Rubber Legged Stimulator

The Classic with Many Uses

Without diving straight into a history lesson, the Stimulator is one of the most popular and effective flies on the planet, and it has been fished in about every river in the country for multiple decades.  It can be tied in almost any size and color, and there are many variations and add-ons that you can add to help match the hatch and float higher.  I used to absolutely hate tying these until a friend asked me to tie him a few dozen with a wrapped foam body, and I realized that I probably didn't have the proportions correct or the right materials for the first few that I tied.  I ended up getting good hackle, but the most important material on this fly is the hair.  Without good hair for the tail and wing, you will want to throw your vise across the room, trust me, I've come close.  I have used moose, deer, elk, etc, on this fly, but I think the most consistent hair that I have found is Nature's Spirit Select Cow Elk because it has consistent tips and it flares just right.  Also, In this video I show a good method for tying in rubber legs to a stimulator (which can be kind of a pain to get right).  I chose to use the Ahrex 531 hook because it's the first curved "stimulator" style barbless hook that I've seen, and I really liked the long point and sharpness of the hook.  Other great hooks for stimulators are the Daiichi 1260 and the TMC 200R and 2312, but I much prefer the 1260 due to a much more forgiving hook gap.  A note regarding hackle...  As Nacho Libre would say, "take it eaaaasssy."  The thicker you wrap the hackle on the back section of the fly, the harder it will be to set the hook on a fish.  Also, the front is not designed to be really full like you will find on some attractor patterns.  The Improved Sofa Pillow is a great pattern that showcases a very thick hackle on the front of the fly if you are in to that sort of thing...  Also, the front hackle should be slightly larger than the back hackle.

Tie em up, and stick some fish!!

~ Cheech

Material List

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Hook: Ahrex 531 Sedge Dry Fly Hook - 8
Thread: UTC Ultrathread 140 Denier - Burnt Orange
Tail/Wing: Nature's Spirit Select Cow Elk - Brown
Rib: UTC Ultra Wire - Copper - Small
Body: SLF Dave Whitlock Dubbing - Brown Stone Nymph
Hackle: Whiting Rooster Dry Fly Cape - Pro - Cinnamon Pepper Variant
Legs: Grizzly Flutter Legs - Black Barred Rootbeer
Thorax: Hare'e Ice Dub - Rusty Orange

Other tools from the tutorial:
       

Tiemco TMC Ceramic Bobbin (Std)
Fly Tying Wax Skull
Tiemco Tungsten Carbide Razor Scissor
Loon Ergo Bodkin