• Hook: TMC 100, size 10-16
• Thread: 8/0 Brown
• Body: Golden Brown Ice Dub
• Wing: Golden Brown Montana Fly Company Widow's Web
• Hackle: Brown

     My friend Al Hall, who has lived near the Gunnison River for a long time, gave me an Easy Ice Caddis over lunch on the banks of the river.   As he handed it to me, Al said, "This has all the characteristics of a guide fly: it's quick and easy to tie, doesn't use many materials, and, most importantly, it catches fish.  Take a look." I'm always into guide flies for the reasons Al noted, and the Easy Ice Caddis fits the bill.  The Ice Dub body gives the fly a nice glow and the Widow's Web wing is a lot easier to tie in than a hair wing; plus it doesn't hold water so it will continue to float for a long time.

    I like to use this fly as a trailer behind a larger dry like a foam hopper or Stimulator, but it also works well as the dry in a dry-dropper rig.  Other color combinations I tie it in include: black body/black wing/grizzly hackle, peacock body/black wing/grizzly hackle, and orange body/brown wing/brown hackle.  This fly only takes a few minutes to tie so it's easy to fill your box in one session at the vise.  

Directions

1. Start your thread at the 1/3 point of the shank and wrap back to the hook barb.

Ice Caddis Step One
2. Dub your body forward so that it covers 2/3 of the hook shank.
3. Tie in your wing and trim so that it extends about 1/2 a shank length past the body.

Ice Caddis Step Two
4. Tie in 1 hackle feather and wrap forward to the eye.
5. Tie off the hackle and whip finish.

Tying Notes

     I think it's important to leave your wing much longer than the body to accurately replicate the naturals, since real caddisflies have wings that extend far past their bodies.  The added wing length also gives the fly a more ample profile.