About Me
My name is Nate Green, I have three passions, my family, fly fishing, and real estate. I recently started blogging to record my fly fishing trips and other experiences. At the same time I was contemplating starting a real estate blog but was not looking forward to maintaining two blogs at once. One night somewhere between sleeping and dreaming about gigantic Brown Trout I had the idea of combining the two blogs into one. So here it is, my blog about Arizona fly fishing with a touch of real estate. Well mostly it’s about fly fishing, but I figure if along the way I can relate some of it to real estate and who knows, maybe even find a new client or two along the way. At the least it’s a great way to rationalize my obsession by calling it work. Bbetter yet maybe I can go so far as to convince my wife that those weekend fishing trips are actually me working hard to support our family… well a man can dream.
When it comes to fly fishing I must say while I enjoy catching any type of fish within reach, my true passion is fly fishing for Trout, more specifically in small mountain stream as far away from civilization as possible. I can think of no better feeling than standing knee deep in a cool mountain stream on a warm spring day in solitude, heart pounding while a thick trout rises to slurp a small dry from the surface while my cell phone is miles away and my worries even further.
In all seriousness I am lucky enough to love my job as well as my hobbies. I run one of the finest real estate brokerages in the valley and am blessed to have some of the greatest agents working with me. We have been selling real estate in Arizona for over 5 years now and despite the changing market have enjoyed helping home owners buy and sell through all of its ups and downs. I am the owner and designated broker of Blue Roof Realty and we just launched our new national award winning website www.BlueRoof.com voted Best Real Estate Website 4 years running.
While I love to fish and am grateful for my career, neither hold a candle to my wonderful family. I am blessed with an amazing wife who supports my hobbies and brings out the best in me. I have a son who I can’t seem to get enough of. Whether its wrestling on the ground, playing catch, or reading a book together I can’t think of anything I enjoy more than spending time with my little guy. My most loyal and committed fly fishing buddy is my 4 year old Golden Retriever Allie. I also enjoy water skiing, wake boarding, backpacking, hiking, camping, vacationing, and reading.
{ 17 comments… read them below or add one }
You should come up to my back yard of the White Mountains and fish with me sometimes. I will provide ride, pontoon, and lunch just to show you my stomping grounds. If you have you pontoon that cool, well stack out ponies and hit one of the REZZZ lakes.
CHIEF
Hey Chief, I would love to hit the res lakes with you some time, thanks for the invitation. I think we are going to be heading up there in the end of May. I will keep in touch and hopefully we can meet up.
Hey Nate,
I friend coming into town from New Mexico the last weekend in August and we are planning to do a day fly fishing trip. I am not new to fly fishing but new to fly fishing AZ. We were thinking about going to Canyon Creek, but I read your entry about the water being very warm and the fish being dormant. Can you suggest a good spot to fish that is within 3 hours of Phoenix?
Hi Matt, Glad to hear you are going to be doing some fly fishing in Arizona. I have found that when the waters warm up like they are it tends to be more difficult to hook into Browns. Best bet is to head up to the White Mountains. If you are looking for something within 3 hours and you want to do some stream fishing I would head to a stream that also holds Rainbows. I have found the past few weeks that that although the Browns seem to have shut down some the Rainbows are still hitting. If you are fine with stockers you could still go fish the upper section of Canyon Creek where they are still stocking (my last report was fishing the lower section that has few bows). Other streams that they are stocking are Oak Creek, and Tonto. Both of those creeks also hold beautiful stream breed fish. If you are like me and would rather get into stream breed fish and get away from the crowds then you will need to do a little hiking. I just hiked into and fished Tonto Creek this past weekend and had a good day catching stream breed Rainbows. I normally catch more Browns than Bows on Tonto but this past trip I never saw a single Brown. I have not fished Oak creek in the past couple months but that could be a good location as well, although I would steer clear if you are going to be fishing over the weekend as it can get crowded. Good luck, let me know how you do.
Hi Nate,
Thank you for the post I appreciate the suggestions. Without revealing any secret spots of yours can you give me an idea where to access Tonto Creek and what areas are worth the hike. Also is it possible to do Canyon Creek and Tonto Creek in the same day and spend enough time at each to make it worth while?
On a side note do you do any type of guiding (or take charity cases)? I have been fly fishing now for about 6 years (primarily New Mexico, and Colorado), but I am not able to get out enough times per year to really improve my skill. I love the idea of dry fly on a small stream, but technique and also knowing where to fish are a little lost on me.
Hi Matt, I will email you some good spots to check out. You can absolutely do both creeks in the same day, they are about 30 minutes apart.
I don’t do any guiding but do enjoy meeting new fly fishing buds on the stream. Let me know when you are going to be heading out and if can swing it I’d be glad to meet up with you guys.
Hi Nate,
I am here in Sedona with my wife and our couple friends for the next couple of days. I am going to fly fish Oak Creek and also introduce my buddy to this great sport. I would greatly appreciate a few advices on good locals to begin our adventures.
Many thanks,
Justin
Nate,
We are coming out to Sedona for a vacation in March. What is the fishing like in Mid March? We are escaping the cold of the Pittsburgh and I am hoping to get an early start to my fishing season. My brother in law and I are fly fishers.
Vacation with out fishing is not a real vacation. Got suggestions? Thanks.
Nora
Hi Nora, March will be a great time on the river. Oak Creek is one of the few good trout streams in AZ that you can fish year around. It’s possible the water could be a little off color depending on the weather and run off but either way it should be a great time to be on the river.
Shoot me an email closer to when you come into town and I will be able to give you a better idea of what is happening on the river. Most of the year it runs crystal clear and stealth is the secret however depending on the runoff that may or may not be the case in March. Most of the creek in the Oak Creek Canyon section fishes very well.
Good luck and let me know how you do.
Nate,
Hey there. Your site is great. Its lots of fun to see all the Southwest fishing you guys have. I live in Santa Cruz, Ca and mostly head up into the Sierras so its cool to see the different ecosystems.
Also, I am going to be in Phoenix this weekend with my girlfriend and I am trying to do a day trip on Sunday to get a few hours of fishing in. After reading your blog and doing some research it seems that Oak Creek might be a possibility. It looks like the water might be a bit murky but I was hoping to try some nymphing using a little bit of color and seeing what happens.
It looks like my best bet would be above Slide Rock Sate Park and below the West Fork confluence but in reality I have no idea.
Probably best with a hopper-dropper rig I am guessing, maybe even something like a san juan worm?
Let me know what you think. Or if I should head somewhere else and change my tactics.
Thanks!!!
-Tashi-
Hey,
I’m looking to invest in some flies to help broaden my collection specifically for AZ.. Whats the Top 10 flies of arizona waters?? I love stream fishing mostly but I hit the lakes equally in the White Mountains as well… Who woulda thought inlaws in Show Low would turn out so well and hook me up so much? Ha! Would love some advice! Thanks!
Jon
Attached is a link to an EXCEPTIONAL river front Fishing Lodge / B&B about 40 minutes to Aspen Colorado. Brokers Proptescted. Check it out, maybe you have someone! Thanks!
http://www.myzoom.com/harrington/112532
I’m going to be visiting Sedona on the 5th and 6th of March and need some guidance on where to find some decent trout in that area. I know the creek runs through town but I have no idea where to go or what fly to use. Any help would be most appreciated. Email to berriochoa@aol.com
Thanks a lot
Mike
Hi, my name is Ryan. I am new to fly fishing. I will be coming up to Oak creek in the summer. I was wondering what flies will be hatching, and what you prefer to use for trout. I will be going from July 31, to August 7. Thanks
I and another veteran fly fisherman will be in Sedona the third week of August. We don’t mind driving a while. Is there a stream at high enough elevation to be cold enough to be decent? Any particular contacts you might suggest?
Hi Tom, Oak Creek is the stream you are going to want to hit. Pull over anywhere in Oak Creek Canyon and start fishing. It’s a fairly difficult stream to fish but there are some great rewards to be found and the canyon is beautiful. Good luck and I’d love to hear how you do.
My aunt and uncle used to live in Sonoma on the oak creek canyon up near the Last camp site and I use to do some fly fishing in the oak creek canyon. I had quite a bit like even with a creeping as low as it has been. Even though I’m still quite new to fly fishing. Last year I pulled the German brown out of the oak creek or I believe it was. Most trout I came across where just the normal rainbow trout. Some of the best fishing on hand were during the winter months.