S7, Ep 67: Chasing Smallmouth: High Water Strategies with Brendan Ruch

EPISODE SUMMARY

Guest: Brendan Ruch - Professional Guide at Ruch Angling (Mid-Atlantic)

In this episode: Professional guide Brendan Ruch shares smallmouth bass strategies for challenging high water conditions and critical fish care techniques for Mid-Atlantic anglers. Topics include stained water tactics, Michigan fishing insights and proper hook removal protocols.

Key fishing techniques covered: • Copper flash streamers in stained water • Pre-spawn crayfish patterns in slower flats • Sizing down flies for off-color conditions • Hemostat hook removal technique • Topwater fishing in variable flows

Location focus: Mid-Atlantic rivers, Michigan waters, Western Pennsylvania

Target species: Smallmouth bass

Equipment discussed: Hemostats, copper flash flies, crayfish patterns, poppers, streamers

Key questions answered: • How to fish high stained water for smallmouth • What flash colors work in off-color conditions • How to properly remove tongue hooks from bass

Best for: Intermediate to advanced anglers interested in smallmouth bass strategies and fish care techniques

Marvin Cash00:00:04

Hey, folks, it's Marvin Cash, the host of the Articulate Fly. We're back with another Roosh report with the man himself, Brendan Ruch. Brendan, how are you?

Brendan Ruch00:00:11

Oh, I'm doing well, Marvin. How are you doing?

Marvin Cash00:00:14

Just trying to stay cool and out of trouble, you know, since we last spoke. How many oil changes have you had to put on the truck?

Brendan Ruch00:00:22

I'm getting close. Getting close for sure. But, yeah, I'm not staying cool or out of trouble, unfortunately.

Marvin Cash00:00:30

Yeah. You've been up in Michigan, you were fishing with the boys at Schultz Outfitters and all kinds of other adventures too, right?

Brendan Ruch00:00:36

Yeah, yeah. Had a, A western PA Trip with some friends out there and then boogied over to Michigan to fish with Nick, Jake and the rest of the crew.Yeah, that was, that was a great time.Got to see some new water to me and got to help those guys out and doing some pre fishing before a couple weeks of guiding and some little bit different water than their usual program. So it was, it was a lot of fun. Great to see those guys and cool to see, I don't know, some, some fish eating Bugles, which is nice.

Marvin Cash00:01:06

Yeah. And, you know, kind of funny too, right? Because you kind of. You missed this kind of.The refrain in the mid Atlantic on the smallmouth front seems to be high, dirty water that's kind of wrecking top water fishing, right.

Brendan Ruch00:01:18

Yeah, I mean, I'm just like calling it and going other places, honestly. But the water's fairly stained today and fish are still coming up. Um, we've had a, A pretty good top water day today, but.Yeah, I mean, there's just been like crazy bumps. Uh, it seems like every time I have a block of trips booked, I come back and river's blown out. So.Yeah, just not great luck this season as far as that goes. But the fish are still eating when the, when the stars align and there's good fishable flows.

Marvin Cash00:01:49

Yeah. And so when it's high and they're kind of a little bit off the top water bite.Are you kind of going back to your advice you've given in previous episodes of throwing kind of your pre spawn nut jobs?

Brendan Ruch00:01:59

Yeah. In the right water.I still like, if, if you're fishing like slower flats and stuff like that, I'll size down just a little bit, maybe like if it's, if it's super stained. I think copper flash helps a lot.I don't rely on pearl as much and like super stained water, but copper or any of the reflector flashes, tan or olive brown seem to work pretty well. In getting the fish's attention and. And then just like smaller, like crayfish style stuff.And, you know, you fishing them like a bait fish or a crayfish, so who knows what they think it is. But yeah, fishing the flats with that kind of stuff. And then faster water. I'll fish that pre spawn stuff.

Marvin Cash00:02:37

Got it. And so if your flows have been oscillating up and down, is that kind of what's making the bite funky and not so much like dirty, stained, fast water?

Brendan Ruch00:02:46

No, I think the fish are. The fish are happy when the conditions are right. It's just these, like, oddly timed storms. I just can't seem to hit it right. All the other plans.

Marvin Cash00:02:57

So your karma's off?

Brendan Ruch00:02:59

Yeah, something's off. Good things are happening elsewhere in life, but karma's definitely off here.

Marvin Cash00:03:04

Well, there you go. Well, I have a question for you from Ed. And, you know, I don't think Ed's asked you a question before.He's asked tons of smallmouth questions on other episodes of the, of the podcast. But he had the unfortunate situation of hooking a small mouth last week, and he hooked it near its tongue.And when he got the hook out, it was bleeding really, really badly. And so he was looking for advice about, you know, what do you do in those situations? Do you just cut the fly off, you know?You know, do you release the fish? Do you do the Coca Cola trick? Like, what are the tips to, you know, maximize the survival of the bass in a situation like that?

Brendan Ruch00:03:41

So I have no scientific evidence, and I rarely have soda on the boat or pop if you're from the Midwest. But I have seen people do the Coke trick, and it's a temporary clot.I personally prefer to get the fish back in the water as soon as possible just so they're not, like, pumping blood, you know, like, it seems to clot a little bit quicker if they're submerged.But one tip I have for tongue hookings is like, like, you know, it's not like a gill thing where you're gonna go through the gills and get it off clean like that.But for a while, like myself and people in the boat, whether it's clients or, you know, other anglers I'm fishing with, like, I would see them try to get a tongue hook popper out or stream or whatever out with their fingers.And it seems like the success rate is much higher if you just get a pair of hemostats and get us right in that bend of the hook and then kind of sweep it up, you know, if you have a B10s or something. Just sweep it up a little bit differently, like a stinger hook.But it seems like the fish bleed a lot less when you go straight out of that, you know, that insertion point. But yeah, so that, that's my recommendation. Don't mess around doing it with your fingers. Just do the right thing.Grab your hemostats, get it out that way, and then get the fish back in the water as soon as possible.

Marvin Cash00:05:01

Got it? So basically what you're saying is take your hemostats and kind of grab that, like, right at the bend and push it out the way it came, right?

Brendan Ruch00:05:08

Yeah, yeah. And it's, it's so simple, but I think, I don't know, it's kind of like an instinct to just like, oh, I, I, I can see it. I can get my thumb on it.I'm just gonna push on the eye of the hook. Um, but yeah, I mean, I've just seen a lot of gushers with the hand method, and I'm 100% hemostat now.

Marvin Cash00:05:27

Well, there you go. Well, folks, you know, we love questions on the articulate fly. You can email me or DM me on social media, whatever is easiest for you.And if we use your question, I will send you some articulate flying butcher shop stickers. And we are drawing for some cool rouge angling stuff at the end of the season.And as we head deeper into the dog days of summer, Brendan, you want to let folks know how they can find you and come sweat on the boat and watch their Reese's medallions melt?

Brendan Ruch00:05:53

Yeah, you can reach out at Brendanrous on Instagram, Facebook, Rooshangling, or Brendan Roosh and Rouge anglingmail.com. yeah, if you want to get out, reach out and we can, we can make something work.

Marvin Cash00:06:06

Yeah. Well, there you go.Well, folks, as always say this time of year, first of all, stay cool, but show it yourself to get out there and catch a few tight lines, everybody. Tight lines, Brendan.

Brendan Ruch00:06:15

Take care, Marvin. See you guys. Thanks for listening.