S7, Ep 48: The Ruch Report: Fishing Tips and Tales from the Turnpike!

In this episode of The Articulate Fly, host Marvin Cash reconnects with Brendan Ruch for another engaging Ruch Report. As he navigates the scenic mountains of West Virginia, Brendan shares his recent fishing experiences en route to pick up a new puppy. He discusses the surprising sight of fish on beds and the strategies that have been effective in the current high-water conditions.

Listeners will gain insights into the types of flies that are working well, including olive and black patterns with copper flash, and the importance of adapting to changing water temperatures as summer approaches. Brendan emphasizes the need for a low and slow approach, suggesting lightly weighted crayfish flies, and techniques for fishing topwater bugs.

The conversation also touches on cicadas and their impact on fishing, with Brendan sharing his thoughts on their current presence and effectiveness for carp. He addresses listener questions about topwater flies and offers practical tips for making the most of the upcoming summer season.

This episode is filled with valuable advice for anglers looking to enhance their skills and capitalize on the unique fishing opportunities that arise as summer unfolds.

To learn more about Brendan, check out our interview.

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Episode Transcript

(00:04):
Hey folks, it's Marvin Cash,the host of the Articulate Fly. We're
back with another Roosh reportwith the man himself, Brendan Ruch.
Brendan, how are you?
All good. We're on take twohere, belly full of cookout, winding
through the mountains of WestVirginia, heading to North Carolina
to pick up a little puppy dogwith Leslie. So, yeah, doing. Doing

(00:25):
well.
Yeah, there you go. You know,I'm just shocked you don't have great
Internet driving over the turnpike.
Yeah, it looks like I'mdriving through Jurassic park right
now down in West Virginia. Sothat's, it's a beautiful view, I
would imagine. Not the bestfor cell reception.
Yeah, so, you know, we weretalking in take one before you broke
up, that you're going to getrain kind of towards the end of this

(00:48):
week and so you're kind oflucky that you're not at home. But
why don't you let folks knowwhat you were seeing kind of before
you got out of town and whatyou expect when you get back after
the rain.
So I was fishing some droppingwater that was dropping into like
a great kind of like off greenclear color. I was a little surprised
to see fish on beds so late.I'm not sure, I mean they're, you

(01:11):
know, they spawn in waves, sojust a late wave that I saw. But
we were catching fish on midriver structure. You know you're
going to be fishing ledges,the rare mid river log, but fishing
the pretty standard stuff. Thesame thing as beginning of the season.
Like if it's green waterfishing either olive and black with

(01:37):
copper flash or pink, yellow,orange, any combo of the three and
then white with pearl fishthat a little bit this season. But
yeah. So we're still dealingwith higher flows right now, like
higher than average. And thebigger bodies of water are very,

(01:58):
very full. And we're going tobe getting more rain at the end of
this week. So we're getting arapid warm up, up to 90 degrees in
a couple days here. Fish in myexperience typically don't like that
high of a attempt swing. Sofishing might get a little harder.

(02:19):
I would say low and slow, longpauses, downsize the fly, maybe even
fish a little like lightlyweighted crayfish fly or fish with
circus peanut or not job likeit's a crayfish with just really
long pauses.
Got it. And got a question foryou from Alec. It's actually a two
parter and he's kind oflooking down the road into the summer.

(02:39):
He wanted to know if you fishany different. Top Water bugs other
than a bugle bug. And then youhad to clue me in on the cool kid
lingo. The second question is,are cicadas mid?
So yeah, I, I personally fisha lot of flies that are made of like
cork bodied. So in the ChuckCraft vein, I bought a lot of flies

(03:03):
from William Hresniak atEastern Trophies over the years.
And I have a friend namedJimmy G out of the Pittsburgh area
and he ties some really good,really unique cork bodied stuff.
And if I have someone that Iknow isn't going to be bouncing the
bug off the gun all the boat,then a lot of times my clients get

(03:25):
to fish them as well. Butyeah, that's, you know, those bugs
really aren't meant to chug ormove any water. It's just going to
be the splat. So you'repicking it up, bopping it down a
likely area and just kind ofletting that thing ride. Maybe giving
it a little lift of the rodtip just to create a little bit of
a wake. Or you can kind oflike twitch your rod tip to make

(03:46):
it look. If you've ever seen acicada on the water, you can kind
of twitch your rod tip and getthose like kind of waking movements.
It's a little bit faster of arhythm than your typical like, you
know, old Mr. Wiggly kind ofjust like wiggle those legs. So yeah,
I would say majority of my toparbor fishing is going to be Google

(04:07):
bugs. Some variation of aChuck Craft bug with a suede tail
and then your phone body ofFat Albert. Mr. Wiggly Stuff.
Yeah, we used to call the FatAlbert out of Montana the Hei Hei.
Right, exactly. And what aboutpart two of the question, are cicadas

(04:29):
middle?
I think, I think Alec is kindof trying to antagonize me there,
which I really just don'tappreciate. You know, he really comes
at me on these questions, butI don't think they're mid. It's just
I was pretty underwhelmed froma smallmouth perspective and I'm,

(04:49):
I'm not a carp aficionado atthe moment. So 2021, I feel like
to me that personally theywere a bit middle, but the carp guys
like had a field day withthose cicadas and they're having
a field day right now allacross the mid Atlantic and you know,
a little bit south of there.So to me personally, cicadas are

(05:10):
mid, but I know that theypresent some great carp opportunities.
Yeah, I know they've beentearing it up kind of down here.
And I guess you're probably, Idon't know, they're just starting
to show up kind of in Centralpa, right?
Yeah, I'm looking at thatCicada Safari app, and the numbers
are rapidly increasing by theday. So they're. They're popping.
Yeah. Well, there you go.Well, you know, folks, we love questions

(05:30):
on the articulate fly. You canemail me or DM me on social media,
whatever's easiest for you.And if I use your question, I will
send you some articulate flyswag, which, as I say, will probably
include a butcher shop stickeror two. And before I let you go,
Brendan, you keep. Every timeI talk to you, you seem to be guiding
deeper and deeper into theseason. You want to let folks know

(05:51):
kind of how to get in touchand what you've got available and
all that kind of good stuff.
Yeah, I've got a handful ofdays in the second half of June available,
maybe two days in July. And wecan, we can talk about the rest of
the year. Just reach out. Wecan fish some cork bugs, fish some.
Some bait fish stuff closer tothe fall. But yeah, I'm going to

(06:13):
be working around the guidingschedule with the electrical job,
so if you want to get out, wecan get out and have a good time.
Well, there you go. Well,folks, this time of year, as I always
say, yo it yourself to get outthere and catch a few tight lines,
everybody. Tight lines, Brendan.
Take care, Marvin. Thanks forlistening, guys.