How to Tie the Stimulator Fly

Learn how to tie the Stimulator Fly, including step-by-step instructions, a video tutorial, pictures, and much more. Improve your fly tying skills here.

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An excellent pattern for matching caddis, terrestrial insects, Yellow Sallies, and other light-bodied adult stoneflies, the Stimulator can be used as an exact imitation or an effective attractor pattern. No matter how you fish the Stimulator, it is a pattern worth carrying in a few sizes all season long.

Recipe

• Thread: UNI-Thread (size: 6/0; color: Yellow)
• Hook: Tiemco 2302 (Size: 8)
• Tail: Elk Hair
• Body: UNI-Single Strand Super Floss (Color: Bright Yellow)
• Body hackle: Brown Saddle Hackle (sized one size smaller than hook you’re tying on)
• Wing: Elk Hair
• Head Hackle: Grizzly Hackle
• Head: Spirit River Antron Dubbing (color: Stimulator Orange)

Step One:

Begin the pattern by running the thread from the hook's eye to the bend. Clip a small clump of elk hair from the hide and trim the short-ends. Place the fibers on top of the shank with a quarter-inch of the material stretching past the bend. After securing the elk hair with a half-hitch, clip the forward-facing fibers, then run the thread along the shank.

Step Two:

Before starting the wing section, tie a strand of the Uni-floss material below the eye and run it to the tail. Next, secure a thin feather from the saddle hackle at the hook's rear. Advance the Uni-floss up 65 percent of the shank, then clip the excess material. Next, smoothly wrap the hackle along the shank, stopping where the Uni-floss ends. Run the thread along the neck of the shank several times, secure the feather, then clip off the extra material.

Step Three:

For the Stimulator's wings, remove a cluster of elk hair slightly larger than the tail section. Tie the fibers on and run the thread up the shank. To give the pattern a clean head, clip the outward-facing material off. Next, apply a small amount of dubbing to the thread, position the wings rearward, and wind the thread to the eye.

Step Four:

For the fly’s front section, tie on a feather from the grizzly hackle near the eye. Next, apply a small amount of dubbing to the thread, pull the grizzly hackle back, and advance the thread to the hook's eye. Wrap the hackle forward, then clip the remaining fibers off. Secure the pattern with a whip finish, and the Stimulator is ready to hit the water.