"The pattern that became the Stimulator has its origins on the Deschutes River in Oregon, likely dating back to the 1950s or earlier.
My friend, Rick Verheghe(angler-boatman extraordinaire) and I were fishing the Deschutes River near Whitehorse Rapids one memorable evening in 1980.
Rick was having amazing success with a fly labeled Hank’s Special that he salvaged from a dusty fly bin at the famous Oasis Café in Maupin, owned by legendary Deschutes personality Mike McLucas and his wife Gloria.
I had seen the fly there but paid no attention to it, until now. Tying on Rick’s fly was crazy effective.
Back at my tying vise I refined the tying style, tweaked the colors and changed materials, and began fishing it with remarkable success.
The Stimulator first appeared in the Kaufmann Streamborn catalog in 1982. Eventually, there were over 120 variations of colors, styles, specific stonefly imitations, and sizes, all produced by Umpqua Feather Merchants—they occupied an entire section of the Kaufmann fly display.
In short, Hank started it, Rick introduced it to me, David Lambroughton named it, I refined it, and along with Umpqua, popularized it."
- Signature Tyer Randall Kaufmann
