This time of year is when it starts to get a little cooler here in northern Arizona. We have recently had some storms roll through our area and finally left some snow in certain places around the state which is more than welcome because it helps our lakes and creeks come spring.
I was out on lower Oak Creek last week and the water is tinted which makes it great for sneaking up on trout! Along with that the water levels are still up and as far as I can tell the fish are holding in different water because of that. Make sure you nymph deep to get to the bottom of the runs and pools this time of year. I would use a 9ft 5x leader and tie on a micro swivel to the end of that and then add 10 inches of tippet to it and tie on my first fly. The flies I've found productive are a Frenchie, Sexy Walts Worm, Pheasant Tail, and an egg pattern. Most of the time I tie on the first two and then run another piece of 5x or 6x tippet about 12 inches long down to my smaller fly — usually an egg, Zebra Midge, or a Perdigon. Fishing is still best from around 9:30am–3:30pm.
I was out on the Verde River yesterday in Clarkdale and to my surprise the fishing wasn't really on that day. The part I was fishing does get stocked every other week but it didn't seem as dense. Out here I use the same flies as Oak Creek, everything size 16–20. The lagoons at Dead Horse can have some moments where they fish really good but you have to look for where the fish are rising. I found a bunch of anglers all clustered around one area but no one caught anything while I was watching. I watched the pond and noticed every so often a trout rising way off in the distance — I made the trek over there, noticed a couple other rises, and the fishing took off! I was using an Ice Cream Cone #16 and a Black Balanced Leech #14.