Fishing line company Maxima has been landing big ones for 100 years

As health experts have been advising us the last few months, washing our hands well is a major step to prevent contracting Covid-19. And to know just how long you should scrub, many suggest humming or singing Happy Birthday. When you are finished the lyrics, you can cease cleaning.

I’ve been following this good advice lately with a little twist: when it comes to naming the birthday boy or girl, I sing “Maxima.”  It’s the truth, and I’ve been doing it for so long now, it has become a damned earworm. But the fact of the matter is that the renowned line company is turning 100 years old this year and it is my way of celebrating the occasion.

And how is this for an ironic twist: the company was founded in 1920 by Max Meinel in Markneukirchen, Germany and first produced strings for musical instruments.  It subsequently evolved and expanded its line of products to include the strings for tennis rackets and eventually fishing lines.

I was first introduced to them in the early 1980s, when the late John Kerr and I represented Team Canada at the Daiwa World Salmon Championships in Campbell River, British Columbia. We won the British Columbia Trophy for catching the biggest king salmon but what impressed me was that every single guide we fished with on the west coast, insisted on stringing Maxima Ultragreen and Chameleon line onto their mooching reels. It was as though no other line was deemed trustworthy enough for the task.

Needless to say, I was sold. So, ever since, Maxima has been my go-to line of choice when it comes to spooling monofilament and fluorocarbon line onto my reels, and fashioning big toothy critter leaders for muskies and pike. My fly vest, too, is stuffed with the super handy leader wheels that the company makes for lengthening leaders and adding tippet material.

So, when you scrub your hands today, sing “Happy Birthday Maxima” in honour of 100 years of being …. “the best by test.”