Only a few people have had a big impact on the fly fishing industry in South Africa over the years. One of them has without doubt been David Levene. David was the founder of “Stealth”, a brand that made fly fishing accessible to many South Africans. David focused his efforts on sourcing quality fly fishing rods and reels from all corners of the globe at great prices and making them available to fly fishing enthusiasts back home. David loved the design features of some of the world’s most desirable brands but knew that only the select few fisherman would be able to justify spending that kind of money to own them. David found manufacturers who could make items of equal quality and splendor and started importing them under the “Stealth” brand.
Many years later David sold “Stealth”. But his passion for quality fly fishing tackle lived on. David then started Featherlite. His first project was MG Reels, a range of superb reels that bear the initials of his granddaughter.
David also noticed a company called Douglas Outdoors in the USA getting a lot of attention for their incredibly high quality rods and focus on value for money, two things that had always been strong motives for him. He then became a distributor for Douglas Outdoors in South Africa.
In 2019 Featherlite was taken over by Murray Brown, a long standing friend of David’s and an equally passionate fisherman. Murray has the same two primary drivers when it comes to fishing tackle, high quality and affordability.
Murray is carrying on where David left off with the MG Reels and the Douglas Rods.