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| Near Nuff Crayfish: Cormier (t), Rupp (b) |
At the FFI Gulf Coast Classic this past weekend, I took Allen Rupp's workshop on tying Dave Whitlock's Near Nuff Crayfish. If you don't know who Allen Rupp is, you should. He's a highly-acclaimed commercial tier who appears at many fly fishing events each year across the country, and a protege of Whitlock. You can read about him here.
Interview with Allen Rupp
In the last few years, I've connected with Allen on several occasions at various shows across the country. I've become a huge fan of his work... his flies are practical fish catchers, clean, well-designed and perfect in proportionality. We also have something in common - we both were influenced by Gary Borger and have a deep appreciation for the contributions of Dave Whitlock.
If you look through my boxes of flies, you'll find the following Whitlock originals:
- Red Fox Squirrel Nymph
- Saltwater Swimming Baitfish
- Sheep Shad
- Dave's Hopper
- Whitlock's Damsel Nymph
- Dave's Diving Frog
- Near Nuff Crayfish
Of those, the only one I had not tied was the Near Nuff Crayfish. The first NNC that Dave gave me I put into an hermetically sealed jar and stored in an underground vault alongside other flies tied by legendary fly anglers such as Lefty Kreh, Gary Borger, Gary Lafontaine, Polly Rosborough, to name a few.
Soon after, I purchased three NNCs directly from Dave, and fished those extensively... with fantastic results!
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| Coma Crawfish |
Now it must be noted that being a former bass tournament angler, born and raised in the heart of crawfish country, I had a lifelong experience with mudbugs. And with what bass preferred in their favorite crustacean. I combined that with a philosophy of using natural motion materials in flies (something I learned from Borger) and in the mid-90s, created my own crawfish fly called the "Coma Crawfish".
Over the years, I've tried other patterns and none had fished better for largemouth bass than the Coma Crawfish. But first time I fished the Near Nuff, it helped me win the first of several bass kayak tournaments, so automatically it became one of my very favorite bass flies. So much so, it replaced my own ecrevisse. It also soon became my favorite for smallmouth bass.
But here's the problem. Once when Dave's stock was depleted, I tried purchasing them from different sources and discovered that like gumbo, you never know what recipe you'll get with the Near Nuff Crawfish. In fact, most of the NNCs I got were just horrible - like gumbo made with hot dogs and a cauliflower roux. They didn't look anything like Dave's flies and fished like sh*t!
Then I saw Allen's version and tears came to my eyes! This was perfection... everything in it's right place and proportion. At one of the shows, I sat and watched Allen tie and it was an education even for an experienced tier like myself. Attention to every detail, and purpose for every material and how it adds to the effectiveness of this pattern.
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| Allen Rupp workshop at Classic |
The workshop we took last weekend lasted a full two hours but it seemed like it went all too fast. As Allen applied a material, I was able to recall what he showed me a year ago, and it made it easier for me to keep up. I think my Near Nuff came out pretty Near Nuff indeed. Check out the photo at the top. One is Allen's and the other is mine. There is one difference, and is the reason his rendition is better than mine. Can you see it?
There's a video on Allen tying the NNC on April Vokey's YouTube Channel. It's an hour and half long, and includes some fishing techniques mostly for trout fishing the fly.
Video: Allen Rupp tying the Near Nuff Crayfish
Most of my Coma Crawfish are tied in orange, tan or olive. These are colors of most crawfish I find in the primary areas I fish. I imagine I'll be tying NNCs in those colors as well. But just last month, I discovered a couple of deep blue crawfish near my dock. So maybe yet another species / color to consider?
Regardless of color, now that I'm able to reproduce this fly in quality and quantity, the basskeens - with mouths large or small - are in serious trouble!
