HUNTINGTON BEACH, Calif. — Bassmaster Elite Series pro Brandon Lester will launch the 2015 season at the Bassmaster Southern Open on Lake Tohopekaliga this week with the full support and logo of his new sponsor, rod grip manufacturer Winn Inc., on his jersey and boat wrap.
“I am looking forward to this opportunity,” said Lester, a rod craftsman who has built two flipping/pitching sticks and a swimbait rod with Winn grips, to fish the Open as well as the 2015 GEICO Bassmaster Classic on Lake Hartwell this February.
“Winn rod grips enable me to build the best rods possible!”
Winn rod grips spring from the patented design and polymer technologies of Dr. Ben Huang, who worked under “the father of rocket science,” Dr. Wernher Von Braun, in the development of the Saturn V rocket that took Apollo spacecraft to the moon. Winn, known worldwide for its high-tech golf grips, introduced its first full line of high-tech grips made from its patented WinnDry polymer in 2014.
Winn also provides custom grips for premium rod lines made by CastAway, Cabela’s and Hammer Rods and for the award-winning Vapen Red series of Redington Fly Rods.
“We are very pleased to work with a talented professional angler like Brandon Lester,” said Dr. Ben Huang. “That he is a student of fishing and makes his own rods will help us all the more and make fishermen aware of the advantages our ‘space-age’ grips bring to their sport.”
Lester noted that Winn brings an entirely new paradigm to rod building with its array of full and split grips.
“It seems that, ever since the beginning of time, fishermen have used grips made from cork or EVA foam,” noted Lester. “Now it’s 2015. It’s time for something new! Winn grips put control in the angler’s hand and relieve fatigue. Their tacky feel is unlike anything fishermen have had before, and they get even tackier when the weather is cold and wet. It is exciting to be on the cutting edge.”
Winn has redesigned its entire grip line for the 2015 season with elegantly designed straight, curved and elliptically tapered grips as well as fly rod and specialty grips and components. It has also added a nonslip polymer overwrap to this season’s offerings.
Lester, who credits another of his sponsors, Mud Hole Custom Tackle, with advancing his rod-building expertise, also will bring 15 rods retrofitted with Winn grips on his return to Tohopekaliga. In 2013, his third-place finish at Toho in this very same event paved the way to his Bassmaster Southern Open points victory, his ticket into the Bassmaster Elite series.
Winn currently markets its grips to OEM and custom rod builders. Winn plans to work with retailers, rod builders and rod repair services to develop a program of after-market rod grip replacement.
Winn will exhibit its latest generation of grips at the 2015 Bassmaster Classic Outdoors Expo presented by Dick’s Sporting Goods, held in conjunction with the Bassmaster Classic on Feb. 20-22, 2015, at the TD Convention Center in Greenville, S.C.
The 2015 line-up of Winn rod grips and components will be available March 1.
See the “Where to Buy” menu on the Winn Grips Fishing website at www.winngripsfishing.com for the most current list of Winn rod grip distributors.
For additional information on Winn grips, contact Mike Coelho at mcoelho@winngrips.com.