Like all limestone rivers, the Resava is offering to its trout huge population of Gammarus shrimps as a foundation of bottom fauna, while caddis flies are dominant among aquatic insects. It was on the Resava during ninety-eighties that we first tied and successfully used two imitations: Resava Shrimp and Hairy Sedge.
The Mlava Spring
In the upper part the Mlava flows through lush and tranquil Homolje Valley and has relatively calm flow. The river is surrounded by arable land and its banks are sometimes thickly covered with willows and alders, which can be a problem for fly fishing when the water level is high. At the average or low levels it is very suitable for all flu fishing techniques. Considering that the majority of its waters originate in a large spring, the water is mostly cold and clear. Part of the river in the Homolje Valley is easily accessible by local road which is never far away from it. Near the village Izvarica the Mlava is receiving a small tributary called the Jošanička reka. A bit further the river flows near village Ribare and enters its large gorge. The upper part of the gorge is inhabited with trout. The Mlava is well known for its large trout. The reason for that is certainly in the abundance of natural food, where Gammarus shrimps are particularly numerous.
The Mlava Gammarus
The Mlava gorge is called “Gornjačko-ribarska klisura“ and it is over 20 km long. It is starting near the Ribare village and ending near the Ždrelo village, and it has two wider valleys, near the large village Krepoljin and near the Gornjak Monastery. Near Krepoljin the Mlava meets its important tributary – the Krupajska Reka, which is also well known with its large trout. The Homolje region is ending near the Gornjak Monastery, which is approximately the boundary of trout area in the river. Below the Monastery chub, barbel and nase are becoming more numerous. Practically in all of the rest of the river it is possible to fly fish for chub very well. That is becoming increasingly popular in recent years.
Downstream from Ždrelo the Mlava enters fertile alluvial plain and flows near villages of Šetonje, Malo and Veliko Laole, and also near city of Petrovac na Mlavi. The river is larger there and it easily gets colored. Further down the river flows near villages called Kamenovo, Trnovče and Rašanac, and enters the area called Stig. There the Mlava becomes typical lowland river, and its waters are often divided in several smaller flows. In the spring time it very often floods the area. The river flows near the villages of Veliko Selo, Toponica, Kalište, Malo Crniċe, Veliko Crniċe, Salakovac, Trnjane, Nabrađe, Bubušinac and Bradarac. It is important to mention that its flow is only several kilometers away from the city of Požarevac. Before its meeting with the Danube at an altitude of 67 m, the Mlava flows near Drmno and small town Kostolac.
It should be noted that the Mlava has capacity for producing large trout. It is the main reason why it is visited by fishermen from all over Serbia. In recent times the numbers of trout become smaller than it used to be, probably because of pollution in the Žagubica area and of poaching which is unfortunately common. Because of that we warmly recommend to all visitors of this river to release the trout they catch. That is the way to renew the trout population in this wonderful river.
Trout from Mlava river
