Featured Fly

OZ's P3 Soft Hackle by Rich Mlodzik This fly was one of the first flies I learned to tie. Our Chapter’s Richard Osborn showed me this fly at one of the first fly-fishing seminars I ever attended. He told me it was one of his favorites because, it combined three of the best natural fish attracting materials: pheasant tail fibers, peacock herl, and Hungarian partridge hackle. Thus you have P3; pheasant, peacock, partridge. It quickly became a favorite of mine. It’s easy to tie and very effective. I tie them in sizes 12 to 18. I’ve substituted pheasant, grouse, chukar partridge, and woodcock for the hackle. The woodcock works especially well in the smaller sizes. It can be fished alone or in tandem with a nymph or streamer. It’s very effectively fished during a Caddis or Mayfly hatch as an emerger. Grease the leader to within 4-5” of the fly. This lets it sit just under or in the surface film. Let the fly swing in front of rising fish and hang on.
	Hook - Wet fly #12 - #18 Thread - 6/0 Orange Rib - Copper or gold wire Abdomen - Pheasant tail barbs horax - Peacock Herl Hackle - Hungarian Partridge
	1) Tie in thread at head and wrap back. At about the halfway point, tie in rib wire. Wrap back so thread hangs at barb of hook. Tie in pheasant tail fibers, 5 or 6 in size 12, 2 in size 18.
	2) Wrap thread forward 2/3 of hook shank. Wrap pheasant tail forward to thread and tie off. Wrap rib the opposite direction of the pheasant tail to thread and tie off. Clip excess of both.
	3) Tie in Peacock Herl and wrap thorax. Clip excess.
	4) Prepare soft hackle. Remove fluffy fibers from bottom of stem. Hold hackle by the tip and stroke fibers perpendicular to stem. Hold hackle shiny side up and carefully remove fibers from the left side
	5) Tie in hackle by the tip. Clip excess tip.
	6) Wrap 2 turns of hackle and tie off. Clip excess stem. Form head and tie off. Cement head.