you can't get here. I like it better than Maxima for my Mykiss pin reel, at least. I've used it for almost a year and find it to be quite strong and reasonably abrasion resistant. Back east, they tend to use a brand called Siglon for their pin reels and I'm mighty curious to try some of that.

 

[coho_killer]

IMO the best line out there to use for leaders is called "frog line" this line is way better than maxima ultra green or any other for that matter! just is really expensive! and i have not seen it in big spools! I beleave it is used mostly for tying fly leaders or tippets! :2cents:

CK

 

[STLHDR]

IMO the best line out there to use for leaders is called "frog line" this line is way better than maxima ultra green or any other for that matter! just is really expensive! and i have not seen it in big spools! I beleave it is used mostly for tying fly leaders or tippets! :2cents:

Do you mean frog hair?

 

[coho_killer]

yeah thats it frog hair! I have 2 small spools of it but have only used it for a few leaders last fall! Stuff is great!

 

[rln]

if you use frog hair for steelhead leaders on a regular basis gear fishing not fly fishing, I think you will soon be dissapointed. I know I was.