The EILDON Spinning reel, Australian Antique Vintage Fishing Reel information History Reference Eildon, reeLpedia ® by Bernie Ladd.

T H E  E I L D O N Thread-line Spinning reel History.

Herbert Bain, known to many as ‘Bud’, became a fishing enthusiast during his teenage years, when he started to venture out to the streams of Bayswater area in Victoria. There he experienced the excitement of catching Black Fish, Gadopsis marmoratus, and the Mountain Galaxias, Galaxias olidus. As an adult in the 1930s, he gravitated to the Lake Eildon area, which was endowed with many rivers and tributaries. His interest in fishing paralleled his growing interest in engineering, which led to the later establishment of his manufacturing engineering firm, known as H.R.Bain & Co.

During the war years, the firm manufactured munitions. When the war ended, Bud was on the lookout for a new product. It is at this turning point in his life, that his love of fishing has germinated into the idea of manufacturing fishing reels and other angling equipment. There was a scarcity of imported reels; thus a local production, from Bain's perspective, seemed like an attractive idea. For his production, Bain conceptualized and developed the early Eildon reel prototype, which was an Altex look-alike. The subsequent advertisement of the Eildon prototype has resulted in many fishing enthusiasts lodging their orders, even though full production has not yet begun. During those days, war-related regulations were still in force, stipulating that all production had to involve scrap materials only. In 1946 the manufacturing restriction was finally lifted allowing the Eildon reel to enter full-scale production.

In 1949 Herbert Bain sold his engineering business, but retained the fishing tackle side, transferring its operations to a garage at his home in Toorak, Melbourne. For some years Bud assembled the last of the Eildons from the surplus parts manufactured in past productions. Compiled: Bernard (Bernie)  Ladd, 2013.

EILDON specifications: automatic line pick-up; capstan drag {star} slipping clutch; 200yd line capacity. Entirely die-cast frame, rotor, and crank with interchangeable drums { spool } All bearings, which are broached and machined to 0005 tolerance, are of phosphor bronze with high tensile steel for worm shaft and gears. Screwed-on spring retainer cap on the pick-up mechanism assures durability and easy spring replacement. ( factory specifications)

Early EILDON { aluminium spool} thread line reel; flat black finish.  inscribed Evans & Balfour Melbourne, in old style cursive script, suggesting reel may have been a retail display sample.

 -c 1946. Extremely rare (En 2)

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