Ya, you all know it. So here it is, the Stimulator! You gotta love this fly for the fish it puts in the net. It works not only for me. I’m sure it works for many anglers out there.

Take this fly and be creative with it, heck, go wild! Remove the body hackle for a “naked” Stimulator. Swap the dubbing for flash. Add legs or wing yarn, and by all means, tie it in as many color variations as possible. Do all this, but keep the traditional version on the ready, as it will always produce.

Step By Step Classic Stimi on a Firehole hook:

Set the hook in the tying vise and start the thread using locking wraps. I like to start my thread about where I want my abdomen and thorax to meet.

Using some Elk or Deer Hair, select a small clump and clean out thoroughly. Measure the length of the tail to be about the same as the hook gape. Secure on top of the rear of the hook.

Tie in your ribbing wire and secure back until ready to rib the fly and secure the body hackle.

Use superfine dubbing to help with buoyancy. Dub a small dubbing noodle. Cover the entire body of the fly.

Measure and prep body hackle. Tie in at the front of the abdomen behind the thorax and palmer reward towards the wire. Secure the hackle by counter-wrapping the wire forward over the top. Secure the wire behind the thorax.

Using the same elk hair as the tail select a much larger clump, prep, and tie in. Measure the wing to be slightly shorter than the tail. When tying this clump down, try to avoid the elk hair flaring out excessively. This is not like when you are tying an elk hair Caddis. You want this wing to lay flatter on the body.

Select a hackle feather, prep, and tie in at the back of the thorax. Using more superfine dubbing, create a small dubbing noodle and dub the thorax. Create a slight taper when doing so. Palmer the hackle over top and capture off. Whip finish fly!

Recipe:

• Hook: Firehole 718 8 – 16
• Thread: Veevus 10/0
• Tail and wing: Bleached Elk Hair
• Body: Superfine Dubbing
• Hackle: Brown and Grizzly Cape