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

Join Marvin Cash on The Articulate Fly fishing podcast for another essential Ruch Report with smallmouth bass guide Brendan Ruch, fresh from successful trips to Michigan waters with Schultz Outfitters and western Pennsylvania streams.

Despite challenging mid-Atlantic conditions with high, dirty water disrupting traditional topwater fishing, Brendan shares proven strategies for adapting to stained water conditions using copper flash patterns, tan and olive brown crayfish imitations and downsized presentations on slower flats.

Learn critical hook removal techniques for tongue-hooked smallmouth bass, including the proper hemostat method that significantly reduces bleeding and improves fish survival compared to hand removal.

Brendan reveals why copper flash outperforms pearl in stained water, how to adjust your pre-spawn Nut Job patterns for varying flow conditions and tactical approaches for fishing both flats and faster water when visibility is compromised.

This timely summer fishing report provides actionable insights for smallmouth anglers dealing with fluctuating water levels and challenging conditions, plus essential fish care techniques that every responsible angler should master for successful catch and release.

To learn more about Brendan, check out our interview.

Related Content

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S7, Ep 40 - Exploring the Carp Game: Techniques and Tales with Corey Haselhuhn of Schultz Outfitters

S6, Ep 112 - Smallmouth Transitions and Musky Prep: Matt Reilly's Southwest VA Update

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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?
Oh, I'm doing well, Marvin.How are you doing?
Just trying to stay cool andout of trouble, you know, since we
last spoke. How many oilchanges have you had to put on the
truck?
I'm getting close. Gettingclose for sure. But, yeah, I'm not

(00:27):
staying cool or out oftrouble, unfortunately.
Yeah. You've been up inMichigan, you were fishing with the
boys at Schultz Outfitters andall kinds of other adventures too,
right?
Yeah, yeah. Had a, A westernPA Trip with some friends out there
and then boogied over toMichigan to fish with Nick, Jake
and the rest of the crew.Yeah, that was, that was a great

(00:48):
time. Got to see some newwater to me and got to help those
guys out and doing some prefishing before a couple weeks of
guiding and some little bitdifferent water than their usual
program. So it was, it was alot of fun. Great to see those guys
and cool to see, I don't know,some, some fish eating Bugles, which
is nice.
Yeah. And, you know, kind offunny too, right? Because you kind

(01:09):
of. You missed this kind of.The refrain in the mid Atlantic on
the smallmouth front seems tobe high, dirty water that's kind
of wrecking top water fishing, right.
Yeah, I mean, I'm just likecalling it and going other places,
honestly. But the water'sfairly stained today and fish are
still coming up. Um, we've hada, A pretty good top water day today,

(01:29):
but. Yeah, I mean, there'sjust been like crazy bumps. Uh, it
seems like every time I have ablock 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 thefish are still eating when the, when
the stars align and there'sgood fishable flows.
Yeah. And so when it's highand they're kind of a little bit

(01:51):
off the top water bite. Areyou kind of going back to your advice
you've given in previousepisodes of throwing kind of your
pre spawn nut jobs?
Yeah. In the right water. Istill like, if, if you're fishing
like slower flats and stufflike that, I'll size down just a
little bit, maybe like ifit's, if it's super stained. I think
copper flash helps a lot. Idon't rely on pearl as much and like

(02:13):
super stained water, butcopper or any of the reflector flashes,
tan or olive brown seem towork pretty well. In getting the
fish's attention and. And thenjust like smaller, like crayfish
style stuff. And, you know,you fishing them like a bait fish
or a crayfish, so who knowswhat they think it is. But yeah,
fishing the flats with thatkind of stuff. And then faster water.

(02:35):
I'll fish that pre spawn stuff.
Got it. And so if your flowshave been oscillating up and down,
is that kind of what's makingthe bite funky and not so much like
dirty, stained, fast water?
No, I think the fish are. Thefish 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.

(02:57):
So your karma's off?
Yeah, something's off. Goodthings are happening elsewhere in
life, but karma's definitelyoff here.
Well, there you go. Well, Ihave a question for you from Ed.
And, you know, I don't thinkEd's asked you a question before.
He's asked tons of smallmouthquestions on other episodes of the,
of the podcast. But he had theunfortunate situation of hooking
a small mouth last week, andhe hooked it near its tongue. And

(03:21):
when he got the hook out, itwas bleeding really, really badly.
And so he was looking foradvice about, you know, what do you
do in those situations? Do youjust 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, youknow, maximize the survival of the
bass in a situation like that?

(03:41):
So I have no scientificevidence, and I rarely have soda
on the boat or pop if you'refrom the Midwest. But I have seen
people do the Coke trick, andit's a temporary clot. I personally
prefer to get the fish back inthe water as soon as possible just
so they're not, like, pumpingblood, you know, like, it seems to

(04:02):
clot a little bit quicker ifthey're submerged. But one tip I
have for tongue hookings islike, like, you know, it's not like
a gill thing where you'regonna go through the gills and get
it off clean like that. Butfor a while, like myself and people
in the boat, whether it'sclients or, you know, other anglers
I'm fishing with, like, Iwould see them try to get a tongue

(04:24):
hook popper out or stream orwhatever out with their fingers.
And it seems like the successrate is much higher if you just get
a pair of hemostats and get usright in that bend of the hook and
then kind of sweep it up, youknow, if you have a B10s or something.
Just sweep it up a little bitdifferently, like a stinger hook.
But it seems like the fishbleed a lot less when you go straight

(04:45):
out of that, you know, thatinsertion point. But yeah, so that,
that's my recommendation.Don't mess around doing it with your
fingers. Just do the rightthing. Grab your hemostats, get it
out that way, and then get thefish back in the water as soon as
possible.
Got it? So basically whatyou're saying is take your hemostats
and kind of grab that, like,right at the bend and push it out

(05:07):
the way it came, right?
Yeah, yeah. And it's, it's sosimple, but I think, I don't know,
it's kind of like an instinctto 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, Imean, I've just seen a lot of gushers
with the hand method, and I'm100% hemostat now.

(05:27):
Well, there you go. Well,folks, you know, we love questions
on the articulate fly. You canemail me or DM me on social media,
whatever is easiest for you.And if we use your question, I will
send you some articulateflying butcher shop stickers. And
we are drawing for some coolrouge angling stuff at the end of
the season. And as we headdeeper into the dog days of summer,
Brendan, you want to let folksknow how they can find you and come

(05:47):
sweat on the boat and watchtheir Reese's medallions melt?
Yeah, you can reach out atBrendanrous on Instagram, Facebook,
Rooshangling, or Brendan Rooshand Rouge anglingmail.com. yeah,
if you want to get out, reachout and we can, we can make something
work.
Yeah. Well, there you go.Well, folks, as always say this time

(06:08):
of year, first of all, staycool, but show it yourself to get
out there and catch a fewtight lines, everybody. Tight lines,
Brendan.
Take care, Marvin. See youguys. Thanks for listening.