The stimulator is a very good all purpose searching pattern. It is a remarkable ‘attractor’ fly that coaxes reluctant large trout to strike. Randall Kaufmann has done a lot to expose this style of tying but it did exist well before his variants. He deserves much credit for attaching a name to and the organization of this patterns. The improved Sofa Pillow Patterns are tied using this design. The legendary salmonfly (Peteronarcys californica) is an orange and dark brown monster insect. Why is it legendary? It is this fly that large trout, who are normally reluctant to rise, come straight up to the surface to devour a floating adult salmonfly. Many western North American rivers sprout salmonflies. It tries to imitate an egg-laying female caught on the water and working her wings to escape. That is why the wing is splayed.

Fish the fly dead-drift near banks and in shady areas. When the females begin to fall spent and dying I try to flatten the wing and get it soaking wet before I cast it. I do not use floatant as I am aiming to sink the fly just below the surface. The salmonfly is known by many different names, salmon coloured stoneflies, willow flies, trout flies, or trout bugs. The large nymphs also have a variety of names from Helgrammites to devil scratchers.

Western American Fly tiers were slow to develop flies that matched the hatch for the Western Cutthroat trout was even easier to catch than the Eastern Brook trout on standard British and American flies. It wasn’t until the arrival of brown trout from Europe between 1880’s and 1920’s that interest grew in designing flies to match the natural insects. It is also very effective fished with a dropper with a nymph at the end.