Umpqua Crystal Stimulator Rubber Legs Fly

Overview

The Stimulator is Randall Kaufmann's pattern, and this Crystal version with rubber legs adds flash and movement to one of the most trusted attractor dries in the West. Kaufmann traces the fly to the Deschutes River in Oregon. He refined the pattern around 1980, and it first appeared in his catalog in 1982.

With a palmered hackle, an elk-hair wing and a bushy profile, it floats high and reads as a stonefly, a caddis or even a hopper. The crystal flash and rubber legs add sparkle and a kicking motion that trout notice in broken water. It is one of the best flies to search pocket water and riffles, and it floats well enough to carry a nymph.

How to Fish It

• Pocket water: drift it through seams, behind boulders and along banks. Short, accurate casts work best.
• Skate and twitch: during stonefly and caddis egg-laying, a small twitch or skate can trigger aggressive strikes.
• Dry-dropper: sizes 10 and 12 can carry a small bead-head nymph 18 to 24 inches below.
• Tippet: 4X to 5X in most water; go heavier when fishing it with a dropper.

Choosing Color and Size

Yellow is the natural choice for Yellow Sallies and golden stoneflies and is easy to see. Royal is a classic attractor color that stands out in fast water and when fish are looking up but nothing specific is hatching.

Use 10 and 12 for bigger stoneflies and dry-dropper rigs, and 14 and 16 for Yellow Sallies, caddis and pressured fish.