S6, Ep 67: Low Water Challenges and Smallmouth Strategies with Brendan Ruch
Join host Marvin Cash on The Articulate Fly for another insightful Ruch Report with Brendan Ruch. Brendan shares his experiences and tips for fishing during the challenging heat waves in Central PA. He discusses the importance of fishing during the fringes of the day and how to adjust your casting techniques to avoid spooking fish in low, clear water conditions.
Brendan answers listener questions, including tips for catching fall fish and strategies for targeting smallmouth bass when water levels rise. He emphasizes the use of flies that push more water and those with rattles or flashy elements to attract fish in murky conditions.
Whether you're looking for expert advice on fishing in tough conditions or just want to hear some entertaining fishing stories, this episode is packed with valuable insights and tips to enhance your fishing experience.
To learn more about Brendan, check out our interview.
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Marvin: Hey folks, it's Marvin Cash, the host of the Articulate Fly,
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Marvin: and we're back with another Roosh Report with the man himself,
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Marvin: Brendan Roosh. How are you doing?
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Brendan: Doing well, Marvin. Thanks for having me back. How are you doing?
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Marvin: Oh, I'm just trying to stay out of trouble. And, you know, it's interesting.
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Marvin: We were talking before we started recording, and dude, it's going to be a roaster in central PA.
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Marvin: I mean, it's that bummer, right? The trout and the smallies are in the shade and you're in the sun.
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Brendan: Yeah it's definitely not the best time to be
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Brendan: on the water um during a heat wave under low water conditions things can get
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Brendan: pretty tough um if i if i weren't going to be in wisconsin i would definitely
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Brendan: be fishing the fringes like early morning and the evening for sure yeah.
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Marvin: And i guess if you're testing you've got low water you've got all kinds of problems
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Marvin: right because the fish are going to know you're there because you're pushing
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Marvin: a lot of water water's probably clear any tips for folks to kind of make those
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Marvin: issues go away a little bit.
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Brendan: Yeah i'd be very um aware of what your fly line is doing on the surface specifically
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Brendan: during like picking up for your next cast i see a lot of casts get picked up
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Brendan: and put down in the same spot in the summertime the low and clear and it just doesn't make much sense,
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Brendan: so you want to pick your cast up and then do a false cast or two to change your
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Brendan: angle and then just try to jump down 15 20 feet if you're if you're drifting
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Brendan: in a boat and if you're if you're wade fishing then you just want to strip in
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Brendan: or let your fly swing out before you cast again.
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Marvin: Got it and if the water's low does that mean you can't listen to music on the boat.
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Brendan: You know marvin if you can't listen to music on the boat i don't want to be out there so fair.
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Marvin: Enough uh well we got a couple questions for you right we've got our not serious
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Marvin: question from instagram dh and uh he wanted to get all of your tips on catching fall fish.
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Brendan: You know i've never targeted them personally but from a bycatch standpoint there
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Brendan: are some pretty predictable spots uh you're going to be looking at,
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Brendan: like runs after a riffle with some structure, basically trout water in a warm water fishery.
Speaker:
Brendan: And Graham actually caught an 18 incher about a month ago.
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Brendan: So I think he just, I think he's just flexing right now. He caught a pretty good one.
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Marvin: Yeah. So do we have to tell everybody that that was his fish that's been in the Instagram feed?
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Brendan: Yes. Yeah. That was, that was his, his fall fish. And yeah, I wanted to show
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Brendan: that off for him. He's a good guy, and it's good fall fish.
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Marvin: Yeah, did you take it home and smoke it and eat it?
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Brendan: No, we just ate it on the boat. I always carry soy sauce and wasabi.
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Marvin: I really never thought about the sashimi. You know, down in the South,
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Marvin: we just like grease and cornmeal, right?
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Brendan: Yeah, we try to spice things up a bit in central Pennsylvania.
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Marvin: Yeah, there you go. And then we got a question for you from John,
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Marvin: and he wanted to get your thoughts on the tactics that you recommend for smallmouth
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Marvin: when the water levels start to go up and the water gets a little bit of stain to it.
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Brendan: Yeah so if we're talking fishing on the greener side of brown water um like
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Brendan: not completely brown and with you know tons of debris um that's basically,
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Brendan: gonna be like the spring program and if you're fishing maybe like really on
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Brendan: the cusp of brown but there isn't a ton of debris like fishing flies that push a little bit more water,
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Brendan: So something that has maybe a little bit of flexible resin on the head of a
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Brendan: feather game changer, for instance.
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Brendan: Or like fishing a fly that has a rattle and something that is going to kind
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Brendan: of like glow a little bit, throw a little bit of light.
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Brendan: So that might be a time where I'm going to pick a flashier fly over some of
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Brendan: the more subdued flies that I typically fish in green water.
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Marvin: Got it. And so do you, would you still stay with like a light color fly or do
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Marvin: you like a darker fly for contrast in that situation?
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Brendan: Generally, if the water is dirty enough that I can't see the fly that I'm fishing
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Brendan: anyway, I'll, I'll go to like a black and olive or black chartreuse kind of
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Brendan: configuration or just straight black because it really doesn't matter.
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Brendan: But if you can get a couple feet of visibility,
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Brendan: then I'm going to be starting off with like some sort of yellow,
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Brendan: orange variation or pink, chartreuse, maybe straight white.
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Brendan: And then if that doesn't work, then yeah, black is always the second choice there.
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Marvin: There you go. And you know, folks, we love questions on the Articulate Fly.
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Marvin: You can email them to us. You can DM us on social media. And a relatively new
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Marvin: thing, if you go to our website, thearticulatefly.com, in the lower right-hand
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Marvin: corner on the podcast page, you can actually record your question.
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Marvin: And if you record it, we may actually use it and read it live on the report.
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Marvin: And if we use your question, I will send you some Articulate Fly swag.
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Marvin: And Brendan has pulled together some Roosh Report, or actually,
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Marvin: I guess, Roosh Fishing. You need to make maybe some Roosh Report coffee mugs or something.
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Marvin: But but ruch report swag some house
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Marvin: fly swag and some log jam swag and that's gonna be
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Marvin: a pretty cool pack so you know folks send us your
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Marvin: questions and before I forget to you guys if you if you're a new listener and
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Marvin: you like the podcast you know in the podcatcher of your choice you know please
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Marvin: you know give us a like and give us a review it really helps us out and Brendan
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Marvin: before I let you go and watch I think you're telling you're gonna go watch Joe
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Marvin: dirt tonight which I highly approve prove of.
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Marvin: You want to let folks know where they can find you so they can book in fish with you?
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Brendan: Yeah. ruchangling at gmail.com, ruchangling on Facebook, and Brendan Ruch on Instagram.
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Marvin: Well, there you go. Well, listen, folks, as I always say, you know,
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Marvin: stay cool, but you still owe it to yourself to get out there and catch a few.
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Marvin: Tight lines, everybody. Tight lines, Brendan.
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Brendan: Take care.
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