Latest / The Articulate Fly / S8, Ep 59: Pennsylvania Smallmouth Report: Captain Brian Shumaker's Late Summer Strategies

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S8, Ep 59: Pennsylvania Smallmouth Report: Captain Brian Shumaker's Late Summer Strategies · The Articulate Fly

• 0:04
  Hey, folks, it's Marvin Cash, the host of The Articulate Fly.
• 0:06
  We're back with another Pennsylvania Smallmouth Report with the man himself, Captain Brian Shumaker.
• 0:11
  Brian, how are you?
• 0:12
  I'm doing well, Marvin.
• 0:14
  How about yourself?
• 0:14
  Ah, just trying to stay out of trouble.
• 0:16
  We're.
• 0:16
  We were talking before we started recording, getting ready to get the youngest and the.
• 0:20
  The last son out and off to college for his freshman year at App State here in a couple days.
• 0:25
  So packing gear and doing all kinds.
• 0:27
  Of stuff, that's gotta be exciting.
• 0:30
  Yeah.
• 0:30
  I tell you, I'm just looking forward to the fact it's about 15 to 20 degrees cooler on the top of that mountain than it is down here in Charlotte.
• 0:36
  I bet, yeah.
• 0:38
  So it's funny, we were talking, you got absolutely washed away with rain.
• 0:42
  And so you basically have got falling and improving conditions, but kind of rain in the forecast probably for the next, I don't know, two, three, four days and then you're supposed to kind of get dried out.
• 0:51
  What are you seeing on the water right now?
• 0:55
  Our rivers are starting to clear.
• 0:58
  We got probably about 2 foot of visibility on the edges and it's dropping pretty good.
• 1:06
  So it's not now going to be as bony as what all this usually is.
• 1:11
  So we got a nice little bump of water that should last us for hopefully another week or two before it really starts dropping down.
• 1:19
  And they're also clearing up.
• 1:21
  So it looks, it's looking pretty good here towards the end of August.
• 1:24
  Middle August.
• 1:25
  End of August, Yeah.
• 1:26
  And so if you are in a situation where you've got that kind of, you know, low visibility, does that kind of tilt you to kind of the streamer game and fishing, bigger, darker streamers, or can you still kind
• 1:37
  of really lean in hard on the top water?
• 1:40
  Well, you can lean hard and hard on the top water by fishing the edges off the bank because like I said, coming out about maybe about five feet, then that's where you really start to lose the visibility.
• 1:53
  So you have.
• 1:54
  I'm not.
• 1:55
  It's not clear water, but you got, you know, a foot and a half or so of visibility on the banks.
• 2:02
  So you can still pound the banks with poppers.
• 2:05
  And then as you move out, you're definitely want to go with streamers, get something that's a little bit darker, get a little bit more flash, especially if you got a real nice sunny day.
• 2:16
  So that's sort of the game plan we got going right now.
• 2:19
  But as the rivers keep on clearing, then it's going to be back on the top Water game.
• 2:26
  Yeah.
• 2:26
  And on the casting front, you know, with the dirtier water, are you able to kind of pull in closer, to kind of help people out with their casting so they can kind of consistently hit that edge?
• 2:35
  Or do you still have to kind of stay off the bank?
• 2:37
  So you still really need kind of a old school pre muddy water game to, to get in and fish that zone.
• 2:43
  Now you can, you can get them in a little bit closer.
• 2:46
  It's not like what we were having before we got all this rain where we had real clear water and it was.
• 2:53
  Was getting low, where you had to be, you had to be able to make some, you know, 40ft cast more consistently to, to be productive because we were seeing the fish in that low, clear water and, you know,
• 3:08
  you know, the folks are trying to get, get their bug to them and you can just see the fish just look a little bit and just keep on going.
• 3:17
  So it got a little frustrating there for a little bit.
• 3:20
  But now, like I said, with a little bit of color in the water, you can, you can get a little bit closer.
• 3:26
  So it's a.
• 3:28
  Makes it a little bit easier on the casting.
• 3:30
  Yeah.
• 3:31
  And so when you like to upsize or when you.
• 3:33
  Not when you like to, but when you have to upsize streamers and kind of go bigger and darker, you know, what flies do you like to fish and do you change?
• 3:40
  Are you fishing a.
• 3:41
  A more aggressive sinking line?
• 3:42
  Are you still probably hitting those on like an intermediate line?
• 3:45
  We're still hitting them on an intermediate line.
• 3:49
  And I like to throw, of course, I like to throw the classics, you know, half and halfs, Clouser minnows, size twos and even ones.
• 4:03
  Color combinations like chartreuse, chartreuse yellow with gold flash.
• 4:08
  Or you could do, you could do a black and an olive or, you know, an olive and orange color.
• 4:16
  You know, something that's a little bit brighter and it's got also a little bit darker shade to it.
• 4:22
  That's, that's what I've been fishing here of late with this dirty water, so.
• 4:27
  And we're also, like I said, use an intermediate line as well.
• 4:31
  Got it.
• 4:32
  And so, you know, we're kind of coming into the home stretch.
• 4:35
  What's your guide calendar look like as we kind of get into, you know, we can actually see the back end of the dog days of summer heading into, hopefully a cooler early fall.
• 4:43
  Right?
• 4:44
  Yeah, I do have some open dates there towards the end of September, and I've got a little bit more right now in October.
• 4:54
  And then after the end of October, then I'm heading to Texas and play around with those redfish.
• 5:01
  Because you just, you love the heat, right?
• 5:04
  Well, you know, actually when we're down there in November, we'll get 80 degree days down there.
• 5:10
  But you don't have the humidity, the Texas humidity in November.
• 5:14
  Really?
• 5:14
  Yeah, Yeah.
• 5:16
  I used to live in Dallas and it was, it was, it was hot.
• 5:20
  Yeah.
• 5:21
  So.
• 5:22
  But yeah, that's what I got open.
• 5:25
  So if you like to get on the water for the fall bite, get in contact with me and we can try to get you set up.
• 5:32
  Yeah.
• 5:32
  You want to give people the phone number and the website and all that kind of good stuff?
• 5:36
  Sure.
• 5:37
  Best way to get me, you can call or text me 717-574-5338.
• 5:45
  You can go to the website is www.susqriverguides.com.
• 5:54
  Well, there you go.
• 5:55
  And you know, you mentioned you love classic patterns earlier.
• 5:57
  I do want to give a shout out real quick.
• 5:59
  Our, our common buddy Allen Rupp is teaching a class in East Tennessee.
• 6:04
  thisweekend,butnextweekend onAugust21stand22ndatoneof myfavoriteflyshopsintheworld,Tailwaters Fly CompanyinBluffCity.Andhe'sgoingtobefolks,he's goingtobeteaching be folks, he's going to be teaching Dave's NearNuff Sculpin and Crayfish bassbugpatterns.And there arethree classes.Ithinkthere'soneon21standtwo onthe 22nd.I'll droplinkstothatintheshow notes.
• 6:27
  Andifyou don'tknowthis,AlanisDaveWhitlock'slegacy tire.Soifyouwantto And if you don't know this, Allen theman, it'sagreat legacy tier.
• 6:36
  So if upforthoseclasses.Andifyou use thecouponcode,articulate flyallone word,Alanwill bringyouagoodiebag.
• 6:43
  And thenalsotwo,if you gettwo classes,you'll code, ARTICULATEFLY all all word, Allen will bring you a goodie bag.
• 6:51
  And then also two, if you get two classes, you'll get a $25 gift card so you can load up likeIalwayssay,yo,it'syourself togetoutthereandcatcha few.Tightlines,everybody.Tightlines,Brian.
• 7:05
  Tight lines.
• 7:06
  Marvin.