BMax 70 tackle review
This review was written by Kosta Linardos, editor of Hooked Up magazine. It featured in the February 2023 issue.
While Black Magic might distribute its products globally, its home base is in New Zealand, home to some of the best trout fishing in the world. It’s therefore no surprise that Black Magic have always offered a great range of trout lures. Their trout lure range of spinners and spoons features the BMax hard-body lures in 50, 60 and the new 70mm, which we’ve just tested out on the Goulburn River and its huge population of both brown and rainbow trout. BMax lures have been around for a while but they have recently been revamped and the new series offers a great range of size, colour and buoyancy options.
The BMax 70 is a sinking lure, which does give it a great point of difference as most dedicated trout lures of this size are suspending and floating. The colour range in the 70 range is dedicated to trout, with three brown trout patterns, two rainbow trout and two green & gold, which has always been an outstanding combination for enticing trout.
The finish on the 70 is excellent, with well detailed paint jobs that offer both contrast and flash. These cost around $10 and the price belies the quality of these lures, as they present more like a $20 lure. We’re unsure what hooks they are fitted with but they are sharp and perfectly sized. The arrival of the BMax 70 for the review was perfect as the fish were holding quite deep in the river and we knew that only deep diving or sinking lures were getting strikes.
At 9.3g these are great lures to cast with as the weight allows for excellent distance when fishing larger rivers or impoundments. They allow for a variety of retrieve styles but for anglers new to fishing they are a great choice as with just a moderately paced retrieve they feature a tight wobble swimming action that trout respond to, and this same action would make them an excellent trolling lure.
As the fish were holding deep I worked the BMax by allowing it to sink to a point where it was just off the bottom, then started my retrieve using a series of twitches and pauses, which it responds to with a tight shimmy and darting action. This helps give off flash and imitate a wounded fish. I would then pause and allow the lure to sink a little, then quickly wind and twitch again.
In the clear water of the Goulburn I could really see how the BMax responded to rod movement and noted that it’s a very versatile lure, allowing you to fish in deep and shallow waters with both fast and erratic retrieves as well as a simple slow roll.
The day we tested the BMax was tough fishing and soft plastics were accounting for most fish. I managed a few small rainbows on the BMax in Goldie colour, and a few casts later I had a large rainbow follow the lure right into the clear shallows, where he had a quick strike that missed and then he retreated. He then darted back and hit the BMax aggressively about 5ft away from where we were standing, which was very cool to see and always the sign of a good lure when a fish comes back for a second hit.
The BMax 70 has found a permanent place in my trout tackle boxes thanks to its unique attributes, great colour range, enticing action and durable finish. I don’t have anything in 70mm that sinks in such a great range of trout-enticing colours and at this price they offer great value for money. Trout fishing in rivers is a style of fishing where you can regularly lose lures, as you often need to cast into the structure to get the best fish. I am sure anglers will appreciate being able to do that with a lure that presents as well as many others at a third of the price.
