Lew's Fishing

What Lew's Fishing does

Lew's Fishing is a US-based supplier of branded recreational fishing equipment, offering baitcast reels, spinning reels, spincast reels, fishing rods, and pre-matched rod-and-reel combos. The brand traces its origin to founder Lew Childre, who began building bamboo poles in 1949, introduced graphite Speed Stick rods in 1970, and launched the Speed Spool baitcaster in 1973 — an industry-defining teardrop-shaped reel design. Current product architecture centers on proprietary mechanical technologies including the ParaMag ITB (Invisible Timed Braking) and ParaMag RX radial paramagnetic braking systems, the Speed Spool platform, and a decades-long component partnership with Fuji for guides, reel seats, and handles. The portfolio is segmented across sub-brands: KVD (Kevin VanDam professional signature line), Custom Lite (finesse/lightweight), Super Duty (heavy-duty), Mach (high-performance), and American Hero (military appreciation).

The company operates a dual-channel go-to-market combining direct-to-consumer e-commerce at lews.com (with free shipping on orders over $100 and a 100-point loyalty rewards program) and an authorized dealer network managed through parent Rather Outdoors Corporation. Pricing is unit-based and publicly disclosed, with reels ranging from $79.99 (Accel Baitcast) to $179.99 (Speed Spool RX, KVD Elite) and rods starting at $129.99 (KVD Elite). Primary customer segments are recreational anglers across the US and US Virgin Islands, with secondary segments in tournament bass fishing, crappie/catfish/musky specialty angling, and beginner entry-level fishing.

Lew's Fishing is a brand of Rather Outdoors Corporation, a privately held company headquartered in Columbia, South Carolina. Rather Outdoors has executed three disclosed acquisitions — Strike King (2017-11-06), Southern Plastics, Inc. (2018-11-06), and Fox International (2019-08-02) — positioning the parent as a multi-brand recreational fishing platform. No revenue, headcount detail beyond an 11–50 employee bracket, or financial metrics are disclosed.

Name

Lew's Fishing

Legal name

Rather Outdoors Corporation

Website

http://www.lews.com/

Company type

Private

Founded year

2009

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Lew's Fishing is a US-based supplier of branded baitcast and spinning reels, rods, and combos for recreational anglers, distributed through its lews.com e-commerce platform and an authorized dealer network as a brand of Rather Outdoors Corporation.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Fishing Equipment (Sporting Goods)

NAICS

Sporting Goods, Hobby, Musical Instrument, Book, and Miscellaneous Retailers (459)

SIC

Retail-Hobby, Toy & Game Shops (5945)

akta.pro primary industry

Rods, Reels & Line Specialty Retail (CRAMALAI)

akta.pro secondary industries

Freshwater Fishing Specialty Retail (CRAMALAB), Saltwater & Offshore Fishing Specialty Retail (CRAMALAC)

Keywords

• Fishing reels
• Fishing rods
• Baitcast reels
• Rod reel combos
• Spinning reels

Headquarters

HQ city

Springfield

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

Supply Chain, Operations, Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Fishing Reels and Rods Sales: Lew's generates revenue through the direct sale of fishing reels, rods, and combos to consumers via its e-commerce platform lews.com and through authorized retail dealers. Products include baitcast reels, spinning reels, spincast reels, and fishing rods across multiple product lines (Accel, Speed Spool RX, KVD Elite, Custom Lite, Super Duty, Mach).

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels10 records

Core offering

Lew's Fishing designs, manufactures, and sells branded fishing equipment including baitcast reels, spinning reels, spincast reels, fishing rods, and pre-matched rod-and-reel combos. The portfolio spans entry-level to professional-grade gear across sub-brand series (Speed Spool, Accel, KVD Elite, Custom Lite, Super Duty, Mach, American Hero) and is sold through the company's own e-commerce site and an authorized retail dealer network in the United States.

Product overview

Lew's Fishing is a manufacturer of recreational fishing equipment offering a comprehensive portfolio of fishing reels, rods, and rod-and-reel combos. The product line includes baitcast reels (Speed Spool RX, Accel RX, Accel, KVD Elite), spinning reels (KVD Elite, KVD Elite Shallow Spool), and fishing rods (KVD Elite Rods, TP2 Rods). Products are organized into series sub-brands: KVD (professional-grade Kevin VanDam endorsement line), Custom Lite (lightweight finesse), Super Duty (heavy-duty), Mach (high-performance), and American Hero (military appreciation). Lew's offers combo packages pairing reels with compatible rods, plus accessories including tools, apparel, and the Paramag Braking System technology. The company is owned by Rather Outdoors Corporation and was founded by Lew Childre in the 1940s, with its Speed Spool baitcaster first introduced in 1973.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Custom Lite: Product series featuring lightweight fishing equipment
• KVD
• Super Duty
• Mach
• American Hero

Quantifiable outcome

• Lew's combos have won 'Best of the Fishing Combos Category' at ICAST for 6 consecutive years

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature6 records

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.

• BrowningminorOEM/ Whitelabel/ Licensing Partner · 1 January 1989In 1989, the Childre family licensed the Lew's brand to Browning, marking a transition period where Browning assumed rights to produce Lew's branded fishing products while the family business scaled back operations.
• Fuji (Fuji®)coreTechnology or IntegrationLew's formed an early partnership with Fuji — a Japanese company specializing in fishing rod components — in the 1940s-50s. Lew Childre traveled to Japan to source bamboo and partnered with Fuji to bring components (Fuji guides, Fuji FPS reel seat, Fuji 'V' frame guides, graphite handles) into the American fishing market. Fuji manufactured Lew's signature pistol grip rod handle from a hand-carved wood concept. The Fuji partnership has been continuous and foundational to Lew's product development across multiple decades.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• 13 Fishing: Direct competitor focused on bass fishing reels and rods with a similar tournament-angler, performance-positioned DTC strategy. Competes head-to-head with Lew's in the mid-to-premium baitcast reel category and has comparable target customer profile.
• Rapala: Global fishing tackle company offering lures, rods, reels, lines, and accessories across recreational categories. Comparable multi-product, multi-channel business model and end-customer (recreational anglers) targeting to Lew's.
• Penn Fishing: Specialist fishing reel manufacturer (now part of Pure Fishing) with particular strength in saltwater and offshore fishing reels. Comparable reel manufacturing heritage, branded product portfolio, and US dealer distribution model to Lew's.
• Daiwa: Premium Japanese fishing tackle brand offering reels, rods, and combos across bass and saltwater segments. Comparable product portfolio, target market (recreational and tournament anglers), and emphasis on proprietary reel technology to Lew's.
• Shimano: Global fishing tackle giant manufacturing reels, rods, and components across freshwater and saltwater categories. Direct competitor to Lew's across baitcast, spinning, and rod product lines with substantially larger R&D and distribution scale.
• Abu Garcia: Major bass fishing reel and rod brand now owned by Pure Fishing. Direct competitor in baitcast reels (Revo, Ambassadeur lines) targeting the same recreational and tournament angler segments as Lew's Speed Spool and KVD Elite.
• Zebco: Long-established US fishing tackle brand with strong position in spincast and entry-level reels and rods. Comparable mass-market product mix, beginner-angler focus, and authorized dealer distribution model to Lew's Accel series.
• Quantum Fishing: US-based fishing reel and rod manufacturer with comparable bass-fishing focus and mid-tier price positioning. Direct competitor in baitcast reels (Smoke, Accurist, PT) and rod/reel combos targeting recreational and tournament anglers.

Others

• Strike King: Sister brand under Rather Outdoors Corporation (acquired by Lew's parent in November 2017). Offers lures, rods, and reels to the same bass fishing customer base. Functionally comparable as a fishing-tackle peer but operates under shared corporate ownership.

Broad incumbents

• Pure Fishing: Holding company that owns Abu Garcia, Penn, Berkley, Shakespeare, and other fishing brands. Comparable as a multi-brand fishing tackle platform, but operates at much greater scale and across a wider product portfolio than Lew's standalone brand.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/lews_fishing
• Facebookfacebook.com/lewsfishing
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/lews-fishing

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A3 records

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Lew's Fishing