By Joe Sills
Special to BassFan
Casey Childre stood smiling in the glow.
Faded video of his dad’s Alabama fishing trips flashed before his eyes. Cast after cast, dad hauled in big bass after big bass. Dad was one of the best, one of the greatest fishermen and innovators of his generation.
His name was Lew.
Lew has been gone a while now. He passed away in 1977 in a cockpit, when his single-engine Piper J-3, the kind that often carried a lightning-striped paint job resembling an old Heddon Sonic straight from the factory, crashed into a pasture near his home in Foley, Ala.
Lew Childre was 49 years old. He was the founder of Lew’s Fishing. And his son Casey was sitting beside him in the cockpit that day.
But this isn’t a story of what the world lost when Lew’s plane went down; it’s a story about what the world of bass fishing gained while he was here. Speed Spools and Speed Sticks, and other innovations that would push bass fishing into another world of lighter, competitive rods and reels in those early days of B.A.S.S.
There were sponsors then, too, like Miller High Life, for the 1973-74 Bassmaster Classic, but less so than there are now. And it was in those days that Childre’s company carved out the beginnings of a legacy. Serious bass fishermen couldn’t wait to get their hands on rods and reels designed by Lew’s, sponsored or not.
For decades, Childre’s legendary quest for a better cane pole birthed innovation in bass fishing. The Speed Series is a hallmark of that. So, too, is the introduction of Fuji guides and components to the United States. In his day, Childre was a true superstar in the sport. He had a knack for products, a knack for marketing, and, most importantly, a knack for fishing.
Among the relics on display at the Lew's Museum are some of the original reels designed by Lew Childre.
Nearly 40 years later, the two Childre men stood eye-to-eye again, Lew on the glowing TV screen, Casey watching him with a smile.
“I’m seeing this for the first time,” said Casey as current Lew’s Fishing CEO and lifelong friend Lynn Reeves stood at his side. It was Reeves who helped resurrect the company 5 years ago.
A crowd of people wandered behind them and past, paying little mind to the three old friends huddled together in the corner. Their eyes were fixed on something else: The elder Childre’s legacy, the Lew’s Ozark Fishing Museum, which opened recently in Springfield, Mo., right next to Lew’s gleaming new headquarters facility.
Here, past and future are blended together. Here, years of collecting from Reeves and his company have culminated into a Smithsonian-level display of the elder Childre’s legacy. From the original Speed Spool patents to cane poles, wooden jon boats and a fully restored 1975 Ranger bass boat, it’s all here.
“I don’t know how much we spent,” Reeves said. “We could probably look it up, but it’s over six figures.”
For the current family at Lew’s Fishing, the dollar figures aren’t important. The story is, and should you find yourself in Springfield, it’s a story worth learning.
The Lew’s Ozark Fishing Museum is located adjacent to Lew’s world headquarters at 3031 N. Martin Ave. in Springfield, Mo.
