S7, Ep 74: Beyond the Popper: Subsurface Strategies with Brendan Ruch

Join Marvin Cash on The Articulate Fly for another insightful Ruch Report with Pennsylvania guide Brendan Ruch, who shares expert techniques for challenging summer fishing conditions.

With waters running low and clear across PA, Ruch reveals why subtle surface presentations are outfishing aggressive popper techniques, demonstrating Matt Miles' proven method of creating slack movement that mimics injured insects without spooking selective fish.

Learn specific cicada shimmy strategies that trigger strikes when fish are being "sippy" and discover Ruch's go-to subsurface patterns including the Single Nut Job on size 2 hooks and MFC's mini-Sex Dungeon in olive and tan colorations that are producing consistent results. Ruch provides detailed sizing and weight specifications for these productive smallmouth patterns while explaining how to adapt your approach when fishing pressure increases in limited access areas.

Whether you're dealing with similar low water conditions or looking to refine your surface fishing techniques, this episode delivers actionable insights from a guide who's consistently putting clients on fish during tough summer conditions.

To learn more about Brendan, check out our interview.

Related Content

S6, Ep 41 - Smallmouth Secrets and Streamer Savvy with Brendan Ruch

S7, Ep 57 - Cicada Mania: Central PA Fishing Insights with George Costa

S7, Ep 70 - The Dog Days of Summer: Trico Tactics in Central PA with George Costa

S7, Ep 50 - The Art of the Follow: Streamer Strategies and Fishing Tales from East Tennessee

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Episode Transcript

(00:00):
Foreign.
Hey, folks, it's Marvin Cash,the host of the Articulate Fly.
We're back with another rushreport with the man himself, Brendan
Rusch.
Brendan, how are you doing?
Good, Marvin.
Feels great to be back.
Yeah.
And you're.
You're getting ready to joincorporate America tomorrow, right?
Yeah, yeah.
Big, big first day at a gigI'm excited about, so.

(00:22):
That's good.
It's all good stuff.
Yeah, well, you got to tell usmore than that.
Like, people are gonna bescared to death.
They're gonna think you're offthe water and you're selling insurance.
You gotta tell them you'restaying in the industry.
Y. I'm staying in the.
The fishing sphere, not flyfishing, though.
Oh, there you go.
All right, well, I won't pressyou anymore, but you said you've.
You've been out recently.
What are you seeing on thewater in pa?

(00:45):
So I haven't been out the lastfew days, but the few weeks prior
to that.
And if, you know, flows andtemperatures tell me anything, it's
been very clear, low, and thefish have been super sippy.
Um, so, like, a lot of cool,real slow eats.
I had some people who movedthe popper a lot, and I just.

(01:06):
I had to show them how to notpop it.
When they did that, fish werestill responding pretty well to,
like, a cicada shimmy on the surface.
Um, but they definitely seemto prefer just, like, splat, drift,
sip scenario.
Um, but, yeah, I mean,fishing's been good.
You're just kind of, you know,limited to specific areas.
If you're in a hard boat, soyou're seeing the other people who

(01:26):
are limited to those areas,it's a little, you know, a little
busier when it's low.
Yeah, got it.
And so, you know, for folksthat don't want to get smacked in
the head by their God forpopping their bug, you want to tell
them how they can wiggle itwithout popping it.
Yeah, actually, I saw MattMiles do this probably, like, five

(01:47):
years ago, but he came up andhe was just kind of, like, raising
his rod tip and dropping it.
Raising it, dropping it, but,like, you know, within a couple inches.
So the fly was getting slack movement.
Slack movement.
And then you get like a.
Kind of like a injured bug,but, like, you know, jittering on
the surface or skittering, Ishould say.

(02:07):
But yeah.
So you just, like, create morethan one wake at the same time.
So fish seem to respond tothat well.
But in general, I would saymore pausing, less moving is gonna
outfish the movement.
All Day.
Yeah.
Cause Matt's technique isreally just enough to just really
kind of to get the legs to flex.
And that's about it.
Right?

(02:29):
No, there, there's like,there's some weight pushing off,
especially like if you have a,like a flat face or a cupped face
popper.
But still not, I'm not seeingfish respond to like full, full blown
globes with the popper.
Gotcha.
And you missed out.
You didn't get any rain out ofthe, out of the hurricane.
So I guess it's gonna stay lowand clear for a while.

(02:49):
Cause I think it's gonna be inthe mid Atlantic for the next week
to 10 days.
Yeah, there's a chance ofsome, some rain midweek next week,
but usually that never comes.
Yeah.
Well, there you go.
Well, I got a question for youfrom Samurai Flies and he wanted
to get your thoughts onbesides poppers and cross, what are
you fishing subsurface this summer?

(03:10):
So the single nut job is a given.
Tying that like on a ShortShank, size 2ARX hook, the size 2
minnow with a couple shanksoff the back of that.
But a real player for me iseither like a mini sex dungeon or
mini boogeyman.
And I let the good people atMFC tie those for me.

(03:31):
So I just buy them and they,they fish really well.
Fishermen like olive, whichseems to be on the lighter side of
olive, and the Tan.
The Bard Bard tan mini sexdungeon from MFC fishes really, really
well where I'm at.
Gotcha.
And any kind of size andweight combos you want to share with
folks.

(03:52):
I would say they're both at 3inches or just under and they have.
I would, I think medium lead eyes.
Could be smalls, but probably medium.
Gotcha.
And you know folks, we lovequestions on the roof report.
You can email me or DM me onsocial media, whatever is easiest
for you.
And if we use your question, Iwill send you some articulate flash

(04:13):
swag that will actuallyinclude some butcher shop stickers.
And we were drawing for somecool stuff from Brennan at the end
of the season.
But Brendan, you got anyannouncements about guide availability?
You know, maybe cough up somemore goods on the new fishing day
job and you know, let youradoring fans know where they can
find you on Tuesday nights at 8:35ish.
Yeah, that was too manyquestions for me at one time.

(04:34):
All right, but I'll break itdown for you.
So are you fishing anymore?
How can folks get in touch andget on the boat?
Question number one.
Yeah, so yeah, just Reach out.
I'll still be able to get outon the water.
So reach out.
And I have.
I have some availability leftthroughout September and October
and maybe even a stray muskyday here and there.

(04:57):
Yeah.
And then the next questionwas, I was just going to give you
some crap for not coughing upthe goods on the.
The day job and fishing andgive you one last opportunity to
share any more details with folks.
I'll keep that between us andInstagram for now.
Gotcha.
And you've also got.
You said you got a new websiteyou might want to let folks know
about any other kind of coolstuff like that.

(05:18):
Yeah, so there's a very niceyoung man named Trevor that built
a site, so it's Rouge angling.
Com and so check that out.
I'm also on Instagram atBrendan Roche and on Facebook at
Brendan Roush and RooshAngling as well.
Gotcha.
And if folks wanted to findyou at 8:35 ish on a Tuesday, where
should they go?

(05:40):
Yeah, so go to logjam fishingcompany Instagram.
And yeah, I, I have beenmissing some here and there, but
Dave's rocking every week,8:35ish Eastern Time.
And yeah, it's usually a good time.
People tying flies and talking crap.
There you go.
Well, folks, as I say, you oweit to yourself to get out there and

(06:01):
catch a few.
Tight lines, everybody.
Tight lines, Brendan.
Take care, everyone.