The book that influenced me most regarding fly fishing was "Rogue River Feud" by Zane Grey. The story is pretty good but that's not the point of this ... it was the intro about how the river arose in the Cascades and little black backed trout rising to flies. My imagination filled in the rest. I was raised along the lower Rogue and now I'm just outside of Medford an hour or hour and a half from those places. Drive from Medford toward Crater Lake on Highway 62, then stay along the river on 230 where the highways split. If it doesn't captivate your imagination, you're not a fly fisherman.
Grey also wrote some about the North Umpqua. I can't think of a particular book name, maybe it was within his volumes of short stories. Taking 138 out of Roseburg and heading for Diamond Lake you are river-side most of the way. Again, the imagery of Grey's writing is pretty vivid. I'm not as much about fly fishing for the big steelhead so I focus on upriver farther, but both stretches are absolutely classic.
Tom
