I'm looking at getting into Fly Fishing, I've been coarse fishing for the past 4 years and loving, however it's not exactly challenging to say the least, sure casting tightly to a feature is satisfying but the whole tactic of chucking out a PVA bag, waiting a few hours then reeling in a 10lb carp really isn't much of a challenge, for me anyway.

The finesse and obvious skill required to cast, combined with the beauty of the fish and eve the more intelligently written magazine articles has really drawn me to the idea of fly fishing. I just want to know if your catch rates are as high as they are in coarse fishing. Now I do not mind a challenge, I am prepared to work my arse off perfecting my casting style and spending many frustrating hours trying to tie that new fly! I just really, really hate travelling miles on public transport, paying a small fortune for a day's fishing only to catch nothing!

Frankly it's neither easier or harder than any other branch of the sport it's simply different, every aspect of angling throws up it's own challenges and each will need to be met in different ways accoring to the strictures of the branch of the sport you are undertaking.

In terms of results these will be determined by a number of factors......There are essentially two types of anglers thodse who think about what they do and those who dont.
The thinking group can reasonably be expected to have consistantly better results than the unthinking given similar conditions.
The other determinant is the ammount and quality of the fishing available to you. If you are fortunate enough to live in an area with some reasonable waters around you then assuming you put some thought into what the fish are likely to be doing and wanting and you have put in sufficient practise to deliver your fly accurately and gently then you should expect to reap a decent reward for your efforts.

One of the most telling Quotes in flyfishing literature is attributed to Marrryat when he said "it's not the fly it's the driver".....

I do both, and both are as challenging as you want to make them.
If your only idea of coarse fishing is chucking out a PVA bag and waiting then I'm not surprised you are looking for something else.
Fly fishing isn't any harder than coarse fishing, just different techniques to learn.
Will you catch, well, that just depends on how well you learn the techniques and then put them into practice.
You might also find it a bit more expensive for a day ticket.

The whole bait & wait thing is only a niche of overall coarse fishing. I do some of it but almost always when the main idea is to fish with a group and concentrate more on visiting than on the actual fishing.

Mostly for me these days it is lure fishing and US style float fishing using lobs or other naturals. I break out the fly rod about 2-3 times a year and never for trout since the water where I live is too warm for them to live. It's fun but for me, not up there with lures or floats even though I started on it pretty early at about age 9-10 when my wrist bones were developed enough for fly casting to be safe.

Don't get me wrong I do like coarse fishing, I especially enjoy the light roving approach where I try several different spots in a session. I just dislike the clutter, I mean I'm probably going to develop scoliosis if I don't buy a trolley for my gear! Also trout are so beautiful and taste absolutely delicious!

I've just got another job as well so I've got some spare money to burn!

I first started coarse fishing at the age of 7. I am now 37. I've tried most forms of coarse fishing, and am even reasonably competent in some of them I started beach fishing when I was an undergraduate, and though I have never since lived so conveniently close to the sea, I still indulge when I get the chance. I took up fly fishing two or three years ago, for coarse fish at first. Last season was my first full season of fly fishing for trout. Since the start of 2010 I have been tying my own flies and fishing pretty much exclusively with my own produce. I have divided my fly fishing between fishing for rainbows in a large reservoir and a few small stillwaters and fishing for small wild brown trout in a tiny river.

A few observations:

Casting a fly line well is a new skill, and one I have not yet mastered. I'm getting better, though.

Trout are very stupid and very greedy, which makes it even more infuriating when they don't cooperate. Which often, they don't.

Fly tackle is perfectly adapted to fishing the dry fly. There is no other style of fishing, in my opinion, which can present a small floating bait better. For presenting a fly under the surface, fly tackle's presentation and bite indication seems terribly crude to me. Working round that is part of the challenge.

Not being able to feed the swim sometimes makes it feel a bit "chuck and chance it" compared to coarse fishing - though of course if you can't draw the fish to you or get them feeding on your hookbait, you have to go to them and figure out what they would like to eat.

Fly fishing seems to be more about the process and less about the ends than coarse fishing. Innovations which make it more effective tend to be frowned upon.

Some small stocked fisheries can sometimes feel a bit like catching small carp in a commercial.

Overall, I would say that it is neither harder nor easier, but different. I nearly took a fly rod with me on this evening's tench fishing trip, and then spent half the evening wishing I had done - lots of rudd rising in my swim would have been great fun. A waggler rod and maggot would have been far more effective, but that is not the rod I was pining for.

As others have said, banging out 10lb carp does not sum up 'coarse fishing'! It also includes trotting maggots for lightning fast dace, quivertipping breadflake for river roach, endless spooky and eventless nights after big bream, floatfishing for tench, then there's barbel, chub, eels, pike, perch...etc etc etc!

The variety in coarse fishing is amazing. Even if you're only really into carp, moving from an easy water where the fish are overstocked, to harder water with a more natural stocking density will change everything.

Likewise, fly fishing can be stupidly easy (fishing for stocked rainbows in a little pond) to very hard (casting to spooky little brownies in a tiny, clear stream).

Definitely do it though - it's fantastic fun and the skills you learn will help you in all your other fishing too.

OK, now which brands of rods, reels and tackle can you recommend? Also how much does a decent rod and reel cost? Oh and what weight of line will I need if I intend to fish small rivers and small to medium sized reservoirs?

I have two outfits, an 8' 3/4 weight which I used for rivers and a 9'6 6/7 weight that I use for reservoirs. They both get used on the smaller stillwaters (and the light outfit has been used on the reservoir when I've been accidentally without the other rod). I think you might be able to compromise with something between those two, but it won't be perfect for either.

Both of my rods are made by Sonik. The lighter outfit is an SK3, which retails for £84.99 and the heavier outfit is an SK4, currently selling for £129.99. They were recommended to me by Alan Roe, and I've been very pleased with them. The reel on my lighter outfit is an Okuma SLV, another of Alan's suggestions. These cost about £40. The reel on the heavier outfit is a Greys X-flite cartridge reel costing about £100. Both reels are loaded with Snowbee XS floating lines, which cost about £40 each and are very good. I also have an intermediate and a fast sinking line on cartridges for the X-flite (a cartridge reel has cheap removable plastic spools which clip into the machined alloy frame, intended to make it easy and affordable to carry a range of lines - a spare spool on a normal fly reel can be a significant proportion of the price of the reel).

I would think that you could put together an outfit much more cheaply than I have. The rod is important, the line is important, the reel not so much. Alan can probably suggest something, I should think.

OK, I'd like to get the rod, reel and line for <£120 but I have money for more if necessary. I think I'll go for a 6# to get started.

This looks like a good deal, what do you think?

I'd definitely wait for some feedback from Alan.

OK, it's got some solid reviews. Also how do you know what strength leader you can safely use, is there are a simple rule of thumb for say the line weight?

Before you part with your money where are you likely to be using the outfit? This is the most important question of all and one that needs an answer before we can provide any decent advice.

As I fore-mentioned small rivers and small to medium commercial still-waters.

Right then for the small rivers you will be looking for a rod in the 8 foot range casting a 3 or 4 weight line as the fishing will be at short to medium range with smallish flies and presentation will matter and when it is low and clear 2lb tippets will be the order of the day ranging up to 5 to 5lb tippets depending on what flies you are using and the conditions you meet.

For still waters a rod in the order of 9 feet in length casting a 6 or 7 weight line will fit the bill as your casting range will be greater and a combination of wind and fly size which is usually larger in stillwater applications will mean that you need an outfit that is capable of operating in this sort of challenging environment.
The advice I gave to Steve Walker will hold good for you as well as would the tackle he bought.

You will need the different outfits for the different applications. If you have to decide which outfit to spend the most money on then I would recommend that you spend it on the river outfit as delicacy and precision tend to be a good deal more vital in that enviroment and sad to say you do have to pay a bit more for it but once you appreciate it then you will see the sense in the argument

OK, I will probably be doing a lot more fishing in commercial still-waters though.