Going through my older rods, I found two Lews rods I bought years ago. One is a glass casting rod, the other is a TN( graphite) handle spinning rod, which I still use sometimes.                                            Both these rods are marked Lew Childre and Sons, Alabama. A sporting goods store I shopped at carried the full line of Lews tackle in the 1980s.                       I think they were ahead of the pack years ago, and made some really good, innovative tackle. Top quality guides, unique handle styles etc.                                         I think they still make some nice tackle now too. I know that the BB1 casting reel( the Paul Elias model) was made by Shimano. I've also seen some older spinning rods like mine for sale advertised as Lews Browning rods. Did Browning make some of the rods for the original company?  What year did they become Lews, the current company?  I later moved on to ABU and Shimano, and have liked them also, but this summer I'm dusting off my old Lews casting rod. The slight tip flex on this rod worked great years ago for lipless baits, spinnerbaits, and topwaters. Like many of us, I just had to have a faster, stiffer, graphite rod. Maybe not the best choice. Sometimes, old school is a better option. Anyone know about the Lews/ Browning connection here?

https://www.lews.com/ourstory
 

Lew’s story is here.

 

The Childre family licensed the Lew’s name to Browning for a time.