I feel very fortunate to not only own several of his rods, but have spent few gatherings in Coburn with Fred. Spent some retirement time recasting these wonderful tapers, “The One” and 8’3” 5 wght were built by Leiderman and the 7’9” Butterscotch by Hallowell, and the first was a 7’6” 4 wght by Fred himself. Incredible special tapers, wishing Fred the best going forward.

Great tapers and build quality.

I have three of Fred's rods and everyone is a gem. I also have the privilege of having the first one of his rods honoring Project Healing Waters. All proceeds from the PHW rods go directly to them.

Haven't heard from him in a while. Not sure if he's still building rods. Would be a shame if he wasn't.

tom

I have a couple of rods built by Fred. He definitely builds a clean rod in a traditional style.

I have also owned a few rods built on Fred's blanks which I also have enjoyed.

But the thing I really love about Fred's rods are that they are made to fish. He is a fantastic fisherman and designs and builds his rods to be fished. Even the gorgeous rods don't have to be babied and hold up well to heavy use.

Fred's rods and blanks are first class all the way. And Fred was always a pleasure to deal with.

I built a lemon drop 7' 3wt years ago and although it's an ugly build its an excellent rod. By far the best 7'3 wt I've ever used. I very rarely fish small streams anymore, but I still take that rod out and cast it on the lawn because it's such a great blank. I wouldn't sell it for 1000 bucks, and the build is so sloppy nobody would buy it for 100!

Let us see a Lemon Drop rod... that is one I surely admire.

Stunning - viewtopic.php?f=3&t=58592

Fred had CTS build blanks to his specification.