The pattern notebook · dry
Stimulator
How do you tie a Stimulator?
Stimulator is a dry fly pattern for trout. Find its 9 materials and 17 tying steps below.
The Stimulator is a versatile dry fly pattern designed to imitate large stoneflies and other terrestrial insects. It is fished on the surface to attract trout, often in fast-moving water.
- Difficulty
- 3 of 5
- Target species
- trout
- Pattern designer
- Randall Kaufmann
Added to catalog · Updated
At the vise
Materials
- Hook: TMC 2312, size 6-16
- Thread: Fire Orange, 70 denier
- Tail: Yearling Elk
- Rib: Fine Copper Wire
- Abdomen: Yellow Antron Dubbing
- Abdomen Hackle: Brown Rooster Neck Hackle
- Wing: Yearling Elk
- Thorax Hackle: Grizzly Rooster Neck Hackle
- Thorax: Fire Orange Antron Dubbing
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Tying instructions
Secure the hook in the vise.
Start the thread at the seventy percent point and wrap back to the bend.
Build a small ball of thread at the bend of the hook.
Cut, clean, and stack a small clump of elk hair and tie it in at the bend to form a tail that is about as long as the hook gap is wide.
Wrap forward over the butt ends of the hair to just past the midpoint and clip the excess hair butts.
Tie in a piece of fine copper wire and wrap back over it to the bend.
Dub a tapered abdomen with the yellow antron dubbing.
Tie in a brown rooster neck hackle at the front of the body.
Palmer the brown feather back to the bend over the abdomen and catch the tip of the feather with the wire rib.
Wind the wire forward to the front of the body and tie it off at the front of the hook. Clip the tip of the hackle feather at the back and the extra wire at the front.
Cut, clean, and stack a larger clump of elk hair and measure it from the front of the body to the mid-point on the tail.
Tie the base of the elk hair in at the front of the body with several tight turns of thread. Clip the butt ends as close as possible to the hook shank.
Wrap over the butt ends of the wing to smooth the base out a bit.
Tie in a grizzly rooster neck hackle at the base of the wing by its butt end.
Dub the thorax up to just short of the eye with fire orange antron dubbing.
Palmer the grizzly feather forward over the thorax to the eye and tie it off. Clip the excess feather tip.
Build a smooth thread head, whip finish, and clip the thread.