Stimulator
Fly of the Month : August 2017
Stimulator Attractor
When you need a high floating, sink-resistant searching or attractor dry fly pattern on almost any freestone stream, several come to mind depending on what aquatic insect you may want to imitate as well. If you lean toward a mayfly dun, then a Wulff fly pattern comes to mind. If you lean toward a caddisfly, then an Elk Hair Caddis is a good attractor version of an adult caddis. If you lean toward a stonefly, then a Stimulator is considered by many anglers as a good attractor version of an adult stonefly. For a midge, the Griffith Gnat comes to mind. We could list a good number more example matches.
How often do we encounter an adult stonefly hatch or even see adult stoneflies on eastern waters? Well, except for early season tiny winter black stoneflies, early season small brown stoneflies and the small summer yellow and olive sallies, we do not. BUT – the trout do!
Stimulator
Many of our larger, eastern stonefly hatches are nocturnal, occurring at dusk and even later into the night. For example, eastern golden stoneflies typically hatch around midnight as do eastern salmon flies. The larger eastern, black and brown stonefly species also hatch just after dusk in the summer months. Night fishing is not allowed on any North Carolina streams except the lower Nantahala River (a special exception in the regulations to allow anglers time on the whitewater section without rafters). Night fishing in the summer places a lot of undue pressure on trout that are actively pursuing nighttime stonefly hatches, thus, the no night fishing regulation is a sound management practice for our precious mountain trout waters. Also, brown trout forage mostly at night and are most vulnerable to night fishing.
An adult stonefly imitation as a searching fly pattern or attractor is believed to trigger a response from trout imprinted by our eastern night time stonefly hatches. Thus, the larger stimulator fly patterns work “magically” as an attractor rather than a “hatch match” on many Southern Appalachian trout streams.
Anglers and tiers wrongly credit Randal Kaufmann for the Stimulator. He did not originate the Stimulator but did popularize it in the early-1980s. Jim Slattery created his Fluttering Stonefly that he later renamed the Stimulator. Many fly tiers argue that the Orange Stimulator is a variation of the Improved Sofa Pillow fly pattern that was created by Pat Barnes in the 1940s. Some fly tiers argue that the Stimulator was derived from the Yellow-Bellied Mattress Thrasher which has rubber legs and was created by Steve Williams in the 1970s for use on the Au Sable in Michigan. Some even argue that the Stimulator was derived from the original Trude created by Carter Harrison in 1903. However, Jim Slattery clearly blogs on the internet that the influence for his creation of the Stimulator was derived from a live eastern stonefly hatch (which was stonefly mating and egg laying activity) on the Musconetcong River in New Jersey on two straight late-evenings.
A Stimulator tied with a salmon-orange body in sizes 8 to 12 is used to imitate the giant stonefly. A stimulator tied with a yellow or green body in sizes 14 or 16 is used to imitate the small summertime yellow or olive sallies which do hatch during the day. The Stimulator tied in size 14 or 16 with a tan, black or olive body may be used to imitate a caddisfly. Add rubber legs and the Stimulator may be used to imitate a hopper, cicada or a beetle.
In his book, Essential Trout Flies, Dave Hughes states “As a searching dressing, it is hard to beat the Yellow Stimulator…tie and carry it in sizes 8 through 12, and give it a prominent place in your dry-fly box…”
The outstanding qualities of this dry fly are: 1) rides high, 2) easy to see, 3) built-in floatation, and 4) a great indicator fly for a dropper. The only down side is the time required and number of steps to tie this dry fly pattern. Regardless, this dry fly pattern is “king” of the indicator flies. Use the Stimulator as your indicator in a nymph dropper rig for roughwater nymphing.
A final tip – bend the hook slightly downward mid-shank or use a curved hook to create the “egg-laying” humped effect we observe in stoneflies as they lay their eggs over the water.
Stimulator Attractor Directions
HOOK : Tiemco 1270 Stonefly in size : 10,12,14,16,18
Thread : Uni 8/0 Orange
Tail : Deer Hair Natural Belly
Body : Yellow Dub with copper wire wrap
Thorax: Orange dubbing
Wings : Elk Hair Natural
Hackle: Brown, and Grizzly dry fly rooster
There are many ties for this fly and this is mine that has worked for many years, feel free to try others and especially other colors. Olive, orange, and brown are all used with good results.
Stimulator Attractor
When you need a high floating, sink-resistant searching or attractor dry fly pattern on almost any freestone stream, several come to mind depending on what aquatic insect you may want to imitate as well. If you lean toward a mayfly dun, then a Wulff fly pattern comes to mind. If you lean toward a caddisfly, then an Elk Hair Caddis is a good attractor version of an adult caddis. If you lean toward a stonefly, then a Stimulator is considered by many anglers as a good attractor version of an adult stonefly. For a midge, the Griffith Gnat comes to mind. We could list a good number more example matches.
How often do we encounter an adult stonefly hatch or even see adult stoneflies on eastern waters? Well, except for early season tiny winter black stoneflies, early season small brown stoneflies and the small summer yellow and olive sallies, we do not. BUT – the trout do!
Stimulator
Many of our larger, eastern stonefly hatches are nocturnal, occurring at dusk and even later into the night. For example, eastern golden stoneflies typically hatch around midnight as do eastern salmon flies. The larger eastern, black and brown stonefly species also hatch just after dusk in the summer months. Night fishing is not allowed on any North Carolina streams except the lower Nantahala River (a special exception in the regulations to allow anglers time on the whitewater section without rafters). Night fishing in the summer places a lot of undue pressure on trout that are actively pursuing nighttime stonefly hatches, thus, the no night fishing regulation is a sound management practice for our precious mountain trout waters. Also, brown trout forage mostly at night and are most vulnerable to night fishing.
An adult stonefly imitation as a searching fly pattern or attractor is believed to trigger a response from trout imprinted by our eastern night time stonefly hatches. Thus, the larger stimulator fly patterns work “magically” as an attractor rather than a “hatch match” on many Southern Appalachian trout streams.
Anglers and tiers wrongly credit Randal Kaufmann for the Stimulator. He did not originate the Stimulator but did popularize it in the early-1980s. Jim Slattery created his Fluttering Stonefly that he later renamed the Stimulator. Many fly tiers argue that the Orange Stimulator is a variation of the Improved Sofa Pillow fly pattern that was created by Pat Barnes in the 1940s. Some fly tiers argue that the Stimulator was derived from the Yellow-Bellied Mattress Thrasher which has rubber legs and was created by Steve Williams in the 1970s for use on the Au Sable in Michigan. Some even argue that the Stimulator was derived from the original Trude created by Carter Harrison in 1903. However, Jim Slattery clearly blogs on the internet that the influence for his creation of the Stimulator was derived from a live eastern stonefly hatch (which was stonefly mating and egg laying activity) on the Musconetcong River in New Jersey on two straight late-evenings.
A Stimulator tied with a salmon-orange body in sizes 8 to 12 is used to imitate the giant stonefly. A stimulator tied with a yellow or green body in sizes 14 or 16 is used to imitate the small summertime yellow or olive sallies which do hatch during the day. The Stimulator tied in size 14 or 16 with a tan, black or olive body may be used to imitate a caddisfly. Add rubber legs and the Stimulator may be used to imitate a hopper, cicada or a beetle.
In his book, Essential Trout Flies, Dave Hughes states “As a searching dressing, it is hard to beat the Yellow Stimulator…tie and carry it in sizes 8 through 12, and give it a prominent place in your dry-fly box…”
The outstanding qualities of this dry fly are: 1) rides high, 2) easy to see, 3) built-in floatation, and 4) a great indicator fly for a dropper. The only down side is the time required and number of steps to tie this dry fly pattern. Regardless, this dry fly pattern is “king” of the indicator flies. Use the Stimulator as your indicator in a nymph dropper rig for roughwater nymphing.
A final tip – bend the hook slightly downward mid-shank or use a curved hook to create the “egg-laying” humped effect we observe in stoneflies as they lay their eggs over the water.
Stimulator Attractor Directions
HOOK : Tiemco 1270 Stonefly in size : 10,12,14,16,18
Thread : Uni 8/0 Orange
Tail : Deer Hair Natural Belly
Body : Yellow Dub with copper wire wrap
Thorax: Orange dubbing
Wings : Elk Hair Natural
Hackle: Brown, and Grizzly dry fly rooster
There are many ties for this fly and this is mine that has worked for many years, feel free to try others and especially other colors. Olive, orange, and brown are all used with good results.
- Debarb and mount the hook. Attach thread at the one third mark back from the hook eye. Trim thread waste. Make wraps in tight touching turns to the hook bend above the hook barb. Let the bobbin hang.
- Select a small clump of deer hair and trim from the hide. Clean the guard hair from the bunch by pinching with your thumb and index finger and plucking with your other thumb and index. Use your thumb to “press” out flat on your index finger which will enable you to clear more of the underfur.
- Place the hair in a stacker and gently tap on a hard surface to even the tips. Lift the stacker tube slightly for the last two or three raps by about an eighth of an inch. This will leave the stacked tips slightly past the end of the tube making it easier to pull out without changing alignment. Place the hair on top of the hook shank and measure a short tail past the hook bend. Tie in with two loose wraps to hold the deer hair on top of the hook shank. Check the length (Stimulators have relatively short tails) and when it is acceptable continue the wraps to the halfway point of the hook shank. This should be moderately hard pressure. Deer can flair and make a mess if you tighten with too much pressure. Trim away any waste and let the bobbin hang.
- Select a three or four inch piece of copper wire and tie in on the side of the hook shank at the halfway mark. Wrap in touching turns to the tail tie in. This will bind the wire and the deer hair as well. Once you reach the tail let the bobbin hang.
- Dub about two inches of the thread in tight twists and begin wrapping in tight touching turns. Repeat dubbing as necessary to make the two thirds mark on the hook shank. Let the bobbin hang.
- Select a brown dry hackle with after measuring the length of the barbs to not exceed the hook gape. This is slightly shorter than a “normal” dry fly. Strip an eighth of an inch or so of barbs from the hackle to expose a tie section of stem. Tie in the stem with the curved side of the hackle facing toward the hook bend. Once secure, trim any extra hackle stem and let the bobbin hang.
- Wrap the hackle in open turns to the hook bend. Use the copper wire to bind in the hackle. Continue wrapping the copper wire through the hackle using a wiggle to avoid pinching hackle barbs. Once the wire has advanced through the body and up to the thorax bind in with the thread and “airplane” off the excess wire. Finish the tie in with several wraps of thread. Trim any access hackle stem from the hackle and let the bobbin hang.
- Select a section of elk hair from the hide and after trimming take out the underfur like you did with the deer hair. Stack in hair stacker like above and tie with with two or three soft wraps on top of the hook shank. The length should be about half way through the tail. Trim the length as needed, cutting on a taper away from the hook eye. Once the length is good, begin tying in with slightly firm wraps that increase in pressure as you work toward the hook eye. It will also help if as you advance the thread you work one or two wraps through the elk. This will help maintain the position on top of the hook shank and form a better taper toward the eye. Once the hair is secure, advance the thread to the first wrap at the base of the wing and let the bobbin hang.
- Select a grizzly hackle feather and strip as before. Tie in at the base of the wing and let the bobbin hang.
- Dub the thread with orange or whatever alternate color chosen and dub the head to within one or two eyelengths back. Let the bobbin hang.
- Wrap the hackle in a spiral, slightly open to the end of the dubbing. Tie off with thread. Trim waste and form a secure head with several whip finishes.