[doyelie]

Hello,

I'm new here and don't know much about flies and fly fishing.

A few years ago, we caught a lot of trout in Trout Lake and Groundhog Reservoir in Southwestern Colorado trolling these flies with conventional rods and reels. I bought them a local bait shop in Colorado, but they don't always have them in stock, so I thought I would try to buy them online. However, I don't have any idea what they are. The fly on the right started coming apart after catching a number of trout, but originally it looked just like the others. Any help identifying what they are would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

[Curtis]

Looks like a yellow stimulator.

Very easy flies to tie if you are into that. I checked the full creel and did not see them on the site but I am betting if you contacted Steve, his shop would have them he would sell to you.


It is a great fly. We use them around here in an orange scheme when the salmonflies come off or in a smaller tan color for some of the caddis hatches. Sometimes they are just great attractors also.

[tie one on]

I agree with Curtis. I'm pretty sure that you
purchased several Stimulators. ( Did they float
when you used them ? ) These are great flies
for hungery trout. However, I also have ruined
several of mine removing them from trout with
forceps. If it is at all possible try to grab the
hook at the bend to remove rather than by
grabbing the mid portion of the fly. Some of
the materials used to tie this fly are on the
delicate side. They are relatively easy to tie,
if you tie your own flies.

Tie One On

[doyelie]

Thanks Curtis and Tie One On! I wish I knew how to tie flies, but I'm not even a fly fisherman . . . yet. :-) As I said before, we just trolled them and had good results. When we trolled with them, they would float on the surface or run just below the surface, depending on how much line we had out. It didn't seem to make much difference--the trout would hit them either way. What is the Stimulator supposed to imitate? I assume it's a dry fly?

Thanks,
Nathan

[Colorado Cajun]

Stimulators are attractor patterns that can sometimes fool a fish to think it is an adult stone fly, hopper, and god knows what else. They are a awesome fly that works very well. I have never heard of fishing it the way you described. I'll have to try that.

[tie one on]

I agree again with Curtis.

Stimulators more than likely got their name from just
that : they "stimulate" or maybe better they "imitate"
a favorite food of trout. Whichever it is they work !

They are not hard to tie at all. I have actually got other
species of fish on this fly. Bluegill, Rock Bass, Smallmouth.

Sometimes if I tie on a tandem rig I'll use a Stimulator as
the first fly & a later stage nymph of the same bug onto
the hook bend of the first fly.

Tie One On

[Joni]

I wanna agree with Yellow Stimulator. Easy to tie but a little more time consuming, at least for me. Great in the smaller sizes for creeks, specially with an emerger or nymph dropper.
The one on the far right looks like the Grizzly hackle came loose. It can be fixed.

[Colorado Cajun]

I can never seem to get the ones I tie to float or look right so I usually buy my stimulators.

[doyelie]

<chuckle> I guess I was just showing my ignorance of fly fishing. The guy at Howard's Sporting Goods in Cortez, CO recommended this method for fishing Groundhog Reservoir north of Dolores. It worked very well on several occasions and was more fun than using spinners, so we decided to try it at Trout Lake near Telluride where it worked again.

I tried to troll a few other flies at the same lakes--an Elk Hair Caddis and a fly that looked like black woolly imitation of a bee--but they didn't catch anything.

Nathan

Originally Posted by Colorado Cajun

I have never heard of fishing it the way you described. I'll have to try that.

[Colorado Cajun]

Originally Posted by doyelie

<chuckle> I guess I was just showing my ignorance of fly fishing. The guy at Howard's Sporting Goods in Cortez, CO recommended this method for fishing Groundhog Reservoir north of Dolores. It worked very well on several occasions and was more fun than using spinners, so we decided to try it at Trout Lake near Telluride where it worked again.

I tried to troll a few other flies at the same lakes--an Elk Hair Caddis and a fly that looked like black woolly imitation of a bee--but they didn't catch anything.

Nathan

This weekend I fished a well know lake around here and stopped at a beaver pond on the way out that gets over looked, very over looked. I had brookies nailing a Parachute Adams every cast then stopped like someone flipped a switch. On one cast, I stripped it in and a fish nailed it. After that I started casting it out and stripped it in like a wet fly and it was on again. Go figure!