S7, Ep 44: The Wacky Weather Report: Fishing Tales and Tackle Tips with Brendan Ruch

In this episode of The Articulate Fly, host Marvin Cash is back with Brendan Ruch for another exciting Ruch Report. Brendan shares his latest fishing adventures, recounting a rollercoaster day on the water filled with unpredictable weather and some impressive catches. The duo dives into the intricacies of fishing under changing conditions, discussing the various techniques and strategies that proved successful during Brendan's outing.

As they prepare for an upcoming weather front, Brendan provides insights into how the shifting temperatures and water levels will impact fishing. He also addresses a listener's question about preferred knots for terminal tackle setups, explaining his choices for smallmouth fishing and the reasoning behind them. From perfection loops to blood knots, Brendan shares his expertise to help listeners refine their fishing techniques.

Listeners will also learn about Brendan's go-to leader formulas for topwater and streamer fishing, along with tips for adapting to different fishing scenarios. As summer approaches, Brendan discusses his availability for guided trips and the excitement of cicada fishing, inviting anglers to reach out for a chance to fish with him.

This episode is packed with valuable information and practical advice, making it a must-listen for anyone looking to enhance their smallmouth game this season.

To learn more about Brendan, check out our interview.

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Episode Transcript

(00:00):
Hey, folks, it's Marvin Cash,the host of the articulate Fly. And
we're back with another Ruchreport with the man himself, Brendan
Ruch. Brendan, how are you?
What up, dude? I'm doing well.Standing on a boat ramp right now.
Had kind of a wacky weatherday. It's windy. It was not windy.

(00:20):
It was cloudy. It was sunny.But we got some nice fish, and I
think all in all, it was worththe 12 hours.
Yeah, you. You sound hoppedup. It sounds like a mixture of Zyn
and honey bun.
Something like that.
Yeah. You got any, like,Reese's medallions thrown in there?
Fast break today.
There you go. So. So how areyou getting them today?

(00:44):
We went through probably 12different variations of nut jobs
like weight, color, size,flash, no flash. We fished top water
for a little while to no availand got a couple fish on. I got Justin
perbanic, like, circus peanut,suede tail, crayfish kind of thing.

(01:06):
Got it. And we were talkingbefore we started recording, and,
you know, we're getting readyto kind of get a front come through
the eastern United States. Andit looks like you're, you know, you've
already got a fair amount ofwater. You were telling me kind of
the. The bigger stuff's kindof blown out, but you're going to
get more rain and thetemperatures are going to be funky.
What do you expect to see onthe water?
Um, to be honest, I'mexpecting to see, like, good postpone

(01:28):
conditions. I'm glad it's notwarming up too quickly. We've had
some really good high watermaze in the past. It's been like,
probably four years, but,yeah, I'm. I'm looking forward to
it. I'm not scared of a littlecold weather, but it would be nice
to kind of spread out the raina little bit, if you know what anybody,
you know, that can help with that.

(01:49):
Yeah, there you go. Well, youknow, it's kind of comical you're
talking about it being cool. Imean, it's going to cool off here
in Charlotte, but we werealmost 90 degrees today.
Yeah. Yeah. It's been a wacky,wacky spring.
Yeah. So I got a question foryou from Andrew, and he wants to
get your thoughts on yourpreferred knots in your terminal
tackle setup. And I guesswe'll. Since it's smallmouth season,

(02:10):
we'll just tackle smallmouth.
So I'm doing, you know,perfection loop to the loop knot
or the. To the loop on theleader, and then I'm doing blood
knots from 30 pound to 25 to20 to 16. I'll go down to 12 and
10 in the summertime and thennon slip mono loop to the fly. I

(02:32):
guess with poppers, I'll dolike a clinch knot to the fly, but
most, most of the time it'sthe loop.
Yeah, got it. Any, any barrelswivels or anything like that?
No, man, I know how to tieknots. Come on.
Fair enough. And do you justkind of curious because I'm a, I'm
a double uni knot man. Anyreason why you prefer the blood knot

(02:52):
over the double uni knot?
Not really. I just, I wasdoing double uni with conventional
tackle a little bit growing upand for some reason I just started
doing a blood knot with thefly stuff and stuck to it.
You just have to be strangethat way, right?
Yeah, yeah.
And so in terms of, just tohelp people out kind of on your formula,

(03:14):
what's your kind of, you know,I guess we'll say, you know, why
don't you give us your kind ofratios on your typical top water
smallmouth leader and yourstreamer leader.
So I'm basically runningSchultz leader formulas. I've got
a lot of faith in that man. Sothere are videos on his YouTube,
but it's um, I believe hisfrog leader that I'm using is like

(03:38):
40 pound hard mono. Itypically use fluoro cause that's
just what I have. So I'll use40 pound, 30 pound to 20. Obviously
if we're fishing poppers andlike clear water, then I'm gonna
go down to like 12. And thenthe streamer leader side of things,
I'm gonna be doing a stiff 30like hatch fluoro leader material

(04:03):
to 25, a short section of 20.And then I've been using this Sunline
FC leader material in 16 poundand 12 pound. And I think that's
a, a good way to get a bunchof material that's high quality without
spending the money on thehatch stuff.
Got it. And you know folks, welove questions on the articulate
fly. You can email me or DM meon social media, whatever is easiest

(04:26):
for you. And if we use yourquestion, I will send you some articulate
fly swag. As I've startedsaying recently, that will probably
include a butcher sh stickeror two. And we're drawing for some
cool stuff from Brendan at theend of the season. And Brendan, before
I let you go, I know you'vegot a bunch of stuff you got to kind
of juggle around in yourcalendar from rained out days, but
you know, what is youravailability kind of sliding into

(04:47):
the front end of summer, Iwould say if.
Someone wants to go out, dosome popper fishing, maybe even some
cicada fishing, they can shootme an [e-mail]
or give me a call.215-837-6533. And yeah, I, I should
be able to fit you in. I gotsome sporadic days in July and a

(05:10):
good amount of availability inAugust if you want to do some.
Terrestrial fishing when the.When it's not humid at all. Right.
Yeah. Yeah.
Well, you know, for folks thatkind of want to follow your adventures.
Are you still doing Log Jamthis summer?
Yeah. Every Tuesday night,8:35ish, we'll be tying flies and

(05:32):
saying things we probablyshouldn't say in public.
There you go. Any other placesyour adoring fans can find you if
they can't fish with you orhang out with you on Log Jam?
Brendan Ruch on Instagram.Facebook is going to be Brendan Ruch
and Ruchangling. But, yeah,Instagram is definitely the most
active.
Yeah. Well, there you go,folks. As I always say, this time

(05:53):
of year, you owe it toyourself to get out there and catch
a few. Tight lines, everybody.Tight lines, Brendan.
Take care, guys. Thanks for listening.