To people that have already read this guide: this is an update to the guide I had done way back when I had 9 or so fishing skill. I now have 39.3, and realized I could improve on this guide by both correcting old mistakes, and adding in new information. So I did. Most of the guide is unchanged, but a few portions have had new information stealthily planted inside, have been completely redone, or have had new sections added. Enjoy!
The guild members will tell you that fishing is a contest of willpower between you and the fish. While the guild member is correct in that fishing takes willpower of patience on your part, the main battle is one of knowledge. So, to my friends, I offer the knowledge that I have learned in my months (in Vana�diel time) of fishing.
When many people hear of fishing, they think that it simply involves buying a pole and some random bait and casting their lines in the water. This cannot be farther from the truth.
In Vana�diel, there are many components that influence fishing success, many of which cannot be helped. Included in these are the moon phase, the weather conditions, and the time of day. This guide will focus on the factors that you CAN change. These include the fishing rod used, the type of bait and lure, and the location. Bringing the right supply and type of these, and plenty of patience, is the key to your success.
This guide will cover the different aspects of fishing. For a quick guide to fishing (if you can call fishing quick), scroll down to the bottom of the guide, or search for quick guide.
WARNING: Without patience, you will not enjoy fishing at all! You will have many dry spells that no amount of preparation and skill can deal with, due to other factors like the weather, the moon phase, and the tide. If you cannot handle this, fishing may not be for you.
Note: Starting from the guild in Windurst will give you an advantage, as the guild shop sells several forms of bait and rods. The guild also offers fishing support, which will temporarily raise your skill �a little,� allowing you to pull in the fish more often. And now, on with the show.
HOOK, LINE, AND SINKER: THE BASICS OF FISHING EQUIPMENT
RODS:
Sure, buying the first beauty you lay your eyes on may sound like a good idea, but resist the temptation! To choose the right rod, you must know what type of fish you�re hunting for. But first, here is some information on fishing rods. The rod is one of the major parts of fishing. In general, the pricier the rod, the stronger it is, thus resulting in less breakage and a wider range of fish you can catch with it. Cheaper rods can support less weight, and will break when you try to reel in bigger fish!
There are two classes of both fish and rod - small/normal and 'big' fish. There are rods and bait designed for both classes. How do you know what fish your rod and bait are designed for? Simply check the item descriptions. If they are for big fish they will specify on the item description (I.E. a rod designed to catch big fish, or 'Big fish bait').
But here is the catch (pun not intended) � a rod designed for big fish will catch smaller fish at a reduced rate. Meaning a Single Hook rod (specifically designed for big fish) will occasionally lose some Bastore sardines (a small fish). You will know when this happens as a different message is given (whatever caught the hook was too small for this rod).
Beginning rods:Willow rods break easy, while yew rods are fairly sturdy. I recommend at least a bamboo rod if you can spare a little bit of gil near the beginning (330 or so from the guild, prices fluctuate).
For the fisherman on a larger budget a stronger small fish rod is suggested � a glass fiber or carbon rod should meet the need while breaking less often.
Big fish rods:As you reach the mid-teens you�ll probably start going after some big fish.
First, a bit about the highly-acclaimed mithran rod: On carbuncle server the price of the mithran fishing rod suddenly jumped from roughly 7k (compared to 8k for the composite) to 22k (compared to STILL 8k for the composite). Similar price fluctuations have been reported on other servers. This is due to many rumors that have been spreading about the mithran being �the best� rod other than the lu shang rod. In my trials with the mithran rod I noticed no super-powers, nor did the fish just leap out of the river at me and bow before my almighty mithran rod. There seems to be nothing exceptional about it when compared to the composite rod. In fact, there are several fish (shining trout are one example) that will break a mithran rod while a composite rod will keep reeling them in. I believe any indication of the mithran rod�s superiority is a placebo effect on part of the fisherman or simple chance.
The cheaper big fish rods are single hook and clothespole, but by the time you need to use the big fish rods, most fisherman have had moat carp up the wazoo and can afford the pricier big fish rods, such as the composite. I recommend the composite over the others as the mithran rods are now greatly overpriced and a composite is pretty hard to break.
BAIT:
Any good fisherman knows that just any bait simply will not do! Here is some suggested bait for the beginner:
Here is some bait suggested for use by beginning fisherman:
Little worms: Cheaper form of bait, will usually run you 3 gil per worm from item shops and the fisherman�s guild. This type of bait will catch a very wide range of fish � choose your location with caution (more on that later). Suggested areas for use: Knightswell (west ronfaure).
Lugworms: Relatively cheap form of bait, these are designed to catch salt water fish such as quus, bastore sardines, and yellow globe. Suggested areas: Port jeuno (need airship pass), port windurst.
Balls of insect paste: More expensive bait � will usually run higher than 30 per at the guild (up to about 65). Compare with auction house prices to save yourself some gil. This bait will catch a variety of fish � some bass types (like dark bass) but mostly the carp family of fish (moat carp, tricolored carp, and gold carp). Suggested areas for use: Knightswell pond (west ronfaure) and zeruhn mines river (in bastok).
LURES:
Lures are generally more expensive than bait, but are re-useable. Lures differ from bait in many ways:
Bait is lost when a fish is hooked, regardless of whether it escapes or is reeled in. The ONLY way to lose a lure is if your rod or line breaks. When you catch a fish, you keep your lure.
Lures do not stack, while normal bait does (1 lure vs. 12 bait, but bait is lost on each hook).
Some lures are designed to catch more than one fish at a time (the 'rig' type lures - sabiki rig and rogue rig).
Basically, the duration of your lure depends on the rest of your gear. If you use a cheap rod with a lure, it is more likely to break resulting in a lost lure. Different lures, of course, attract different types of fish.
Lures become more useful in the low teens and up. Lures will usually catch a wider variety of fish, while bait becomes a way to weed out individual types of fish. Some lures can be purchased from the guild for cheaper than most craftsman will sell them (sinking minnow in particular are sold cheaply on the selbina-mhaura ferry at around 650 gil while most auction houses ask around 2000 EACH).
Sabiki rig: Specialized lure, catches small salt-water fish up to three at a time. Recommended for low levels, use with a strong rod or may lose your lure to rusty items.
Rogue rig: This is worth mentioning � anybody serious about fishing has noticed these in the auction houses at one point or another, but they are fairly expensive and most don�t seem to know what they do. The rogue rig�s usefulness can be divided into two different sections, depending on skill:
0-50: The rogue rig will catch rusty items and a limited selection of fish. So far I have caught shall shell and cobalt jellyfish. Don�t underestimate the value of rusty items. While they don�t give skill gains, some are worth around 2500 gil each, and rusty greatswords sell on the auction house for roughly 10k.
50+: The rogue rig begins to catch actual fish. The type of fish it can catch are widely varied. Use of a strong big fish rod is highly suggested, or you may lose your rig. Can catch small fish in groups of three (similar to sabiki, but can also catch large fish in singles and has a much wider spread; it can also catch freshwater fish).
FISHING GEAR
No, I don�t mean the rod and bait. These are your stylin� fishing threads. But unlike regular old clothes, these will enhance your ability to fish by giving you extra points to skill as long as you wear the gear. These are optional purchases, but they do help a lot, especially with the first few points of skill. These must be made my crafters, and there are four pieces that each boost your skill by one point. There are pieces for the body, hands, legs, and feet. These can be found in auction houses under their respective positions under the armor heading (armor -> feet for the boots for example).
FISH: THE REASON WE�RE HERE!
I�ve caught a lot more than I had when I first wrote this. I�ll try to list what I found most useful. Bastore sardines can be found in the south seas, and can be caught with lugworms (sabiki rig hooks these as well). A good place is right off the dock next to the fisherman's guild boat. A small fish.
Quus can be caught in the same place as the sardines (along the south seas), but are a bit harder to catch. Also small fish, they can be caught with the same bait (lugworms). The sabiki rig also hooks these.
Yellow globes can be found in much of the south seas. I personally have not caught any, but hear they are great to skill up on. These bite lugworms or the sabiki rig as well. They are small fish.
Moat carp can be caught in most freshwater, which includes ponds, moats (rivers in cities) and other rivers and lakes. While they can be caught with small worms, the best bait for these guys are balls of insect paste. I used to fish for these near the fountain in Windurst Woods. Knightswell (a pond in W Ronfaure) has proven to be a much better spot, as a strong small fish rod will not break there as they had in Windurst (due to gold carp biting the insect paste as well). These are basically gil in fish form � on Carbuncle they currently sell around 4k gil per stack of 12, and most servers are either 3-4k. These are small fish.
Cheval salmon can be caught in several places. They are commonly accompanied by shining trout in the same waters. I used these to skill up to around 18 skill using a fly lure and composite rod (anything less than a composite will break � this includes the mithran rod). These fish don�t have very much use, as indicated by their low price in auction halls, but are worth good skill ups. A good stepping stone on the way up.
Giant catfish can be caught in ponds all over Vana�diel. These are bottom feeders, so a sinking minnow lure will draw them out. I used these to skill up to around 28 or so (they cap around 31 I believe). Keep in mind these are a large fish. You will need a good large fish rod to pull them out. I would recommend the composite rod for all large fishing.
Nebimonites � finally another gil fish. These can be caught on the selbina-mhaura ferry, and they are the only fish on the ferry that bites crayfish balls. While these are small fish, they make it a point to be as tough as nails and eat any small fish rod that tries to pull them up (excepting lu shang�s rod), so pack a composite rod and a nice supply of crayfish balls. As with any ferry fishing, beware the occasional pirate attacks and sea horror. Stacks of these will sell anywhere between 13-15k on carbuncle. They are used in cooking and alchemy. These also skill cap around 31.
Keep in mind these are just some examples of what to catch. I encourage everyone to forge their own path, do some research, and figure out for yourself where you want to fish.
Got the gear! But�what next?
So, now you know what fish you want and you have everything ready to go. First, ensure that you equip your rod in the ranged weapon slot (the slot where a bow would go) and your bait or lure in the ranged ammunition/throwing weapon slot. Now you find a body of water. The type of water is also important.
WATER TYPES:
The guild hints at several different types of water. Since the type of water that each fish can be caught in has already been discussed, that will not be included here.
The guild members refer to the ocean near Windurst as the �south seas� which would seem to reason that each region of the sea has it�s own type of fish. I have not confirmed this yet, but don�t be shocked if this happens.
First, there are two types of water, fresh and salt water. This seems to follow the pattern of real life in that oceans are salt water, and most lakes, rivers, and ponds are fresh water.
Rivers in cities are referred to as �moats.� These are obviously a good place to catch moat carp. There are also swamps and other areas (an ice lake in the qufim islands for instance) that I have not tested yet.
There are also some areas with their own types of fish � for exampke, Beadaucine glacier is the only place that the icefish can be caught.
And now the part we�ve all been waiting for:
THE ACTUAL FISHING
(I forgot this section in the first guide. Oops.)
Slowly approach the water to avoid startling the fish. Make sure everything is in order. Now, be very careful � this is the most important step. Type /fish. Wait. Keep waiting. Wait some more.
After any amount of time between two and twenty seconds, you will receive one of the following:
The boring �You didn�t catch anything.� � You will also get this message if you pressed enter (confirm) before having gotten a bite.
The more exciting �Something caught the hook!�
When you get a bite, simply press the confirm button (enter key on default controls).If you caught something, you will get a message similar to �Obtained: Moat Carp� and you will lose one unit of bait. If you are using a lure, you get to keep it. Yay for you.
Or you may get another message � �You lost your catch.� and you still lose your bait, unfortunately. If you are using a lure, you still get to keep it. Yay for you. Sometimes �Bad Things� (TM) will happen:�Your line broke.� � You will lose one unit of bait � not bad for bait users, but if you are losing a lure you can kiss it goodbye now. Oops.�Your rod broke.� - I hope you weren�t using a lu shang� If you�re unlucky enough to receive this message, your rod is removed from your inventory and replaced with �Broken X rod� where X is rod type (mithran, composite, carbon, etc), and you lose one unit of bait or your lure. Commonly the broken rod can be sold for about half as much or as much as the rod itself. Usually this is more of an inconvenience than a direct financial loss.
After you get your result, there is a cooldown period before you can cast again � there is a reduction to this depending on your skill, where ten full points seem to reduce the time between casts by one second (this may smooth out at higher fishing levels, but have not had the chance to ask). The reduction is based on each skill point, so a .1 gain would mean .01 less of a second between casts. The base time is 13 seconds after the compass re-appears after a cast. It is recommended to make a macro that takes advantage of this that you can press as soon as the compass re-appears. Since my skill is about 40 my macro looks like this:
/wait 9/fish
This makes it easier to do other things while fishing in safe areas, such as chat, do homework, or play Disgaea (woohoo), and ensures that you will make the most of your time fishing. Make sure to adjust your macro as you rise in skill!
If you have a controller with a vibration function connected to your PC, the controller will vibrate whenever you hook a fish � this is helpful to avoid losing fish from being inattentive.
QUICK GUIDE TO FISHING � an oxymoron if I�ve ever heard one
For the quickest skill gains in the beginning, purchase a glass fiber rod (about 2k in the auction house(AH)) and a sabiki rig lure (about 1.5k in the AH). These can be found in the weapons -> ammunition&misc -> fishing gear section of the AH. Equip both of these and take them somewhere with access to the southern seas. A good spot is in Port Windurst right next to the fishing guild. At the guild you can receive fishing support to help you catch fish more often. If you don�t have enough money for these, a cheap rod (willow(cheapest), yew, or bamboo(best, more expensive)) and some lugworms will do.
After you�ve gained some skill, or if you just want to hurry to moat carp for a greater return, start buying some balls of insect paste (little worms will work, but you may catch smaller fish (crayfish) instead) from the guild or the AH, and head over to a freshwater river in a town (a �moat�) or to the pond in West Ronfaure. Here you can catch moat carp and sell them in the AH for 3-4k (please follow the prices already in place on your server � moat carp sell fast, there is no need to undercut prices). If you have more cash to spend, I would suggest a Carbon rod for knightswell (West Ronfaure pond) or a composite rod for windurst areas as there is the chance to hook gold carp and break small fish rods.
Note that when you reach 8 skill in fishing, you will need to go back to the guild and take a �test� which involves handing the guildmaster (the mithra) a moat carp. Easy. You will then become a recruit in the fisherman guild! Your title will change in your character stats for crafting skills from amateur to recruit, and�um�nothing else that I�ve noticed so far other than the ever-important ability to go above 10 skill points.
There is a test every ten skill levels above the first one (at 8) to raise the cap another ten points above. So at 18 you can take the test to raise your cap above 20, at 28 you can test to raise your cap above 30, etc. Note that you don�t HAVE to take this test at *8 � you will continue gaining until the next cap (up to 10 if you didn�t complete any tests), but to go above that you will need to take the test. The game also does not keep track of whether or not you caught the fish so it�s entire possible to just buy your way through, and is recommended for some of the harder to catch fish.
Testing skill Fish required
8 Moat carp
18 Cheval salmon
28 Giant catfish
38 Gugru tuna
48 Monke-Onke
58 Bhefhel Marlin
68 Bladefish
78 Three eyed fish
88 ?
(Information on skill cap fish above 38 was taken from www.fishermanrods.net � thank them, not me)
I didn�t know where to stick this, so here it is: http://www.fishermanrods.net/database_e.cfm. This site contains lots of great information on the various type of fish, what they can be caught with, and where. It even includes a tool that allows you to select a rod/bait combination and test if it will break! There is also a link near the bottom of the page labeled fishing map that lets you choose which region and area and lists the fish in it. Using this site to plan fishing trips will save you a lot of gil on broken rods and time wasted looking for just the right spot. Please note that I in no way had anything to do with the development of this site, and thus should not receive any credit for it�s information � I just recommend it as an excellent fishing tool.
I hope this guide really helps out some new fisherman. I know my information has already helped many start on the path to fishing greatness, and maybe it will help you as well!
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