Day 1

It was snowing when we arrived early at Oak Creek at a little before 6 am. There were already a couple of cars at the top bridge, so we decided to park at the second bridge and work our way upriver. We came around the first bend and two fish spooked from the gravel into the deeper bend. Jerry worked the deeper part of the hole and I fished the faster water at the head of the hole. I soon hooked into a fish, but as it came up out of the water, the hook popped out. We fished to hole a little longer, but didn't hook up with either fish. We continued working our way upstream, spotting only one more crusty fish swimming in circles near a log jam. We got all the way up to the top hole below the bridge and found it open. I again worked the faster water near the top while Jerry drifted the slower, deeper water. We were there for a while when I finally hooked up with another fish. It bolted downstream and put up a good fight before we were able to coax it into the net. It was a brightly colored, pink male, close to 22 inches. After a quick photo, we released the fish back into the water. We continued fishing the hole, but didn't see or hook into any more fish. We decided to make our way back downstream, checking all of the usual spots, but not spotting any fish. The water was really clear, so you could see the bottom of a lot of the pools. The fish seemed to be holding in the deepest pools, only coming out after the area was rested. We spotted the same two fish from earlier in the day, but we again were unable to get them to take our flies. We headed downstream near the lake where we began spotting fish in the deeper water. The fish were holding tight to the bottom, blending in with the darker areas. I soon spotted a pair holding together near the bottom. They didn't even look at my flies the first couple of times I drifted it past them. I finally I made a horrible cast 3 ft to the right of one of them when it circled around and came back to take my fly. I was so shocked that it took the fly, on such a bad cast, that I didn't get a good hook set. The fish torpedoed to the surface, shook its head, and out popped my fly. We continued to spot 5-6 fish swimming back and forth in the hole. Occasionally they would hold in one spot, allowing a couple of casts. We managed to hook 3-4 other fish, but they all managed to get off. A lot of them would take off downstream and swim under the pipe, making it difficult to land them.

We returned to the river later in the day after fishing the Root in the early afternoon. The fish were tough to find, as they were all holding in the deeper pools. We worked the pools, but were unable to even get a hook up. Finally Jerry spotted a pod of fish on one of the less fished bends. We soon hooked into one of the larger fish and it bolted under a log and continued downstream. I was downstream waiting for it, but it somehow managed to get around me. It went down into the next pool, as Jerry did his best to fight the fish while trying to get his rod and line out from under the log. The fish finally tired and it came up to the top on the pool near a stump. I went down to net it and...came up with a large stick. The fish had managed to get off. We decided to call it a day as the fishing was slow and it was starting to get dark.

Day 2

We returned to Oak Creek later in the morning, around 9 am, after fishing the Root in the earlier. We decided to head back down to the hole near the lake. The hole had been fished all morning, but nobody had managed to hook into any fish. We soon had the hole to ourselves and Jerry went to work on the first fish he spotted. He hooked up and the fish immediately took off downstream and under the pipe. I again chased after it and had a couple of opportunities to net it, but each time it took off before I had a chance. Finally it came up near the wall and I made a last ditch try to get it in the net. It took one last run and the hook popped out. We didn't see any more fish in the pool so we decided to again work our way upstream. We made it all the way up to the top pool before we spotted any more fish. Jerry found a nice fish in a shallower pool downstream and I worked the top pool where an occasional fish would roll on the surface. Jerry finally managed to hook the fish downstream, but as I reached for the net the fish broke his line. We continued to work the top pool without hooking another fish. We headed back downriver and finally spotted two fish holding in a deeper riffle. I hooked the male on my first cast, but it managed to shake the fly out after a run upstream. I returned to find the female, but she had left the riffle. I finally spotted her tucked under a tree branch. It took a couple of casts before I managed to hook her. She took one short run into some logs and then rolled on the surface. Jerry quickly netted her near the logs before she could get tangled up. She was a fat fish, close to 27 inches, and was still holding most of her eggs. We let her go and she quickly made her way back under the overhanging tree.

The next bend down had a pod of fish holding up under a log. I took a break while Jerry worked the fish. He hooked into one of the males and again it took off under a log and then bolted downstream to the next pool. I jumped up with the net and ran down to the pool. I could see the fish circling in the pool, but it was too deep to wade in and net it. Jerry was desperately trying to get his line and rod under the log, so he could get downstream and get the fish under control. He got his rod under the log and tightened the line on the fish. It took off downstream again and with a shake of its head the hook popped out. The fish had all scattered, so we continued heading downriver. We got down to the bottom we Jerry spotted two fish in a deeper pool. It took a couple of casts when a smaller male came out of nowhere and took his egg pattern. After a short fight upstream we we able to net the fish. The two other fish had left the pool, so we decided to call it a night.

Day 3

We decided to give the Oak one last chance, returning early on Sunday morning around 5:30. The river was suprisingly packed so we decided to try a stretch downriver away from the people. I soon spotted two fish holding in the current. It took only a couple of casts and I hooked up with the male. He bolted up the riffle, made a couple of headshakes and tore off downstream. It swam downstream a good 20 yards before it circled back and exploded on the surface. Jerry had made it downriver and quickly netted the fish as it splashed on the surface. It was a beautiful, large male close to 28 inches. We let him go back into the riffle and Jerry took a shot at the female which was still holding in the current.

It only took two casts before the female took his fly. She immediately bolted downstream before stopping and shaking her head. I was already downstream waiting for him to hook her, so I was easily able to get her in the net. She was another fat female close to 25 inches and still tight with eggs. We took a quick photo and let her go.

We worked our way upstream, but found the rest of the river to be packed with people. We were walking above a flatter section of river when I saw a fish flash. I worked my way around to the other side of the river where I could get a good cast, but spooked the female. The male remained in the pool and it took a while to get it to take a fly. The pool was just deep enough that you couldn't quite see the bottom, but the fish was trapped in the pool unless it took off through the shallow water at the head or tail of the pool. I hooked the fish and it started swimming in circles, trying to decided whether it should head up or downriver. It finally took off downriver where it bolted through two shallower pools and into a deeper pool. By the time we caught up with it my flies were snagged to a stump in the pool. We continued upriver, but found nearly every hole with fisherman so we headed back down near the lake. I spotted another female holding in some faster water. I hooked up after two casts and after a short battle I was able to drag the fish to shore. It was another fat female close to 25 inches. We spooked one more fish near the bridge on our way back to the car, but didn't have any more hookups. The water temperature was in the 42-43 degrees range the entire weekend, so it was suprising that there weren't more fish in the river. The flow was right around 20 cfs and falling. The best flies were small eggs, san juan worms, black wooly buggers, and egg-sucking leeches.