Kuehlcenter

Thanks for the help. I really appreciate it! I'm thinking that I'll clean it out really well and then go fire some light target loads through it to make sure all is well.

Thanks again!

Sorry this is so off topic, but this is the only sporting group I belong to so I thought someone might have some advice. I was pheasant hunting this morning in Illinois, a clean up hunt on public land, snowing heavily with temps in the teens. I fired at a bird early in the day and my gun worked cleanly (it's just a Mossberg 535 12ga loaded with 3" sz 5 shells). About 2 hours later I tried to fire again but it didn't work right...there was no "bang" and barely any recoil. When I got home I saw that the wad had never left the barrel. It was firmly stuck about half-way down. Also, there was a lot of gunpowder in the ejection port/loading port area.

Here's my first question- does this sound like an ammunition problem or that my barrel was clogged with something already?

I was firing good rounds, Federal Premium Prairie Storm. The gun is only a year old. I've probably put less than 200 rounds through it. Also, I hadn't dropped the gun, or even laid it on the ground all day, and the show that was falling and on the branches was completely fresh powder. I've cleaned the barrel, and I don't notice anything disturbing. No visible bulge or damage.

Here's my second question: do you think it is safe to fire another round through it?

Actually, getting back to that first sentence: since I was pheasant hunting, and I use the feathers to tie pt nymphs and such, this is a very applicable topic for the forum!

Any help/advice would be greatly appreciated.

I live in the Chicago-land area and made my first trip to the driftless last spring. Had a great little trip. Stayed in Fennimore and fished the waters around there. Wasn't the most productive, but it was GREAT catching trout on my own flies. I'm also relatively new to tying, and I fully agree with you about how amazing a lot of the guys are on this forum. If you do panfish, you should look into smallies, too. Bronzebacks on the flyrod are a blast!

Nice fly. Is there a rule of thumb out there regarding the length of the soft hackle on a fly like this?

Gentlemen, after reading through your comments, I completely and totally understand the rationale for not posting pics. It would be like showing my boys pictures of their Christmas presents before they get to open them!

Hey guys, I just had what I think is a cool idea for the fly swaps. Would it be possible for the swapmeister to post a picture of the flies once they've all come in? Just a shot of the 12 or so bugs that the lucky swappers are going to receive. It might inspire some of us to get more involved, and I think the collections would look really cool. Keep up the good work!

Hello Forum! Has anyone out there tried Flying Pig rods? They are a tiny outfit out of Chicago (Westmont, I think), but I'm intrigued. I recently watched "Heart of the Driftless" and "Reverb", the former about the driftless area of Wisconsin, and the latter about a group of guys who used to be part of the punk scene in Chicago who now get together to fish that same area. One of them started making rods, with one of the rods specifically engineered for the small creeks of SW Wisco. His rod company is the aforementioned "Flying Pig Rods."

I want another fly rod (Hell, who doesn't?) and I'd love to support a local guy trying to make good, but I don't want to waste a lot of cash on a rod I won't use.

Oh, I saw the review on the "Field and Stream" website, but I'm looking for some unadulterated testimonials. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Tight lines!

This might be a total beginner question, but how do you cut the foam? I assume you're only doing blockheads and not tube/cones. I'd love to learn more about this because those precut popper bodies are EXPENSIVE.

I've had great luck using clouser minnows in lakes, slow rivers, and backwaters for smallies. As for panfish, I totally agree Perchjerker. The best topwater luck I've had is with any small popper, beetles, or foam hoppers. A simple soft hackle black works great if they're not coming to the surface.

Great fly! I'm planning on doing some red, white, and blue clousers this weekend.

Wow. I'm a novice, currently keeping all my materials and equipment in two small, plastic bins taking up about a total of about 2.5 cubic feet. I will dream of this set-up tonight.