Stimulator Fly
One of the most effective ways to cover water columns in the river or in still water is to use a dry dropper set up. This means that you have a dry fly rigged first as your “top” fly and add a length of tippet, most commonly from the hook’s bend and trail a “dropper” fly behind and underneath the surface of the water.
Popular Dry Dropper Combinations
A common combination would be to have a stimulator dry fly as a top fly and use the prince nymph as a dropper. A stimulator trout fly does just what it sounds like in its name: stimulates the fish to want to eat. The fish will first see the angler’s stimulator fly and most of the time it will rise to take a second look. If the fish refuses this fly, the dropper fly will be close behind to give the angler another option to stimulate the fish to eat. Your top fly is sized to make sure you can float your nymph flies without dragging down your stimulator fly.
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Stimulator Fly Size
The stimulator dry fly is often fished in a large size to be easily visible to the angler. The profile of a top fly gives it a wide range of insects that it can mimic. Using the best stimulator fly pattern as a top fly gives the angler the best chance of keeping eye contact with the rig in faster waters which is important because it is acting as your indicator for your dropper as well. If the fish eats the prince nymph, your stimulator fly will stop or go underwater. If your top fly is eaten by the fish, it is a visible eat so keep in eye contact. A stimulator fly is tied with a good number of deer or elk hair that helps to give buoyancy to the stimulator fly and keep it afloat.
Stimulator Fly Colors
Having a wide range of stimulator fly variations, colors and sizes is a good idea, some of the most popular fly colors are the yellow-orange stimulator fly, as well as the black stimulator fly pattern, purple stimulator fly, crystal-green stimulator fly pattern and olive stimulator fly pattern. A stimulator fly pattern often will have foam in the thorax like the foam stimulator fly pattern.
Stimulator fly Buoyancy and Weight
While sometimes we see a stimulator fly pattern using natural hairs. The deer or elk hair is used to tie a fly fishing stimulator because they are hollow fibers. The extra buoyancy is good because it gives the angler a wider range of dropper weight to try. Some prefer unweighted droppers because they believe that it gives this fly the most realistic action. In the end it is very common to find a royal stimulator fly and a rubber leg stimulator in a well-versed anglers fly box.
