Access to Oak Creek is open. Recreation use has dropped significantly. With the dropping temperatures, fishing during the morning hours has been slow but picks up as the sunlight hits the pools and fish become active. Trout fishing has been good along all of Oak Creek from its confluence with the Verde River upstream. This is an excellent time to target the brown trout that spawn in the fall. Caddisfly, mayfly, Dobsonfly (Hellgrammite), Wooly Bugger, Simi seal Leech, and midge patterns should produce well. Inline spinners like Joe’s flies and Panther Martins will also work well. Check the regulations before heading out, the upper section (Junipine Crossing to the Call of the Canyon Road Crossing including West Fork Oak Creek) of Oak Creek is catch and release only for trout, artificial fly and lure only, single pointed barbless hooks only. This regulation will change January 1, 2023 with the catch- and-release section expanding to include the Highway 89A bridge at Slide Rock State Park upstream to the Sterling Springs Fish Hatchery property boundary including West Fork Oak Creek. This section will be catch and release only for trout, artificial fly and lure only, barbless hooks only. Pine Flat and Cave Springs campgrounds are closed. Oak Creek at Sedona stream flow was 31.9 cubic feet per second (cfs) on 12/20/2022. There is potential that Oak Creek may become more turbid (dirty) with runoff as snow from the last storm melts. Snow was present through upper Oak Creek Canyon from Sterling Springs Hatchery to Grasshopper Point early this week.