{{+1}}Stimulator variant{{-1}}

Whilst not tied to imitate any particular insect this down wing style of fly can be tied with your favourite materials and in your favourite colours to imitate a range of insects. It is a good prospecting fly when nothing appears to be happening. In larger sizes it can be twitched or fished dead drift to imitate a hopper, cicada or other terrestrial insect that has found itself in the water or in smaller sizes can be danced across the surface to imitate a caddis fly. Two of my favourite materials are peacock herl and crystal flash and I have incorporated them in many of my stimulator variants. I also tie my simulators fatter than the original Randall Kaufmann pattern.

Three of my favourite colours and sizes are set out below.

Materials

Hook	Thread	Tail	Rib	Body	Wing	Head
Size 6 2X long fine wire hook	Orange	Natural colored deer hair	Black thread	Peacock herl with black palmered hackle	Natural colored deer hair	Orange thread with palmered grizzly hackle

Hook	Thread	Tail	Rib	Body	Wing	Head
Size 6 2X long fine wire hook	Yellow	Natural colored deer hair	fine silver thread	Golden dubbing with black palmered hackle	Reversed deer hair	Yellow floss with palmered grizzly hackle

Hook	Thread	Tail	Rib	Body	Wing	Head
Size 6 2X long fine wire hook	Brown	Possum tail or kip tail	fine silver thread	Peacock herl with black palmered hackle over a closed cell foam foundation or dubbing	White fluoro crystal flash	Peacock herl with palmered grizzly hackle

Process

A	Wind thread along the hook shank in touching turns and return the thread half way up the hook shank. Understanding hooks Tie in a tail of deer hair that extends behind the hook a distance equal to about half the length of the shank of the hook and so that the butt ends are tied down as under-body. Deer hair uses in fly tying

B	Tie in a length of ribbing material. The original stimulator recipe specifies copper wire as the ribbing. I have used fine silver tinsel so as not to add any weight to my dry fly.

C	Dub a uniform body over the deer hair under body. Single strand dubbing Tie in a hackle directly in front of the body. Dry fly hackle

D	Take two turns of hackle at the tie in position and then Palmer the hackle back along the fly to the bend of the hook. Hold the hackle in place with your left hand and pick up the silver tinsel with your right hand. Wind the silver tinsel forward locking the hackle into place and forming 4 or 5 even segments along the body. Tie the tinsel off in front of the body.

E	Trim the surplus hackle and the silver thread with a blade rather than scissors. By using a blade you wont inadvertently trim away any of the body hackles. Tie in a deer hair down wing directly in front of the body. Down wings

F	Tie in the front hackle directly in front of the wing. Dub a cone shaped body along the front third of the fly.

G	Take two turns of the hackle at the tie in position and then Palmer the hackle forward to just behind the eye of the hook. Build up a neat head whip finish and varnish the head.