Trout Fishing Fabius Brook, April 22-23, 2016

I've never been to Fabius Brook before. Probably because it didn't look very big and only had two DEC parking spots. Here is the public fishing rights map: http://www.dec.ny.gov/docs/fish_marine_pdf/r7fabbropfr.pdf.   We went directly to Bardeen Road and found a nice parking area near a bridge in a very country setting. I walked along the 30 foot area that is a part of the public fishing rights area but bumped right up against someone's farm land. Each spot that looked promising I stopped at but didn't get a single bite.

I continued on and tossed in my normal set up that I was carrying, a trout worm on a #8 hook, with a split shot on 4 pound line, ultra light pole. Immediately it was hit and took off so fast under a tree it barely registered in mind that something had happened. I knew it was big and I had light gear so I let it play as I pulled it just outside the reach of tangling in the branches. I called for help because I didn't even have a net. So the line didn't break, the person I was with, literally had to lay on the ground, grab the fish, and toss it over her head onto the ground. It turned out to be a massive 22 inch brown trout. 

We speculated that my fish ate all the other fish in the brook. When we got home, we found a whole frog, a couple of whole chubs, and a small brook trout, and my little worm in its stomach. It barely had room for the worm but went after it anyways. 

The next day we went to the second Fabius Brook DEC parking spot on Route 80. It was a strange spot near a bridge, barely walkable and up against someone's small farm. My first cast a brook trout flew out from under brush to attack. He didn't come out again after seeing me that once. I walked for a while through horrible muck that I got stuck in and lots of prickers. At several points I saw trapped pools of brook trout that must have been stocked and then the water went down. It was mid-day so they were going after the worm but not striking. I finally caught a small brook and even though it was small, I kept it because I felt like I had nearly died in the muck and brush getting it!