Down and Dirty Icicle
This is the icicle reduced to its bare bones. Actually this is the “stage” of the icicle that I fish most often because it works just as well as the others and is super fast to tie. In addition, like the “reduced” version, there is no tail and no body, eliminating the hassle of tearing up the tail and body with the hemostats when trying to remove the fly.
This tactic for tying the icicle is the one I use on many long fly imitations. I tie it in black with blue flash, black with green flash, and black with purple flash for salmon and big browns, and a host of other color configurations.
Clamp and wrap--cover the front 2/5 of the shank.
Insert the material, spin the loop, and wrap it to form the fly. Now, here's the trick: If you place red flash on the material so it is next to hook, the red will end up on the interior of the fly. Putting the black on the end of the material furtherest from the hook allows it to be on the outside of the fly. Vary colors and placement as you see fit.