S7, Ep 52: The Summer Shift: Adapting Your Fly Game with Brendan Ruch

In this episode of The Articulate Fly, host Marvin Cash is back with Brendan Ruch for the latest Ruch Report. As summer heats up, Brendan shares his insights on adapting smallmouth strategies, particularly focusing on topwater techniques and the importance of scaling down baitfish sizes for summer flows.

Listeners will learn about the effectiveness of using smaller, slim-profile baitfish flies and the benefits of experimenting with larger flies in faster water. Brendan emphasizes that anglers shouldn't shy away from using five-inch flies, especially in high-gradient rivers, while also discussing his preferred methods for fishing topwater, including creating a wake with various poppers.

The conversation also dives into Brendan's recent research and development efforts, including a new single hook version of the popular Nut Job. He shares tips on tying and fishing this innovative pattern, which has been performing well even in challenging conditions.

This episode is filled with practical advice and engaging discussions that will inspire anglers to make the most of their summer fishing adventures.

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 Ruch Reportwith the man himself, Brendan Ruch.
Brendan, how are you?
I'm good. Been riding thebench, looking at the gauges, rescheduling
trips and pulling wires. Howare you doing?
Yeah, I. It's hot down here.You know, we've been getting a lot

(00:25):
of rain. We haven't gotten asmuch as you have, but I was talking
to some other folks in PA lastweek and it sounds like not a lot
of people are doing a lot offishing right now.
Yeah, I think it can be doneespecially on the, the cicada pond
side of things. Been seeing alot of people getting, getting carp,

(00:47):
cicada fishing, like lakes andstuff like that in the zone. But
yeah, as far as the Smalleyriver fishing goes, pretty much everything's
been blown or like fishablefor a day or two and then blown again
for the last month and a half.
Yeah, it doesn't sound likemuch fun, but you wanted to talk
about, and this is kind ofseasonal anyway, is to kind of talk

(01:09):
a little bit about, you know,your top water fishing as we kind
of move into summer, but alsohow you like to kind of scale down
your bait fish as you moveinto summer flows.
Yeah, so where I'm fishing,you know, it's been said before,
but I'm going to scale down tomaybe like a 2 1/2, 3 inch slim profile

(01:30):
bait fish fly. I don't haveany hard and fast rules on like flashing
the sun, flashing overcast.I'm pretty much going to be changing
that throughout bite windowsto see what when I can get a fish
to react. When I'm fishing topwater, it's going to be Mr. Wiggly

(01:55):
style pretty much all thetime, even with boogal bugs and cork
bugs and things like that. Butwhat I kind of wanted to talk about
was how people who have theluxury of having smallmouth and faster
water, higher gradient rivers,don't be afraid to fish your 5 inch

(02:16):
flies. Your, your pre spawnbox could be your summer box also,
especially if you haveslightly green water. But in my experience
of fishing a decent amount ofdifferent water over the years, I
will typically start out withmy south central giant spring creek

(02:39):
basically that I fish. Youknow, it's very low gradient, slow
and can get super clear. SoI'm, I'm gonna start scaled down
and the guy in front of me orbehind me on the boat's fishing like
a 5 inch fly and I'm like, oh,that's interesting. And then we're
catching the same amount offish and theirs might be bigger,
whatever, but if you're inthat faster water, obviously you

(03:02):
have to pick your shotsbecause fish are gonna be not quite
as spread out as I'm used to.So fishing like upstream side of
ledges and boulders and thepushes on the upstream sides of that,
maybe even in the, thedownstream side, but the opportunistic
fish are going to be on thatupstream side. But yeah, it's like
just try fishing big stuffthis summer. I think it's, it's beaten

(03:27):
through our heads so much thatlike you have to fish like a micro
finesse changer or a downsizedmerged minnow. Um, at least it's
been beaten into my head andI've beaten it into my own head and
my client's head. But itdoesn't have to be micro all the
time. So if you're fishingfaster water, give the bigger bugs

(03:49):
a shot and maybe you're,you're like, wait, I don't even downsize
all summer. What are youtalking about? Well, good for you
because I wish I, I wish I hadthat luxury. But same thing kind
of goes for poppers. So like Iwas saying, um, I'm usually trying
to create a little wake andquote unquote bend the legs when
I'm fishing top water. Itdoesn't matter if it's cork balsa

(04:12):
foam. That's pretty much howI'm getting fish to eat all summer
long. Um, but if you're in thefaster water sections, you got like
a shallow flat with some goodcurrent like you can some of the
rivers I fish, even in pa, youcan really pop those things all summer
long. And as long as thosefish are in a bite window, you're

(04:32):
going to get fish to react.And sometimes you can get some crazy
eats out of the fast, faster water.
Very neat. And got a questionfor you too from Samurai Flies. And
he wanted to get to know ifyou have any R and D for tires.
Have I mentioned the singlenut job that I've been fishing?
I don't think you have.

(04:54):
So I've sent pictures andrecipes to a bunch of people who
I know have been tying andfishing the nut job with success.
But back in March, I startedmessing around with a smaller single
hook version because I knewthe time would come eventually to
kind of scale down and getaway from like the five and a half
inch fly. So it's, it startedout as normal, like cut tail shank

(05:22):
with a 15 mil shank. That hasjust chenille, whether it's finesse
or the seno satin chenille.And then the regular front hook setup.
So it's going to be shankshank, 6 mil bead maxima, 25 or 30
pound chameleon for theconnection. And then like a size

(05:44):
1 Trout Predator or size 2B10s has been good. And you can mess
around with. You can put a 10mil shank in between the tail shank
and the front hook, but it'svery fluky. I was really surprised
with how well that thingmoves. It might even move better
than the double. And yeah, Iwas catching fish on it back in March

(06:10):
and just kind of like workedit into the program, you know, as
needed. When, you know, fishweren't responding to the bigger
fly, it seemed like they wouldrespond immediately to that like
3 1/2 inch fly. I'm stilldoing a pretty long tail, but it
doesn't have to be like thefull two inches that I preach on
the, on the full size version.So you can go like inch and a half

(06:31):
and you're still gonna getlike a good wag and kick. But it,
it seems like the, the beadshave much more of an effect like
the tungsten beads. So I'vejust been doing the old fashioned
like keel as needed, which isnot something I typically do. I think
I've talked about that before,but craft fair sinks pretty well.

(06:52):
And I'm not tying the chenillevery dense. So heel as needed. Bring
some like 025030 lead on theboat with you and just wrap it on
the hook. Throw some superglue on it or resin if you're crazy.
But yeah. And I also have tiedsome inverted versions of that same
exact setup with the likeSchultz woodsman set up on the shank

(07:18):
or on the front hook rather.So you got like a 26 degree trout
predator. Try to air on thebottom side of the shank for all
the materials. So you're tyinga little bit heavier on the bottom
of the shank than you are onthe top of the shank just to get
that natural flip. And thenyou can go with a bead and a scud
weight. And that thingdefinitely jigs really well. And

(07:42):
I was dragging it around. Ihaven't fished that one a ton, but
I was dragging it around withAustin just trying to get hung up.
And it did not get hung up onthe gravel flat or the. Not gravel
flat, the cobble flat. I wasfishing with Austin on the new. So
more work to be done on that.But The. The regular single has been
fishing really, really well.And I heard Nick Meinsinger even

(08:05):
call that his fly of theseason in a presentation last weekend
at Schultz Outfitters. SoInteresting stuff.
Yeah, there you go. And, youknow, if folks want to get. Get more
information, should they reachout to you or you got to post somewhere
on the Internet or you got avideo, anything good like that, that's.
Still living on my phone. Soyou can reach out to. To Brendan

(08:27):
Ro on Instagram, Brendan Roushon Facebook, or Ro angling on Facebook
for that. Um, I've gotpictures and formulas already written
out. So if you listen to thisand you want to fish it, just reach
out and have some fun fishing.A little bit smaller fly that kicks
around pretty good.
Yeah, there you go. And youknow, we love questions on the articulate
fly. We're in the home stretchbecause, you know, Brendan, even

(08:50):
though he's like his seasonkeeps creeping out, I don't think
I'm going to interview him intwo weeks and have him tell me he's
going to be guiding in August.And so we're getting kind of close
to the end of the road forsummer fishing. And so, you know,
we'll be drawing here probablysometime towards the end of June,
maybe middle, middle of July.So if you want to have a chance to
win, cool. Brennan Roosh swag.You need to get your questions in.

(09:12):
And you gave everybody yourcontact information, Brendan. But
you know, when the waterdrops, you want to let folks kind
of know, you know, what youhave available and all that kind
of good stuff.
Yeah, I've got handful of daysat the end of the month. I think
two days at the end of June,and then I will. We can talk trips

(09:34):
August in the fall, if itworks out. It works out. And we can
get on some. Some bug fish.
Well, there you go. Well, youknow, folks, as I always say, this
time of year, yo to yourselfto get out there and catch a few
tight lines, everybody. Tightlines. Brendan.
Go wet a line, folks.
There you go.