Stimulator
The Stimulator is a highly buoyant attractor dry fly best known as an imitation of adult stoneflies. The modern pattern was refined and popularized by Randall Kaufmann, although its exact origin remains debated and earlier versions have been credited to Jim Slattery and other fly tyers. It is especially effective during salmonfly and golden stonefly hatches but can also suggest caddisflies, grasshoppers, and other large insects. The fly can be dead-drifted through riffles and pocket water, skated across the surface, or used to suspend a weighted nymph in a dry-dropper rig. Stimulators are commonly tied in sizes 6 through 18 and in colors such as orange, yellow, olive, and black. Evenly palmering the hackle and maintaining a buoyant but properly proportioned hair wing are the main considerations when tying the pattern.
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Recipe
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Hook · TMC 5212 (2X long) dry fly hook or a curved nymph hook, size 6-18
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Thread · Fluorescent Fire Orange · Fluorescent Fire Orange
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Tail · Natural Elk Hair · Natural
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Abdomen · Orange Antron Dubbing · Orange
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Abdomen Hackle · Brown Hackle · Brown
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Ribbing · Fine Gold Wire · Gold
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Wing · Natural Elk Hair · Natural
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Thorax · Orange Antron Dubbing · Orange
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Thorax Hackle · Grizzly hackle, tied slightly longer than abdomen · Grizzly