Working in the fishing industry has given me the opportunity to test and review the majority of new baits that hit the market each year. That being said, there’s not many new products in fishing that blow me away. However, each year there are a few new releases that really get me excited. The Duo Realis BR Fish is one of those products.
This is an entirely new style of soft plastic that has a ton of potential to be a real fish catcher, especially when paired with todays electronics. The BR Fish is a soft jerkbait style lure meant for generating reaction bites in clear water. This bait has a side to side darting that hasn’t been seen in this soft plastic presentation. Duo Realis was able to achieve this unique action by employing a few key attributes that really makes this bait shine.
BUILD
Duo Realis produces this side to side action by carefully designing both the swimbait head, and the soft plastic body of this bait to work in unison. The body of this bait was designed with a flat bottom, rounded backside, and a pointed tail. This bait can be fished with the flat side facing both down or up, achieving different actions depending on how it is rigged.
When the bait Is rigged flat side down, the lure darts from side to side by employing quick jerks of your rod. However, when the bait is rigged flat side up it can be fished much like a traditional Damiki-style bait. The tail also has a unique quivering action that is great for enticing finicky fish into biting.
Duo Realis also incorporated some of these features into the BR head as well. This swimbait head is designed with two fin-like lips on each side of the swimbait head. This allows the bait to glide from side to side when twitched. This also gives the bait a great gliding motion when being fished like a traditional jig and minnow as well.
HOW TO FISH THE BR FISH
There are a number of different ways the fish the new Duo Realis BR Fish, however my favorite way using live sonar on clear water fisheries. I’ve spent nearly two months playing with the BR Fish, and I’ve noticed a few scenarios where this bait really shines on these types of fisheries.
This bait excels when fished around offshore brush piles. This has been a great bait for calling fish out of cover and getting them to commit as opposed to following your bait to the boat. On one of my recent trips, I had tons of followers on a traditional jerkbait but couldn’t get them to commit. I then started using the BR Fish in these scenarios and started getting a lot more fish to commit.
I like to fish this bait by making long casts over the brush pile. I then work it back to the boat by doing sharp jerks of the rod followed by pointing the rod tip at the bait, giving the lure slack allowing to to dart from side to side. This bait was designed to be used in high pressure scenarios and is a great substitution when fish won’t commit to traditional baits.
Another application where this bait shines is targeting suspended fish keyed in on bait. For this application I like to rig the flat side of the bait facing upwards in order to achieve this jig and minnow action. I will then cast my bait at specific fish using live sonar and continuously twitch it above their heads. The quivering action of this bait paired with its razor sharp hook is a great way to catch fish that are actively chasing bait.
THE PERFECT SETUP
In order to achieve the desired action of this bait, it is important to have the correct rod, reel and line setup. For a rod, I like a 7 foot medium-action spinning rod. This shorter length allows for more accuracy when casting at specific fish, and the medium-action gives you enough strength to get them in the boat. My go to rod for this application is a 7-foot, medium-action Shimano Expride Spinning Rod.
For a reel, I like a 3000 size with a high gear ratio. This larger reel allows for better control over the fish, more line capacity and a higher gear ratio. These are all essential attributes to when trying to successfully catch fish on light tackle. My go to reel for this bait is a Daiwa MQ LT 3000 sized spinning reel.
For line, it is recommended to use a braid to fluorocarbon leader. For my braid, I like 10-pound Power Pro High Vis yellow braid. I will then attach the braid to either an 8 or 10-pound fluorocarbon leader depending on water clarity and the amount of cover present. By using this rod, reel and line combination you will be sure to land the majority of fish that decide to commit to this bait.
The Duo Realis BR Fish is an entirely new class of baits that is perfect for a wide variety of clear water applications. The innovation employed in designing this bait is sure to make big waves across the fishing industry, and will undoubtably lead to a ton of successful days on the water. If your looking for a new way to trick finicky clear water fish into biting, the new Duo Realis BR Fish is worth a try.
You can purchase the BR Fish from this online retailer with more in the works:
See the side to side action on this bait by checking out this video on the DUO Instagram page. For more information visit
