Golden queen of river rapids

Sava is amazing river. I am sure that in the larger area you can't find other river that offers fishing adventures as you can have it here around Zagreb. Big asp and chub, pike perch, pike and catfish are species you can target with lures, but there is one species that isn't typical carnivore and here is acting like the greatest robber attacking small minnow fish. We do not know what is causing this behavior, probably large amounts of small whitefish that is common food for all fish species here, but in joke we are saying that it may be a nuclear power plant which was built on the river upstream in Slovenia, that makes some fish species here so big and aggressive like barbel.

Barbel, the golden queen of river rapids is commonly fished with different types of minnow like plastic and silicone lures and can be fished with streamers, nymphs and jigs too. There is one lure that is perfect for this type of fishing. Duo Realis Shad 59MR gave me some good chub, but barbel absolutely love it or hate it that much that in some areas of river it is almost sure it will be violently attacked by this beautiful and powerful fish. Some colors works better than other, but Neo Perl is a winner. On river Sava you can even see how barbel attack small fish. You just need to put this lure in area behind large rocks where river rapids are created, hold it in right position where lure vibrates and works at one place. No need to retrieve, just wait for attack, and give some action with the top of the rod, moving your lure few meters left and right, up and down. 

Some barbel are really big here, weight up to 5 kg or more, so you can expect high adrenaline action when you have it at the other side of line. To be honest sometimes it is difficult to get it out of the fast water. Some fish were unhooked after tough fight and some straightened the lure hook in my case. Breaking lines can be avoided by using braided line with the help of reel brakes. I found useful to have unhooking mat for gently removal of hooks, and to rest the fish during photo shooting before releasing it back to the river. So, try your Duo Realis Shad 59MR in rapids of your river and enjoy fishing your barbel and other fish species around the world with DUO lures (among other from your boxes) ;).