Mike Mercer came up with this pattern after having frustrating fishing during a spent caddis hatch. When the fish were really feeding on spent caddis he had little luck with the standard spent or dying caddis patterns. He came up with a pattern called the Missing Link. At first he didn’t have much faith in his new pattern because it really didn’t look like a caddis pattern. After using the pattern he was surprised how well it worked. Mike and other anglers also discovered the fly also worked as a mayfly dun and spinner pattern If you Google “Mercer’s Missing Link Fly” you can view videos on how to tie this fly. Vary the hook size and thread color and materials to cover the naturals.

The dressing for the pattern shown is as follows:

Hook – Dry fly #12-18

Thread – Uni Camel 8/0

Body – Thread

Rib – Pearl Crystal Flash (coat the body with UV resin after winding the rib)

Thorax – Brown Ice Dub (tied as a small ball)

Legs – Dun Zelon

Wing – Fine deer or elk hair

Hackle – Dun (can also use cream, lt. ginger or grizzly)

John Lazar