Developed by Harry Lemire in the mid-80’s; described as a “damp waker”. Tied here as an October Caddis; change colors to suit your needs. You could sub spun elk or deer hair for the collar/head if you’re not into dealing with moose. Creating it with the dubbing loop isn’t really that hard (waxing the thread helps, as the moose is a bit slippery); a lot easer for me than trying to spin that stuff and it makes a cool effect.
hook - Dai Riki 899 #6
thread - UTC 140 black
tag/rib - fine wire copper
body - dubbing burnt orange
underwing - fox squirrel tail
wing - hen back
collar/head - moose body hair
Part 1
mash barb, start thread, tie in wire, wrap to bend
wrap tag; tie off
dub thread/dub body
rib body; helicopter end/tie off
clean, stack, measure (tips to bend) some squirrel; tie in/trim
tie in hen wing, tent-style, tips just past the bend; tie off/trim
The McMillan Caddis is a nice fly; may have to try some.
Couple general comments on this fly -
Wire tag/rib is optional (someone on another forum mentioned they had watched one of Harry’s videos and it had neither tag or rib)
The hook I use is a heavier wire model and not really appropriate for a low water dry; however, since I don’t tie a lot of steelhead/salmon flies it’s the only hook I have currently.
From a practical point of view, I think the heavy wire hook is just fine. These are not ‘true’ skaters in the sense they are made to float like a Bomber, but I think of them more as ‘waking’ flies that would be fished shallow with a riffle hitch or the like.
