Guide
Stimulator — house-style illustrationIllustration

Stimulator

Dry
#10–12orange / yellowBest: Jun–Sep

When to use

A hard-wearing, highly buoyant American dry adopted on UK and Irish rivers as a searching pattern in broken or fast water, and as a good dry to support a dropper nymph; also works as a sedge-style searcher through summer evenings.

Imitates

General buoyant searching dry — originally a giant stonefly (salmonfly) imitation, also taken for caddis/sedge and grasshoppers.

Team position

Single dry fly, or the top fly supporting a dropper nymph on a dry-dropper river rig.

Best methods

Dry, staticDead-drift

Dressing

Hook
curved-shank stonefly/terrestrial dry hook, #10–12
Thread
fine, colour to match body
Tail
elk or deer hair
Body
golden-yellow Antron or floss dubbing, palmered with a golden badger or furnace hackle
Rib
fine wire counter-rib over the palmered hackle
Hackle
grizzly hackle through the thorax; golden badger/furnace palmered through the body
Wing
elk or deer hair, with a few strands of flash
Head
thread head

Devised by Randall Kaufmann (USA), originally as a giant stonefly imitation; body colour is commonly varied (orange, olive) for other naturals.

Pairs with

Retrieve & line

  • Fished dry and static — floating line

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