AmericanFlyFishing.com - Patterns: Fly Tying, Yellow Stimulator

Phone Orders: 800-410-1222 (10-5 PST)

6/19/2013

Yellow Stimulator
By Dave Sloan

Randall Kaufmann's Stimulator has undoubtedly caught as many trout as the Elk Hair Caddis, Parachute Adams, and the Humpy. It is a fly that every angler should have tied in a variety of sizes and colors.

The great thing about the Stimulator is that it represents nothing in particular but everything all at once. It is a phenomenal searching pattern and indicator on a dry dropper rig. It floats well and is visible to the angler. What more could you ask for?

The Stimulator is fished best on a dead drift, and like other dries, try to get the fly to the fish before your line for the best results. I, along with many other guides and fisherman, prefer to trim the hackle off the bottom of the Stimulator so that it rides lower in the water like a natural would. We have all found that this small change has amazing effects on the number of rises we get to the Stimulator. Tie this fly in sizes 6-16.

Step 1 Start your thread and coat the shank of the hook back to just above the barb.

Step 2 Cut, comb, and stack a small slump of Elk Hair for the Tail. It should be about a gap of the hook long and the tips should extend off the back of the hook.

Step 3 Tie in a piece of Yellow thread for the ribbing extending off the back of the hook.

Step 4 Dub a tapered abdomen starting where the tail was tied in and ending with approximately 30% of the shank of the hook left. It should be dubbed relatively thick, but don’t get carried away.

Step 5 Tie in a Brown Saddle Hackle at the end of the abdomen the shiny side facing towards you.

Step 6 Wrap the hackle away from yourself and start with two wraps right at the front of the abdomen and then spiral wrap the rest back over the abdomen towards the tail in 4-5 wraps. Once you are at the tail use the yellow thread that you tied in for the ribbing to secure the hackle at the tail. Make two wraps directly on top of one another and then spiral wrap the thread back up the abdomen working towards the eye of the hook. Try not to lock down too many hackle fibers on the way up to your thread. Once you get to your thread tie off the yellow thread with your bobbin thread.

Step 7 Cut, comb, and stack a relatively good chunk of Elk Hair to form the wing. It needs to be enough to cover the top 180 degrees of the abdomen once tied in. The Wing should be tied in directly on top of the hook and extend to roughly the midpoint of the tail. When it is secure cut the butts of the wing off at an angle to help form the taper of the thorax. The wing should be covering the top 180 degrees of the top of the hook.

Step 8 Tie in a Grizzly saddle hackle at the base of the wing, shiny side towards you.

Step 9 Dub a thorax that tapers off the wing down to the eye of the hook. It should start at the same diameter that the abdomen ended at and then taper down smoothly to the eye of the hook.

Step 10 In 4-5 evenly spaced wraps, wrap the hackle through the thorax to the eye of the hook. Tie it off and clip it. Whip Finish.

Click photos to enlarge

Products for this fly:
•	Tiemco TMC 200RBL
•	Tiemco TMC 2312 Hook
•	Elk Body Hair
•	Uni 6/0 Tying Thread
•	Wapsi Antron Sparkle Dubbing
•	Whiting 1/4 Saddle - Silver

Click Here to buy this fly!