Imperial Montague

These reels first appeared in around 1936, they were marketed as ‘The Super Montague’ but all the branded reels sighted so far have ‘Imperial Montague’ stamped on them. They came in 2 different spool widths, 4.3/4’’ and 5.3/8’’. The designer of these reels is unknown but was possibly Aubrey Sara, who was involved in designing the Harradine reel. He was a prolific Bondi-beach shark fisherman and also fished for marlin in his native New Zealand. These were manufactured by R.R Taylor and Co. in Sydney. Less than 50 of these reels were produced.

This article appeared in the Western Australia in December 1937: “ANANIAS”- Manufactured from a new alloy 90 percent of the lighter 70 percent stronger than aluminium. Non-corrosive, stainless and absolutely immune to the action of water. Silver steel and bronze bearings; machine cut gears. Spool and intermediate multiple gears are fitted with annular ball braces, eliminating any possibility of seizing. Large bearing surfaces are allowed for the drag mechanism and are carefully hardened. Winding gear is of hard phosphorus bronze, pinion and gear of special-hardened steel. New design of check work and drag is of generous proportions and quickly disperses any heat generated. Drag pawl is positive in action without the use of springs. The clutch is fibre-faced cork, and is designed to give added resilience. The powerful drag lubrication is well designed and has one-finger adjustment. Guaranteed to stand up to the hardest tests. Simple take down and assemble with spanner provided. No, they are not specifications of a new model motor cycle- merely a description of the latest reel for big game fishing.

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