Fountains of Youth – Classic trout flies that have withstood the test of time … flies that remain “forever young”
by Rusty Dunn
In today’s world of instant communication, each of us is but one TikTok video away from stardom. Celebrities are newly minted on TikTok, YouTube, and other platforms almost daily, but their significance fades just as fast. The quantity of online fly-tying resources can be overwhelming, but this avalanche of information is a relatively recent phenomenon. How did we learn about productive new (or old) flies during the decades and centuries before browsers, websites, and YouTube? The social medium of lasting impact back then was the printed page. Books and magazines were the currency of public influence. Fly patterns could become locally famous by word of mouth, but recognition on a national scale came from hard-copy publications. Jim Slattery’s Stimulator fly is a perfect example of ‘going viral’ the old-school way.
The Stimulator is a high-floating bushy fly designed to imitate egg-laying stoneflies. It is Fly #10 on Field & Stream magazine’s list of “The Twenty-Five Greatest Flies of All Time”. Yes, it’s that good! Design of the Stimulator is usually attributed to Randall Kaufmann because he was the first to publish it. Kaufmann is a Pacific Northwest angler, author, fly-shop owner, and fly tyer of Umpqua Feather Merchants. He popularized the Stimulator in magazines, books, and the Umpqua catalog beginning in 1980. The genius behind the Stimulator’s design, however, came from a young lad in northern New Jersey named Jim Slattery.
Slattery regularly fished New Jersey’s Musconetcong River in the late 1970s. He led a dual life, however. By day, he fished the Musconetcong but, by night, he played bass guitar as ‘Jim Revenge’ of The Violators, a punk rock band that blasted wild, fast, hard-edged music in the frenzied nightclubs of New York City. The Violators did not achieve fame and fortune in the music industry, but Jim Slattery’s Stimulator is an acknowledged superstar of the fly-fishing world.
Slattery designed the Stimulator to imitate egg-laying Giant Eastern Stoneflies. He captured an adult female one day during a hatch and, after several rounds of refinement, tied an imitation that he thought would work well for the hatch. Jim named his fly the ‘Fluttering Stonefly’, but he didn’t have time to test its effectiveness. The Violators and New York’s music scene were Jim’s number one priority at the time. Instead, Jim gave a few Fluttering Stoneflies to a friend who tested them for him. The fly was astonishingly effective! News of a hot new fly spread by word of mouth, and soon another local angler approached Slattery for flies. “Are you the pink-haired punk rocker that sells flies down by (the Musconetcong)?” Jim smiled and gave the guy a few flies, asking only that he report back on their effectiveness. Unbeknownst to Jim, that angler took the flies west to fish a Salmonfly hatch on the famed Miracle Mile section of Wyoming’s North Platte River. Again, the fly was an instant success! Soon thereafter, and much to Slattery’s surprise, a Wyoming guide called to buy seven dozen Fluttering Stoneflies. The guide was unwilling to pay Jim’s asking price, however, and by then the cat was out of the bag. Influential guides in influential places now knew of the Fluttering Stonefly design and its uncanny effectiveness during a Salmonfly hatch. Slattery later received a call from Randall Kaufmann, who reported that he planned to tie and sell the fly commercially after making some design changes to give it more “bin appeal”. He had slimmed down and tidied up the wing, changed the fly’s proportions, and shortened the front hackle collar. All were changes that Slattery maintains reduced (not improved) effectiveness. Kaufmann wanted a snappy new name also and, in recognition of Jim as originator of the design, offered to let Jim name the now modified pattern. Jim suggested either the ‘Violator’ or ‘Stimulator’ in honor of local punk rock bands. Kaufmann agreed to the Stimulator name, began marketing them in 1980, and published the recipe in his popular 1991 book Tying Dry Flies. A photo of the Stimulator is front and center on the book’s cover.
The Stimulator’s ascension to fame and glory occurred about as quickly as was possible in the 1970s. It was popular locally by word of mouth but went viral nationally when discovered by industry insiders. Kaufmann’s publications propelled the celebrity status, but the fly itself was always the star of the show. Be it Jim Slattery’s original Stimulator or Randall Kaufmann’s more sedate descendant, the Stimulator is an absolute winner.
Copyright 2023, Rusty Dunn
Jim Slattery’s Original Stimulator
Vary sizes and colors to match stoneflies, caddisflies, or any insect having rearward sloping wings. Montana Fly Company now offers for sale the ‘OD Stimulator’, where OD indicates Jim Slattery’s ‘original dressing’.
| Hook: |
3X-long, curved shank, #4-#10 |
| Thread: |
6/0 Uni, orange |
| Tail: |
Natural deer hair, short and stacked |
| Rib: |
Tying thread |
| Abdomen: |
Orange dubbing |
| Thorax: |
Orange dubbing with a prominent head extending forward of the thorax and hackle |
| Wing: |
Natural deer hair, do not stack |
| Hackle: |
Grizzly, abdominal length to the hook point; thorax length oversized |
Jim Slattery’s Original Stimulator
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Last Updated: March 12, 2023 by Drew Kasel
by Rusty Dunn
In today’s world of instant communication, each of us is but one TikTok video away from stardom. Celebrities are newly minted on TikTok, YouTube, and other platforms almost daily, but their significance fades just as fast. The quantity of online fly-tying resources can be overwhelming, but this avalanche of information is a relatively recent phenomenon. How did we learn about productive new (or old) flies during the decades and centuries before browsers, websites, and YouTube? The social medium of lasting impact back then was the printed page. Books and magazines were the currency of public influence. Fly patterns could become locally famous by word of mouth, but recognition on a national scale came from hard-copy publications. Jim Slattery’s Stimulator fly is a perfect example of ‘going viral’ the old-school way.
The Stimulator is a high-floating bushy fly designed to imitate egg-laying stoneflies. It is Fly #10 on Field & Stream magazine’s list of “The Twenty-Five Greatest Flies of All Time”. Yes, it’s that good! Design of the Stimulator is usually attributed to Randall Kaufmann because he was the first to publish it. Kaufmann is a Pacific Northwest angler, author, fly-shop owner, and fly tyer of Umpqua Feather Merchants. He popularized the Stimulator in magazines, books, and the Umpqua catalog beginning in 1980. The genius behind the Stimulator’s design, however, came from a young lad in northern New Jersey named Jim Slattery.
Slattery regularly fished New Jersey’s Musconetcong River in the late 1970s. He led a dual life, however. By day, he fished the Musconetcong but, by night, he played bass guitar as ‘Jim Revenge’ of The Violators, a punk rock band that blasted wild, fast, hard-edged music in the frenzied nightclubs of New York City. The Violators did not achieve fame and fortune in the music industry, but Jim Slattery’s Stimulator is an acknowledged superstar of the fly-fishing world.
Slattery designed the Stimulator to imitate egg-laying Giant Eastern Stoneflies. He captured an adult female one day during a hatch and, after several rounds of refinement, tied an imitation that he thought would work well for the hatch. Jim named his fly the ‘Fluttering Stonefly’, but he didn’t have time to test its effectiveness. The Violators and New York’s music scene were Jim’s number one priority at the time. Instead, Jim gave a few Fluttering Stoneflies to a friend who tested them for him. The fly was astonishingly effective! News of a hot new fly spread by word of mouth, and soon another local angler approached Slattery for flies. “Are you the pink-haired punk rocker that sells flies down by (the Musconetcong)?” Jim smiled and gave the guy a few flies, asking only that he report back on their effectiveness. Unbeknownst to Jim, that angler took the flies west to fish a Salmonfly hatch on the famed Miracle Mile section of Wyoming’s North Platte River. Again, the fly was an instant success! Soon thereafter, and much to Slattery’s surprise, a Wyoming guide called to buy seven dozen Fluttering Stoneflies. The guide was unwilling to pay Jim’s asking price, however, and by then the cat was out of the bag. Influential guides in influential places now knew of the Fluttering Stonefly design and its uncanny effectiveness during a Salmonfly hatch. Slattery later received a call from Randall Kaufmann, who reported that he planned to tie and sell the fly commercially after making some design changes to give it more “bin appeal”. He had slimmed down and tidied up the wing, changed the fly’s proportions, and shortened the front hackle collar. All were changes that Slattery maintains reduced (not improved) effectiveness. Kaufmann wanted a snappy new name also and, in recognition of Jim as originator of the design, offered to let Jim name the now modified pattern. Jim suggested either the ‘Violator’ or ‘Stimulator’ in honor of local punk rock bands. Kaufmann agreed to the Stimulator name, began marketing them in 1980, and published the recipe in his popular 1991 book Tying Dry Flies. A photo of the Stimulator is front and center on the book’s cover.
The Stimulator’s ascension to fame and glory occurred about as quickly as was possible in the 1970s. It was popular locally by word of mouth but went viral nationally when discovered by industry insiders. Kaufmann’s publications propelled the celebrity status, but the fly itself was always the star of the show. Be it Jim Slattery’s original Stimulator or Randall Kaufmann’s more sedate descendant, the Stimulator is an absolute winner.
Copyright 2023, Rusty Dunn
Jim Slattery’s Original Stimulator
Vary sizes and colors to match stoneflies, caddisflies, or any insect having rearward sloping wings. Montana Fly Company now offers for sale the ‘OD Stimulator’, where OD indicates Jim Slattery’s ‘original dressing’.
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