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In keeping with our tradition of offering fine quality rods at affordable prices, Coldwater Collectibles proudly welcomes Don Recker to our stable of rod makers. If you have not yet heard of the Fort Jennings, Ohio maker, you will soon! Don is a retired machinist who also worked as a maintenance supervisor at the local high school near Fort Jennings. He has been honing his skills for the better part of the past decade in his shop down the road from his home. Don's rods are based on classic tapers designed by master makers of the past such as Dickerson, Leonard, Payne, Thomas, and Young and more recent makers such as Cattanach and Degere. They feature lightly flamed shafts with three around golden nodes, clear silk wraps tipped black and a beautifully executed glass-like varnish finish. Each rod is equipped with fine quality mildrum strippers, Pac-Bay light wire snakes, and Rush River nickel silver ferrules. Don uses extra-fine quality cork and beautiful hardwood burl reel seat spacers in box elder, black ash, amboina, maple, and the unique Buckeye burl fitted with the finest quality cap and ring and screw locking hardware. Each Recker rod comes with a brand new soft cloth bag and new aluminum tube. So whether you're out chasing brookies in the Smoky’s, rainbows and browns on the famed Au Sable, or cutts in and around Yellowstone, chances are good that one of Don's handcrafted rods will suit your needs. The following offerings are now available at Coldwater Collectibles:

SOLD Don Recker “FET Fairy” ~ 7' ~ 2/2 ~ 3.6 oz. ~ 3 wt. ~ SN 0992 ~ NEW If you have not yet heard of Ohio’s Don Recker, you will soon! Don is a retired machinist and barber who also worked as the maintenance supervisor at the local high school near Fort Jennings, Ohio. He has been honing his skills for the better part of the past decade. This finely tuned wand is based on a FE Thomas Fairy taper and features beautifully flamed shafts with 3 around golden nodes, clear silks tipped black protected by perfectly executed glass-like varnish finish. Mildrum stripper and chrome light-wire snakes and tip–tops. N/S ferrules fit snugly and give a resounding 'pop' when separated. Comfortable cigar grip and D/L’ing N/S cap & ring seat with a beautiful stabilized maple burl spacer. Petite W/C. HK loop. Comes with a new fish print soft cloth bag and new waterproof brass capped aluminum tube. This light-line wand has a brisk medium action perfect for dry fly work close in, but also has enough reserve punch out casts when called upon. I liked it with a SA Mastery Series Ultra DT-3 and Cortland Peach WF-4.

SOLD Don Recker “Garrison 201” ~ 7' ~ 2/2 ~ 3.4 oz. ~ 4 wt. ~ SN 0885 ~ NEW ~ If you have not yet heard of Ohio’s Don Recker, you will soon! Don is a retired machinist and barber who also worked as the maintenance supervisor at the local high school near Fort Jennings, Ohio. He has been honing his skills for the better part of the past decade. This finely tuned wand is based on the extremely popular Garrison 201 taper and features lightly flamed carmel-colored cane with 3 around spiral nodes, clear silks tipped black and is protected by perfectly executed glass-like varnish finish. Eye appealing striped amber agate stripper, snakes and tip–tops. N/S ferrules fit snugly and give a resounding 'pop' when separated. Comfortable cigar grip and D/L’ing cap and ring seat with a beautiful stabilized cherry burl spacer. Petite W/C. HK loop. Comes with a new fly print soft cloth bag and new aluminum tube. This rod has a wonderful medium fast action perfect for small to mid-sized streams. I really enjoyed it with a Cortland Peach 444 DT-4.

Don Recker “Leonard 38H” ~ 7' ~ 2/2 ~ 3.1oz. ~ 5wt. SN 0881 ~ New from Don this rod is based on the popular Leonard 38H taper and features beautifully flamed shafts with 3 around golden nodes, clear silks tipped black protected by perfectly executed glass-like varnish finish. Mildrum stripper and chrome light-wire snakes and tip–tops. N/S ferrules fit snugly and give a resounding 'pop' when separated. Comfortable cigar grip and D/L’ing N/S cap & ring seat with a stabilized redwood burl spacer. Petite W/C. HK loop. Comes with a new fly print soft cloth bag and new waterproof brass capped aluminum tube. This light-line wand has a brisk medium action that throws tight loops with stealth and accuracy. Although Don has it marked as a 5wt., I found it to be a sweet roll caster when paired with a Cortland 444 Peach DT-4 or WF-5. The patient caster will also find that it will handle a DT-5. $795

Don Recker “Mad River Special” ~ 7' ~ 2/2 ~ 3.4 oz. ~ 3/4 wt. ~ SN 0904 ~ NEW ~ If you have not yet heard of Ohio’s Don Recker, you will soon! Don is a retired machinist and barber who also worked as the maintenance supervisor at the local high school near Fort Jennings, Ohio. He has been honing his skills for the better part of the past decade. This finely tuned wand is based on one of Don's proprietary tapers and features beautifully flamed shafts with 3 around golden nodes, clear silk wraps tipped black protected by perfectly executed glass-like varnish finish. Mildrum stripper and chrome light-wire snakes and tip–tops. N/S ferrules fit snugly and give a resounding 'pop' when separated. Comfortable cigar grip and D/L’ing N/S cap & ring seat with a beautiful birds eye maple spacer. Petite W/C. HK loop. Comes with a new fish print soft cloth bag and new waterproof brass capped aluminum tube. This light-line wand has a medium-fast action and sensitive tips to protect fine tippets. I find that the rod really sings when paired with a buckskin SA Mastery Series Ultra DT-3. $795

SOLD Don Recker “Payne 98” ~ 7' ~ 2/2 ~ 3.5 oz. ~ 4 wt. ~ SN 0995 ~ NEW ~ If you have not yet heard of Ohio’s Don Recker, you will soon! Don is a retired machinist and barber who also worked as the maintenance supervisor at the local high school near Fort Jennings, Ohio. He has been honing his skills for the better part of the past decade. This finely tuned wand is based on the famous Payne 98 taper and features lightly flamed carmel-colored cane with 3 around spiral nodes, clear silks tipped black and is protected by perfectly executed glass-like varnish finish. Bright stripper, snakes and tip–tops. N/S ferrules fit snugly and give a resounding 'pop' when separated. Comfortable cigar grip and D/L’ing cap and ring seat with a beautiful stabilized maple burl spacer. Petite W/C. HK loop. Comes with a new fly print soft cloth bag and new aluminum tube. This small stream classic has a brisk action and tips designed to protect fine tippets. Another excellent choice for small to mid-sized streams. I really enjoyed it with a Cortland Peach WF-4 and DT-4.

SOLD Don Recker “North Fork Special” ~ 7.5' ~ 2/2 ~ 3.8 oz. ~ 5 wt. ~ SN 0997 ~ NEW ~ If you have not yet heard of Ohio’s Don Recker, you will soon! Don is a retired machinist and barber who also worked as the maintenance supervisor at the local high school near Fort Jennings, Ohio. He has been honing his skills for the better part of the past decade. This finely tuned wand is based on Winston Twin Bridges taper and features lightly flamed carmel-colored cane with 3 around spiral nodes, clear silks tipped black and is protected by perfectly executed glass-like varnish finish. Bright stripper, snakes and tip–tops. N/S ferrules fit snugly and give a resounding 'pop' when separated. Comfortable cigar grip and D/L’ing cap and ring seat with a beautiful stabilized maple burl spacer. Petite W/C. HK loop. Comes with a new fly print soft cloth bag and new aluminum tube. The forgiving medium-action is a joy to cast and will easily handle dries, nymphs, hoppers and terrestrials. I really liked it with a Cortland 444 Peach WF-5 and DT-5.

Don Recker “Dickerson 7613” ~ 7.5' ~ 2/2 ~ 4 oz. ~ 5 wt. ~ NEW ~ If you have not yet heard of Ohio’s Don Recker, you will soon! Don is a retired machinist and barber who also worked as the maintenance supervisor at the local high school near Fort Jennings, Ohio. He has been honing his skills for the better part of the past decade. This finely tuned wand fresh from his bench is based on the popular Dickerson 7613 taper and features lightly flamed carmel-colored cane with 3 around golden nodes, clear silks tipped black (one black wrap at the tip–top guide and male ferule station for Tip #1 and two for Tip #2)and is protected by perfectly executed glass-like varnish finish. Beautiful chrome-housed agate stripper, chrome snakes and tip –tops. Smooth and tight fitting N/S ferrules give a nice 'pop' when separated. Comfortable cigar grip. D/L’ing N/S cap and ring seat with a unique half sapwood and half heartwood Amboina burl spacer. Petite N/S WC. HK loop. Comes with a new soft cloth fly print bag and new aluminum tube with water-tite brass cap. The responsive medium-fast action is perfect for dry fly work and throws tight, accurate loops with a Cortland 444 Peach WF-5 and DT-5. $825

Don Recker “North Fork Special” ~ 7.5' ~ 2/2 ~ 3.6 oz. ~ 4/5 wt. ~ NEW ~ If you have not yet heard of Ohio’s Don Recker, you will soon! Don is a retired machinist and barber who also worked as the maintenance supervisor at the local high school near Fort Jennings, Ohio. He has been honing his skills for the better part of the past decade. This finely tuned wand fresh from his bench is based on a Winston Twin Bridges taper and features beautifully flamed carmel-colored cane with 3 around golden nodes, clear silks tipped black (one black wrap at the tip–top guide and male ferule station for Tip #1 and two for Tip #2)and is protected by perfectly executed glass-like varnish finish. Beautiful chrome-housed agate stripper, chrome snakes and tip –tops. Smooth and tight fitting N/S ferrules give a nice 'pop' when separated. Comfortable cigar grip. D/L’ing N/S cap and ring seat with a wonderful box elder burl spacer. Petite N/S WC. HK loop. Comes with a new soft cloth fly print bag and new aluminum tube with water-tite brass cap. The responsive medium action is a joy to cast and will easily handle dries, nymphs, small hoppers and terrestrials and would make a perfect all-around rod for most trout fishing situations. It throws smooth and tight loops with a Cortland 444 Peach DT-4 and WF-5. $825

Don Recker “Payne 100” ~ 7.5' ~ 2/2 ~ 3.5 oz. ~ 4 wt. ~ SN 1011 ~ NEW ~ If you have not yet heard of Ohio’s Don Recker, you will soon! Don is a retired machinist and barber who also worked as the maintenance supervisor at the local high school near Fort Jennings, Ohio. He has been honing his skills for the better part of the past decade. This finely tuned wand is based on the Payne 100 and features lightly flamed carmel-colored cane with 3 around spiral nodes, clear silks tipped black and is protected by perfectly executed glass-like varnish finish. Chrome housed amber agate stripper, snakes and tip–tops. N/S ferrules fit snugly and give a resounding 'pop' when separated. Comfortable cigar grip and D/L’ing cap and ring seat with a beautiful birds eye maple spacer. Petite W/C. HK loop. Comes with a new fly print soft cloth bag and new aluminum tube. The brisk medium to medium-fast action and sensitive tips make this a good choice for fussy trout in small to medium-size streams. I really enjoyed it with a Cortland Peach WF-4. $825

Don Recker “PHY Perfectionist” ~ 7.5' ~ 2/2 ~ 4 oz. ~ 5wt. ~ SN 0990 ~ New from Don and based on the popular PHY Perfectionist taper this rod features beautifully flamed shafts with 3 around golden nodes, clear silks tipped black protected by perfectly executed glass-like varnish finish. Mildrum stripper and chrome light-wire snakes and tip–tops. N/S ferrules fit snugly and give a resounding 'pop' when separated. Comfortable cigar grip and D/L’ing N/S cap & ring seat with a beautiful stabilized ambonia burl spacer. Petite W/C. HK loop. Comes with a new fly print soft cloth bag and new waterproof brass capped aluminum tube. The medium-fast action is capable of throwing a ton of line and is perfect for dry fly work and dry/dropper combos on small to medium-sized streams. I really liked it with a Cortland 444 Peach DT-5. $795

Don Recker Hollowbuilt “801510” ~ 8' ~ 3/2 ~ 4.6 oz. ~ 5 wt. ~ NEW ~ If you have not yet heard of Ohio’s Don Recker, you will soon! Don is a retired machinist and barber who also worked as the maintenance supervisor at the local high school near Fort Jennings, Ohio. He has been honing his skills for the better part of the past decade. This stunning hollow-fluted wand is Don’s second offering in a 3/2 format (I own the first) and is based the extremely popular and hard to find Dickerson 801510 taper. It features beautifully flamed carmel-colored cane with 3 around golden nodes, clear silks tipped black (one black wrap at the tip–top guide and male ferule station for Tip #1 and two for Tip #2)and is protected by perfectly executed glass-like varnish finish. Beautiful chrome-housed agate stripper, chrome snakes and tip –tops. Smooth and tight fitting N/S ferrules give a nice 'pop' when separated. Comfortable plastic-protected cigar grip. A wonderful mesquite burl seat fitted with N/S U/L’ing screw and slide hood hardware compliments the rod beautifully. . Petite N/S WC. HK loop. Comes with a new soft cloth fly print bag and new aluminum tube with water-tite brass cap. The brisk medium action affords a nice blend of power and precision and the supple tips will be very mindful of fine tippets. It has a silky smooth delivery when paired with a Cortland 444 Peach WF-5 and DT-5. Superb! $995

Occasionally, Don will offer an array of shop rods, demos and prototypes which are usually in like new condition. These rods may have been on display at shows/gatherings and test casted and/or lightly fished and are generally in like new condition.