Today Westin Fishing Tackle offers a wide range of trusted lures, rods and other fishing equipment – all produced with the same passion for perfection as Ingvar Westin’s original lure, and created to satisfy those looking for the best tools to pursuit monster fish.
Ingvar Westin grew up in the fertile fishing grounds north of Stockholm. There, he plied his trade as a skilled toolmaker, creating intricate carvings and devices for artisans in the nearby cities. Ingvar lived a humble life, so when his children wanted a new toy, he decided to create one himself.
Soon, Ingvar began work on a carved, wooden fish that wriggled and rolled in the water just like a real fish. Ingvar spent countless hours refining the toy to get a perfect, lifelike action that he knew would thrill his children. In the process, he inadvertently created a new swimming motion, the Westin roll. When Ingvar’s work was complete, he christened that toy the “Jätte” — Swedish for “giant.”
Word of Ingvar’s creation spread quickly in the small town of Skutskär. Wedged between the Baltic Sea and the River Dalalven, the town— which even today is home to just 6,000 people— could be called fishing obsessed. In no time at all, local fishermen were obsessed with Ingvar’s toy. They noticed that large pike seemed to be irresistibly attracted to the wooden carving and its rolling action, and they began clamoring for Ingvar to put hooks on the Jätte and allow them to fish with it.
Soon, a cottage industry developed, and Ingvar transitioned from a toolmaker to a lure maker with a bustling production line fueled by the prolific pike waters of Sweden.
By the time stories of a 45 lbs pike caught on a Jätte began circulating in 1977, Ingvar Westin’s lure was known throughout Scandinavia as the go-to big predator lure.
Since then, the Westin Jätte has deceived some of the biggest, wiliest old pike in Sweden. What started out as a child’s plaything in 1952 has now become a well-established and trusted brand in the fishing tackle industry.
Today Westin offers a wide range of trusted lures, rods and other fishing equipment – all produced with the same passion for perfection as Ingvar Westin’s original lure, and created to satisfy those looking for the best tools to pursuit monster fish worldwide.