I had a book by John Barsness that was very good. I gave it to a friend who guides. Unfortunately I've forgotten the title and don't see it listed on his website anymore.

I've just ordered Thomas McGuane's The Long Silence.

Anyone have any good reads on fly fishing?

Wow! There are simply too many! Off the top of my head.

"The River Why" and "River Teeth" by David James Duncan are very, very good.

The Classic "Trout Madness" by Robert Traver... the classic line "It is not that I think fly fishing is all that important, but rather, all of man's other endeavors are equally unimportant." Or, "A vintage of distinction for peasants bent on extinction!"

In sort of the same vein "Breakfast at Trout's Place" is about local AK fishing and written by Ken Marsh who is still around as a spokesman for the AK State Troopers.

"Fly Fishing Through the Midlife Crisis" by Howell Raines and a couple others by him are good.

John Gierich has quite a few decent entries.

Left out a River Runs Through it... great book and acceptable movie.

First Barsness book I ever read was "Montana Time" It was a collection of fishing stories.

I would recommend "Trout Bum" & "The View From Rat Lake" by John Gierach, "Steelhead Country" by Steve Raymond, "Guide Wars" by John Holt, "A River Never Sleeps" by Roderick Haig-Brown

Thanks for the suggestions! I'm going to start ordering.

Montana Time was the book I was thinking of. It's a fun read.

So many good suggestions and some of my favorites have already been mentioned. One of the things to consider is "modern" or "traditional". A lot of folks divide fly fishing into "pre-movie and post-movie" (A river runs through it) and often in the post-movie crowd you find people that take themselves way too seriously and believe "real" flyfishing is XYZ.

The same can be said about books about flyfishing. Some writers simply make more of it than it is and some can get a bit preachy towards certain techniques. I tend towards older writing when fishing was largely a choice of bait casting or fly fishing. I've also been at it long enough (40+ years) that I tend to enjoy the stories more than the how-to books.

Look up books by Roderick Haig-Brown - my time in the PacNW really made me like him

Robert Traver, as mentioned before, is truly a favorite in the UP of MI.

John Gierach can be very good but can tend towards that preachy "dry fly and bamboo only" writing. I actually find his stuff after he quit drinking to be more that way but I do enjoy it and tend to buy all his stuff. It made time at sea pass well.

I will also put out anything by Scott Waldie (RIP) that is less about flyfishing directly but more about life in small town MT where people also fly fish. - I often reach to read a story or too as I reflect up on my life here where I make money but live less than I want to. https://www.amazon.com/Scott-Waldie/e/B001K8EU8Y/ref=dp_byline_cont_ebooks_1

A friend of mine really enjoyed the books Scott Waldie put out. Enough so that he is reading them a second time.

TexasPhotog,

Glad you enjoyed MONTANA TIME!

I asked Eileen if she has any copies left in stock, and it turns out she has 8 brand-new hardcover copies left. Those are listed on Amazon for $35--before Amazon charges for shipping. She can ship you one for $40, which would be autographed however you want it.

Of course, you can buy them used for less. It sold well enough for a paperback edition to appear, and those can be found for pretty cheap prices.

I tend toward traditionalist writing.

A) "Fishless Days, Angling Nights" by Sparse Gray Hackle (Alfred Miller). Captures the "soul" of flyfishing as no one else did. But maybe I'm a bit prejudiced from counting as a close personal friend and drinking buddy Sparse's grandson- who owns the galley proofs of the book- and his Mom (Sparse's daughter) who's 97 now and still has wine at happy hour every day.

B) Anything by Robert Traver. Especially seek out the magazine articles he wrote, published in flyfishing journals which had a circulation of about 29 subscribers 40+ years ago.

C) I'm still partial to Ernie Schwiebert also. Could be the river of scotch he and I drank together back in another lifetime, but I don't think so.

D) Reading can be a chore for some people. I get it. For those in that boat, seek out Lee Wulff's myriad filmed adventures.

I too agree that Gierach's best work was his early stuff when fishing and John Barleycorn kept his demons at bay.

One less new one in Amazon now!

This is impressive...

Well, this is interesting and makes me want to shout out loud that customer service is not dead. Got the following message yesterday.

Your book should arrive tomorrow. There was an error in the listing so we didn't have a New copy, but did send you the book described, a VG ex-library copy, for FREE. We have also refunded your entire order, and Amazon should notify you soon. Thank you for your order, enjoy the book.

Sure enough today

"Item: Montana Time
Quantity: 1
ASIN: 1558211624
Reason for refund: Account adjustment

Here's the breakdown of your refund for this item:

Item Refund: $34.52
Item Tax Refund: $2.07
Shipping Refund: $3.99
Shipping Tax Refund: $0.24

Notes: Gerald, here is your refund. Thank you. -- Lee"

Wow, not only a book to read at deer camp but a free book as well. Huge Kudos to Lee @ https://www.amazon.com/sp?seller=A1FL1C3O4A3PB5. Of course I left awesome feedback

Allen

By the way John, the ex-library copy they sent me in leu of new came from the Fargo library!

Big Two-Hearted River.

I just picked a paperback one off at B&N, sounds like a good winter read for me!

It is a good read!

Makes me want to head north with a fly rod next summer....

Get hold of an Ed Zern collection. Lots of fly fishing stories in them and you'll laugh your ass off.

Amazon has lots.

Got my paperback copy of "Montana Time" today; I don't think I will be able to put it down, once I start! Love the cover photo.

"The Hell With Fishing", by Ed Zern, is in my Top 10 faves.

And I'm sure there are some good hints in there on how to predict the Kentucky Derby winner using the solunar tables.

Search any book by Paul Weamer. Many on amazon. Great writer. Currently resides in Montana

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