Barren Fork Creek
Blue Ribbon Area
Only flies and artificial lures are permitted, soft plastics specifically excluded. Daily limit is 1 trout at least 18 inches long
Looking for a challenge? This place will challenge you. If you're taking a trip to Montauk or the Current River and are looking for a side trip, run over and check this place out. It's a charming little creek that just may cause you to pull your hair out.
Take Highway 19 South from Salem, turn left on Hwy A and keep left. You'll drive into, then out of, and then back into the Sunklands Conservation Area. You'll cross Barren Fork once before you reach the fishable water. If you peek down into the creek as you drive over it, you might just turn around before you get there, because it is just a bit above a trickle -- if there's any water there at all. Keep going until you see the turn off for Twin Springs. Pull in and park. The trout-holding portion of the creek extends all the way to Sinking Creek, but the accessible area of the trout waters only extend downstream from the springs for about a mile -- the boundary of the Sunklands Conservation Area.
The creek is very slight and usually gin clear, meaning these trout are very spooky. But there's good news! If you can approach quietly and make a good presentation without hooking a tree or a bush or yourself, you'll find that these fish are not picky about the fly. Traditional nymphs, flies, and terrestrials will all work. Streamers not so much.
Take Highway 19 South from Salem, turn left on Hwy A and keep left. You'll drive into, then out of, and then back into the Sunklands Conservation Area. You'll cross Barren Fork once before you reach the fishable water. If you peek down into the creek as you drive over it, you might just turn around before you get there, because it is just a bit above a trickle -- if there's any water there at all. Keep going until you see the turn off for Twin Springs. Pull in and park. The trout-holding portion of the creek extends all the way to Sinking Creek, but the accessible area of the trout waters only extend downstream from the springs for about a mile -- the boundary of the Sunklands Conservation Area.
The creek is very slight and usually gin clear, meaning these trout are very spooky. But there's good news! If you can approach quietly and make a good presentation without hooking a tree or a bush or yourself, you'll find that these fish are not picky about the fly. Traditional nymphs, flies, and terrestrials will all work. Streamers not so much.
| barren_fork_creek_map.pdf |