S7, Ep 51: The Art of Adaptation: Embracing Summer Fishing Challenges with Mac Brown

In this episode of Casting Angles, host Marvin Cash is joined by Mac Brown to tackle the unique challenges of summer fishing. They discuss how to adapt to changing conditions, share practical tips for improving casting, line control, and knot tying, and explore alternative species to target when trout fishing gets tough. Whether you’re a seasoned angler or just starting out, you’ll find actionable advice to make the most of your time on the water this summer.

Marvin Cash00:00:00

Hey, folks, it's Marvin Cash, the host of the Articulate Fly. We're back with another Casting Angles with Mack Brown. Mac, how are you?

Mac Brown00:00:11

I'm doing great. How you doing, Marvin?

Marvin Cash00:00:13

As always. Just trying to stay out of trouble. And, you know, it's kind of funny.I think the last time we talked, it was still kind of cool and nice and we were all hopeful for kind of a longer trout season.And, you know, it's raining where you are, but I mean, it's what it's been in the 90s down here in the Piedmont for, I don't know, the last week to 10 days. So we're getting ready to trudge right into the dog days of summer, I think.

Mac Brown00:00:33

Oh, yeah, I think we are too. It's. We've been blessed with rain pretty much every day. And yeah, we went straight from that cold weather to rain and more rain.So the water's pretty much high and dirty right now here.

Marvin Cash00:00:48

Yeah, I mean, I guess, I guess. Is it. I guess was it last weekend that DH burned off or is it next weekend?

Mac Brown00:00:57

What is today? Yeah, it was Saturday. Yeah, it opened up this past Saturday. I'm sorry. I went by there actually an afternoon. It was.It was pretty chaotic there in the morning.

Marvin Cash00:01:07

Yeah, I mean, but you know, we were.We figured it'd be a good thing to talk about how, you know, obviously if you're going to fish for trout, it's going to get harder as the summer goes on. You can always go chase panfish and bass. But, you know, one of the things to kind of always remember is that it's really not all about catching fish.And there are all kinds of things you can work on when the fishing is not optimal, like it is in the fall or the spring, that will make you a better angler in general when the conditions improve.

Mac Brown00:01:33

That's right. Yeah. Just looking at the. Looking at a lot of the skill sets that you need for when it is good.I mean, I think you could even do a lot of these classes and things for skill set based kind of education in the middle of September and August when it's hot, you know, for trout, just because teaching them, you know, like the core components of casting and line control, hook set, playing fish, landing fish. That's what we call the five components.Always over the years and teaching the classes at Western and even with like the Team USA kids, we talk about that always with the clinics, you could teach those. Those things regardless of what the weather is or how good or bad it is.So then you start Looking into those things and, and, and just the little wins, like, you know, catching panfish in the heat of the summer for warm water fish, you know, you still got like cast and drift and what if they can't tie a knot and they learn a new knot? What if they have. I mean, it just goes on and on and on, as you know. So there's a lot of wins with that. It has nothing to do with, you know.Did you catch the big one, Marvin, for Instagram? Yeah.

Marvin Cash00:02:43

I mean, so much of it is process. Right.And so I kind of think about that sort of stuff in terms of, you know, you kind of want to come up and you can kind of, you know, modify your gear configuration, you know, as you go along, but you kind of want like your nippers in the same place every time and things like that so that you don't waste time when you're on the water. I mean, that's a, that's a huge thing that you can work on. You know, as you mentioned, you can work on knots. Knots is a big deal.And you can tie those at home even when you're not on the water.But you know, also too, just that process when you get to the water about, know, observing and fishing, you know, if you're fishing upstream, you're going to fish close to far and back to front and things like that.

Mac Brown00:03:20

Oh yeah, yeah, that's right.And just there's so many of those things that it really makes up the, you know, when you add all those little things up, it kind of makes up the big full picture.And in a way that's a, that's a, that's a lot of the fun part of the beauty of the, I guess, of the sport, you know, the lot of the mystique to people that are new. But it's not really that much mystique, is it? Once you get into it and are doing it some. And also it's good time. Marvin too.I meant to say this to you before we started about a shout out for. To Michael, Michael Bradley and Team USA for their, you know, he took third in the world last week in Czech Republic.That just happened last week since we spoke. And then Team USA took third over there in the Czech Republic too.

Marvin Cash00:04:10

Yeah, that's super cool.I saw his post on, I think it was on Facebook where he was holding the trophy up and about how proud he was not just for himself but, you know, for all the people that have supported him in his competitive fishing journey.

Mac Brown00:04:22

Yeah, that was a, that was a cool thing. I mean, he's. He's been on a roll for a long time and it's starting to really, you know, pay off for him, too. So I think that's really a.So it's a really cool journey to see. See how it's all coming to. Coming to fruition for them.

Marvin Cash00:04:40

Yeah, absolutely. You know, to kind of come back to what we were talking about before, too.You know, one of the great things is if you, if you're traditionally a trout angler on the fly, if you go chase other species on the fly during the summer, it's going to make you a better trout angler.And this goes back to Matt, kind of what you were talking about earlier and, you know, a kind of a talk that I've done at the fly fishing show and other places about trout food. And you. And you just change the fish name. Right. And.And you start out that it's really, you know, what's the forage doing, what are the conditions and what's the fish doing? And then you basically incorporate that. And that'll make you more successful over time.

Mac Brown00:05:14

That's right. Yeah. We're looking for the cicada. I mean, we're. We're hoping to find some cicada hatches this summer again and chase some grass carp.That's what I'm looking to do mostly in the middle of summer. As far as for around here, I'm. I'm probably going to head out west for a little bit just for some R and R and vacation time with the kids and.But when we're here, that's what I'm going to look at. Chasing more is carp.

Marvin Cash00:05:41

Yeah, I had some, some friends of the podcast. They were actually in Madison, North Carolina, and they said the cicadas were everywhere.

Mac Brown00:05:48

Oh, wait a minute. Where's. I was thinking Madison County. Now, where is Madison, North Carolina, Marvin?

Marvin Cash00:05:55

It's in your neck of the woods. It's somewhere in western North Carolina.

Mac Brown00:05:59

It must be the county then. Cause Madison's what I grew up next to in Greenville, Tennessee. Madison county would be Hot Springs and the Laurel, you know, west of Asheville.I'm wondering if that's it. Yeah, I have to find that out because that'd be good to know. Some reason we always get missed. You always see these things on the Internet.And I made a post last year of the cicadas at a big elm tree that was right next to our front yard. My aunt took and sent to us. And there was literally millions of cicadas. So many cicadas, you Couldn't even see a blade of grass.That's how big it is in the Ozarks of Missouri. And here they talk about it and you'll hear like one the whole season.When it's supposed to be epic, we'll hear one or two and it's like never see one. But we just don't have them, like for some reason.Swain county, next to the national park where I live, we always get, you know, disappointment when they talk about the bid at big, epic Cicada Hatch, because it's nothing like the years when I worked New Zealand, like where you see them everywhere. Like here there's just. They're very, very sparse here. There's other places that do much better with them, for sure.But the hatch here has never really happened since 85, that I've seen lots of them, you know.

Marvin Cash00:07:08

Yeah, and you were mentioning too, before we started recording that you're getting ready to launch your wet fly class with Davey Watten later in the fall. Right?

Mac Brown00:07:18

Yeah, I'm going to put that.I'm thinking that'll be a project later this week to get that put out there and get it marketed and start putting it up there, sharing it and that kind of good stuff. So, yeah, we're excited to. To head down there and you know, that's where I first flew a fly in a river. That's the first river I ever put a fly in.When I was little, my granddaddy had a house there next to Flippin in a little town called Oakland, Arkansas. And yeah, so we've been going there really a big part of my growing up years, you know.And then it's funny, going back there a lot as an adult brings back a lot of memories.

Marvin Cash00:07:56

Yeah, absolutely. Do you have the dates so people can kind of keep them in the back of their mind and look for the social media posts and stuff on your website?

Mac Brown00:08:03

Yeah, I've thought the dates on the site underneath specialty classes. I don't know them on the top of my head.I really don't because there's so many other schools and casting schools and other schools going on this fall. But they can find it out there and I'm sure it'll be. It'll be out on Instagram, Facebook and all that good stuff later in the week.

Marvin Cash00:08:23

Got it. And of course, you know, as you mentioned, no classes until the fall. But you are guiding and you've got folks that guide for you as well.If you're booked, you want to let folks know kind of how to reach out, find you and all that kind of good stuff.

Mac Brown00:08:35

Yeah, sure. The. The easiest way is just hit the website MacBrownFlyfish.com and that works best.Sometimes I'll find a, you know, a post that somebody that I didn't know messaged me on Facebook from three months ago. I don't look at that stuff very often on social media, so best way to do it, it's like either call me, text me, or send an email.But a lot of these different things like LinkedIn messages and Instagram messages, just too much overwhelming to try to look at all that stuff all the time. I don't look at it much. So definitely email or text or. Or call, you know?

Marvin Cash00:09:10

Yeah. How do you feel about carrier pigeons?

Mac Brown00:09:14

Go back to them, maybe. Maybe that way you'd know. Hey, I got a message. You know, that might be a good thing. Marvin.

Marvin Cash00:09:20

Yeah. What's your ham radio call sign? Maybe people can hit you up that way.

Mac Brown00:09:23

Oh, yeah. You catch me on the radio. We've been doing a lot of HF at night. Hey, it's Alpha India 4 Juliet Lima's my ham call sign.

Marvin Cash00:09:31

Well, there you go, folks. Well, you know, as I say, this time of year, you owe it to yourself to get out there and catch a few tight lines, everybody. Tight lines, Mac.

Mac Brown00:09:39

Tight lines. Marvin.