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Final Fantasy XI Fishing Guide: Points of Interest


The Journey Points of Interest


Written by: Esta



Fishing 110: Rods and Bait

To catch fish, you need a fishing rod and some bait. There are many different types of rods and bait, with each combination meaning something slightly different. This section will help you understand what fishing rod goes best with what bait, when you are aiming for a certain fish.

There are two different types of fishing rods: wooden and synthetic. The rods are listed below (in ascending order of strength ?Willow is the weakest) along with what type of fish they are best at targeting. Lastly, a durability rating has been given to the rods as well (1 being lowest, 10 being highest):

Wooden Fishing Rods

Fishing Rod Works Best On
Willow Fishing Rod (1) Very small fish; easily broken on anything
Yew Fishing Rod (1) Very small fish; easily broken on anything
Bamboo Fishing Rod (2) Small, low level fish; easily broken
Fastwater Fishing Rod (2) Small, river fish (Cheval Salmon, etc) and fast water fish
Tarutaru Fishing Rod (3) Small, mid-level fish
Hume Fishing Rod (5) Small, mid-level fish; great against Carp
Clothespole (5.5) Small, mid-level fish
Mithran Fishing Rod (7) Small fish, any level ?won’t break on rusty items in cities
Lu Shang’s Fishing Rod (9) Small fish, any level; also catches legendaries
Ebisu Fishing Rod (10) Everything???


Synthetic Fishing Rods

Fishing Rod Works Best On
Glass Fiber Fishing Rod (4) Small, low level fish
Carbon Fishing Rod (5) Small, low-mid level fish; best when you see fish in the water
Single Hook Fishing Rod (6) Small fish, great against Carp
Halcyon Rod (7.5) Small fish, any level
Composite Fishing Rod (8) Large fish, including legendaries


Fishing Rod Specifics

Willow Fishing Rod
As with the Yew, the extremely low durability of the Willow Rod limits its usefulness to all but a few specific target fish and locations. However, Willow Rods will actually come in handy if you decide to level up through the late 50s by break-fishing on the Ferry.

Yew Fishing Rod
This rod is only capable of landing a few specific fish successfully. It can make an acceptable starter rod, especially when targeting Moat Carp in Knightwell, since it drops from the Goblin Fishers that circle the lake. However, given its extremely low durability, the Yew Rod should only be used by fishermen who are able to distinguish Crayfish and Moat Carp from all other catches; many fish, items, and mobs will most likely break this rod. For this reason, I do not recommend Yew Rods to fishermen that are just starting out, since they will most likely not have enough fishing experience to make this kind of distinction. If you are a new fisherman you should consider the Carbon Rod, which has similar characteristics but is much more forgiving, given its greater durability.

Bamboo Fishing Rod
This rod isn't recommended either, since it breaks on most fish and can only land a few items with any consistency.

Fastwater Fishing Rod
Again, a weak rod with limited usefulness, the Fastwater Fishing Rod will most likely break too often to be worth the hassle.

Tarutaru Fishing Rod
I can't really recommend this rod to new fishermen since it has a chance to break on almost everything. Like many of the weaker rods, it is still usable for skilled fishers, but even then you will quickly outgrow its usefulness after the earliest few levels.

Glass Fiber Fishing Rod
This is another rod I can't really recommend, since it breaks on most fish and several items, though for some reason it can land Fat Greedies and Gold Carp.

Hume Fishing Rod
A great rod for catching Moat Carp, the Hume is basically an improved wooden version of the Carbon Rod since it is slightly more durable and won't lose any fish to the "too small" message. In addition, the wooden composition will allow you to wear down the stamina of small fish more quickly than you could using the Carbon Fishing Rod. However, the Hume Rod is more expensive than the Carbon Rod, and will still break on most large non-stackable fish and several items including Rusty Subligars. This means that this rod is best used by experienced fishermen who are able to distinguish small fish from large fish, monsters, and items.

Carbon Fishing Rod
The Carbon Fishing Rod is very good rod, and the third best rod in the game when it comes to catching small fish. However, the one major drawback of the Carbon Rod is that it is relatively weak, and will break on almost all large fish and several items. This prevents it from being used it in many areas.

Clothespole
A fairly decent starter rod. Also acceptable for catching Moat Carp, except in areas without Cheval Salmon or Rusty Caps.

Single Hook Fishing Rod
This rod is basically a slightly more durable Synthetic equivalent of the Clothespole and is also a decent starter/Moat rod.

Mithran Fishing Rod
A very good rod, the Mithran is less durable than the Composite but significantly better at landing small fish. Unfortunately this rod will break on almost all non-stackable large fish.

Halcyon Rod
An excellent rod, the Halcyon is second only to the Lu Shang's in terms of catching small fish. However, given its synthetic composition, it will take longer to deplete the stamina bar with this rod than it would using wooden rods like the Mithran, but the dramatic reduction in "too small" messages will most likely be worth the effort. Though it is slightly more durable than the Mithran, the Halcyon Rod can break on many large fish and items like Arrowhead Logs and Coral Fragments, and since it is fairly expensive this rod is best used by experienced fishermen who are able to distinguish small fish from large fish and items.

Composite Fishing Rod
A great rod, second in durability only to the Lu Shang's and a good second choice for Legendary Fish. The one major drawback of this rod is that you will lose many catches to the dreaded "too small" message when targeting small fish with it.

Lu Shang's Fishing Rod
Obtained by completing The Competition/Rivalry Quest, this rod combines some of the quick stamina reduction of Wooden Rods with the extended catch time of Synthetic Rods. In addition it offers the best catch rate when it comes to small fish, but is also the most durable rod in the game when it comes to landing big fish and Legendary Fish. Simply put, the best fishing rod in the game and most likely the last rod you will ever use.

Ebisu Fishing Rod
Very little is known about this rod other than that it is unbreakable and that it is extremely difficult to obtain.


Fishing Rod Recommendations

Wooden fishing rods are typically weaker than synthetic ones, but are much better at targeting smaller fish. Synthetic rods are harder to break, but are bad at targeting the smaller fish. This means that you will hook and catch many small fish with a Yew Fishing Rod, but there will be a high chance of it breaking. The advantage of the wooden fishing rods is that they are fairly cheap, so if you do break your rod, you can just sell back the broken one and buy a new one. If you find that you are breaking your rod a lot, you should move on to a stronger type of rod.

In all areas there are rusty items sitting at the bottom of fishing holes. These rusty items are heavy and break all wooden fishing rods up to the Clothespole. Any time you hook a rusty item with the Willow Fishing Rod, it will break. Often the Yew Fishing Rods will break from a rusty item, too. Bamboo Fishing Rod still break a good amount, and it decreases from there. Mithran Fishing Rods do not break when they hook a rusty item and can catch every small fish in the game. But beware, as they will break on some of the larger fish. All around, if you have the money when you start fishing, purchase a Mithran Fishing Rod and just fish with it.


Bait

There are also two different types of bait: bait and lures. They are listed below along with which type of fish they are best at targeting:

Bait Works Best On
Peeled Crayfish Mid-level freshwater fish, Black Eel and Monke-Onke
Peeled Lobster Larger fish like Bhefhel Marlin
Sliced Sardine Gold Lobster and some larger fish
Sliced Cod Large, high-level fish, mostly in Qufim Island
Slice of Bluetail Bhefhel Marlins and a few sharks
Slice of Carp Emperor Fish
Insect Ball Carp
Sardine Ball Tiger Cod and Nosteau Herring
Trout Ball Medium-large freshwater fish
Meatball All meat-loving fish, including sharks and legendaries
Crayfish Ball Shall Shell ?use with a large type rod
Lugworm Zafmlug Bass & small/low-level saltwater fish (Quus, etc.)
Little Worm Carp and Sandfish
Lufaise Fly Small freshwater fish in the Phanauet Channel
Shell Bug Red Terrapin
Giant Shell Bug Red Terrapin
Rotten Meat Meat-loving fish, including legendaries
Drill Calamary Gugrusaurus
Dwarf Pugil Lik


Lures

Lure Works Best On
Sabiki Rig Small, bottom dwelling fish, like Icefish
Rogue Rig Items
Minnow Large freshwater and saltwater fish
Sinking Minnow Large, bottom dwelling freshwater and saltwater fish
Fly Lure Good in rivers and streams for fish like Cheval Salmon
Worm Lure Small fish, especially in the bass family, as well as eels
Lizard Lure Bass and large, freshwater fish
Frog Lure Large, mid-level fish: Red Terrapin and Giant Catfish
Shrimp Lure Most ocean fish, as well as Monke-Onke
Robber Rig Fish of all sizes and levels

Typically bait, especially live bait, is much better at catching fish than lures. However, sometimes it is hard to carry a lot of bait and all the fish you catch, along with any fishing gear and protection you might need. Therefore, sometimes lures are worth using. Also, it adds up spending money on bait all the time, so a lure can be more cost effective. However, a lure can break and you can lose it, so you should not use a lure when you are trying to catch large fish. Lastly, don't be fooled by the many different fish that a Rogue Rig can catch. Yes, it is able to catch all these fish, but it will hook them at a rate of about 1 fish every 15 minutes. A Rogue Rig is very good at targeting items, not fish.



Fishing 111: The Fish

After you have you, your rod, and some bait, its time to catch some fish. There are many different types of fish in Vana'diel, all just waiting to be caught by you: there are freshwater fish, and saltwater fish; small and large; bottom-dwellers and top-dwellers.

The way fish are classified is quite interesting. It was noted that there are small and large fish. In most cases, small fish are stackable and large fish are not. However, this is not true in all cases. There are some large fish that are stackable, like Shall Shell and Crescent Fish. The truly large fish are not stackable and have a weight/size marker on the fish. You will find this in the bottom right of the fish’s information. It is listed as: <### [Im] / ### [Pz]>, where Im is the length (size) of the fish, and Pz is the weight of the fish. Especially since I am a Tarutaru, I would love to know how much I weigh and how tall I am, so that I could compare myself to some of the bigger fish I have caught.



Fishing 112: Items

Apart from all the fish in the waters, there are also many items that you can fish up. These items range from gil (1 gil or 100), to rusty items, to useful synthesis items. Beware though, these items can be heavy and could break your rod. The items you can catch are listed below. I've tried my best to list them in ascending order of weight. The number next to the name is associated with the strength of rod it can break, from Fishing 110: Rods and Bait.

The items from Rusty Cap and below are rarer items not found in most low level fishing areas. All items from Rusty Leggings to Rusty Subligar are fairly common in these areas and can break a lot of rods. This is why, in my opinion, once you know you want to fish, you should invest in a Mithran Fishing Rod or Halcyon Rod. These will not break in most town areas. Of course, I still recommend starting out with a Yew Fishing Rod or something similar because it is very easy to replace when broken.

Besides gil, all of the items you catch can be use in synthesis or desynthesis recipes, or in quests. That makes certain items very valuable to some people. Check the market and see if it is worth crafting these items, selling them on the Auction House, or just selling them to an NPC.




Fishing 210: Beginner Quests

Fishing is associated with many quests. So many quests, in fact, that I have split the quests guide into beginner and advanced quests.

Beginner quests are for the early fishing levels as well as early character levels. The one that I did most was turning in Rusty Buckets. You will find, when you start out fishing, that you will get a LOT of Rusty Buckets. There is a quest in Bastok Markets where you can turn 5 of them in and get 300 gil: Buckets of Gold. There is another quest in Port Windurst where you can turn in a Bastore Sardine and receive 70 gil: Something Fishy.

Once you have been able to make it out to Selbina, you should go and find Zaldon in the Fishing Guild. Zaldon starts off a sequence of quests that take place between Selbina and Mhaura. The first quest in this line is Under The Sea. Explore Selbina, Mhaura and The Ferry and you will be able to find out more about these quests.

Most fish have some sort of quest associated with them. Before ever throwing away a fish, consider looking up how you can use it, whether it be in a quest, in crafting, or just in selling it on the Auction House or an NPC for gil.


Fishing 211: Fishing and Crafting

As most of us will agree, fishing and cooking go very well together (not only in the Final Fantasy world). This is why the majority of the fish you catch can be used in Cooking recipes. A few of them are: Salmon Sub, Roast Pipira, and Smoked Salmon. Midway through the Cooking ranks you will be able to start making the good stuff, like Fish Mithkabob, Eel Kabob, and Carp Sushi.

Not only can you cook food, but you can make bait and lures as well. Consult Fishing 110: Rods and Bait for a list of bait and lures, and from there you can find out how to make them if you wish.

Lastly, most fishing rods can be crafted. This can be very helpful if you cannot find one anywhere. Once again, consult Fishing 110: Rods and Bait for a list of rods, and from there you can find out how to make them.

Outside of cooking and making your own bait, lure or rod, there are some other things that you can make using fish.

Alchemy has quite a few recipes that include fish. For instance, in the low Alchemy levels, you can make Black Ink, Silencing Potions, Mercury, and Poison Potions.

If you have the ability to catch very high fish, you can use Bonecraft to reduce them to their Scales and Bones. For instance, you can make Fish Scales, or Titanictus Shells.

Almost every fish is associated with a craft, so it would be best to check on what you can do with a fish when you catch it. Most of these crafts have to do with Cooking because cooking and fishing go very well together.




Fishing 212: Your rod broke!

You will find, in some case more than others, that you break your rod a lot. But don't despair (especially if it is an expensive rod), as they can be fixed. A lot of the time, though, it is not worth it to fix your rod because of the cost of light crystals. In these cases, it is better to sell the broken rod and pick up a new one at a shop somewhere for a few hundred gil. It does become worth it to fix your fishing rod when you start fishing outside of towns, or with an expensive fishing rod. The only problem is that it takes a very competent crafter to fix expensive rods. It is definitely my opinion that you need to raise your crafting skills to fix your fishing rods later on, if you are going to be fishing for a while.

The following fishing rods can be fixed; those marked with a * are not worth trying to fix:


Woodworking

Fishing Rod Skill
Willow Fishing Rod 10 *
Bamboo Fishing Rod 11 *
Yew Fishing Rod 20 *
Fastwater Fishing Rod 52
Tarutaru Fishing Rod 63
Hume Fishing Rod 72
Clothespole 73
Mithran Fishing Rod 83
Lu Shang’s Fishing Rod 80


Alchemy

Fishing Rod Skill
Glass Fiber Fishing Rod 25
Carbon Fishing Rod 49
Single Hook Fishing Rod 65
Halcyon Rod 72
Composite Fishing Rod 85

Each recipe to fix a rod requires 1 Light Crystal and the broken rod. Be careful though, every fishing rod except Lu Shang’s Fishing Rod can be lost during synthesis. Lu Shang’s Fishing Rod can be lost if you are on the boat, and the boat zones during your attempt to fix it. So PLEASE, be careful of that!



Fishing 310: Guild Points

Guild Points become available at fishing skill level 40 (Novice Rank,) with the fishing guild. To begin your guild point journey, speak to Fennella in Port Windurst at the fishing guild. Each and every day at midnight Tokyo time Fennella will ask you to bring her a fish. You will then have the next 24 Earth hours to bring it to her for a number of points. Each fish is worth a certain number of points, however, there is a maximum number of points you can get in a day.

Each day will be a different fish from the "next" rank. For example, if a Crayfish (Amateur) fish is what I need to turn in today, tomorrow I would have to turn in a Recruit level fish. If you are a Novice and today's fish is of Novice rank, then the next day will cycle back down to Amateur. The harder a fish is to catch, the more points it is worth, and the more maximum points you are able to get.

The following are a list of items that you can purchase with your guild points, and how many points they cost:


Item Guild Point Cost
Robber Rig 1500
Fisherman's Belt 10000
Frog Fishing 30000
Waders 70000
Serpent Rumors 95000
Fisherman's Apron 100000
Mooching 115000
Fishing Hole Map 150000

First off, just as a guide, as a Veteran fisherman I can get about 25000 points every 7 Earth days. This means that it can take a very long time to get some of these items! Also, Frog Fishing is not worth it at the moment. So far I have found no practical use for it. Next, Serpent Rumors and Mooching are only necessary if you are trying to get the Ebisu Fishing Rod. Serpent Rumors is required to start the quest and Mooching extends the time you have to catch the fish (because they are that hard to catch!) If you want to do the quest, get both key items before you even start trying to catch the fish. Also, there is no point in getting Mooching before you get Serpent Rumors; Mooching does nothing without Serpent Rumors.

As for the armor, Waders are nice because they add +2 to your fishing skill, but fishing skill doesn't really mean that much, especially when you can catch fish 30 or 40 levels ahead of you, so they are not worth the time to obtain. A Fisherman's Apron does not add any skill, but it does reduce the chance of you catching items, which I have found to help me a LOT! As with the Waders, the Fishing Hole Map is pretty worthless since it only increases fishing skill (especially since this can be achieved with The Big One as well).

So unless you are planning on going for Ebisu, the only guild points item that is worth it is the Apron. The others are just nice to have.




Fishing 311: Advanced Quests

As was stated in Fishing 210: Beginner Quests, there are a lot of fish associated with quests. The following quests require a highish fishing skill or character level to complete.

Norg
There are several quests in Norg that require an item that can be fished up in hunting down and finding old Ninjutsu scrolls. Some of these quests are Like a Shining Subligar, Like Shining Leggings, and Secret of the Damp Scroll.

Zaldon
Zaldon has already been mention in Fishing 210: Beginner Quests as the starter of a set of semi-fishing related quests. The final quest in this line (which is repeatable) is Inside the Belly where you can trade fish in for gil and the chance at getting an item. See the quest info for details on which fish are accepted, and what you can get for them. Keep in mind though, some of those items are very, very rare.

Lu Shang’s Fishing Rod
This quest is either called The Rivalry or The Competition, depending on who you start the quest with. If you take this quest, you will be sacrificing gil for each Moat Carp that you turn in, instead of selling it on the Auction House. Therefore, if you want to make money when just starting fishing, don't start the quest. The sooner you start the quest the better, however, because it requires 10,000 Moat Carp, which is 833 1/3 stacks. Assuming you catch 5 stacks of Moat Carp a day (on the safe side), that's around 166 days (or 5 1/2 months) of fishing for carps every day. Also remember, you have a higher chance at catching a fish the higher your level. Therefore, you will catch more Moat Carp when you reach higher levels. So it may be more worth it for you to fish for skillups at low levels than to fish solely for Moat Carp.

Fishing Rings
Two rewards you can get from Zaldon are Brigand's Chart and Pirate's Chart. They are used in very different ways, but both cap your level at 20. The Brigand's Chart is traded to a ??? in Buburimu Peninsula where you need to immediately start to fishing. You will either pull up monsters or a chest (have someone with you to provoke the monsters away so you can keep fishing). When you get a chest, open it immediately. The theory is on the 4th chest, you get a Pengiun Ring, but 4 chests can be hard to get and you may not get one on the 4th try.

The Pirate Chart is traded to a ??? in Valkurm Dunes and you enter a fight. You can have up to 3 people in your party. You battle 3 monsters for a chance at getting the Albatross Ring. This fight is very hard, so be well prepared (3 Summoners make it an easy fight).

Fish Ranking
This happens approximately once a month, Earth time. Chenon in the fishing guild in Selbina will ask for you to bring her a fish with certain requirements. It will always be the smallest ___ or the heaviest ___, of a specific type of fish. Everyone has ~14 earth days to turn in their fish (you can turn in more than one, but only your best score counts). At the end of the allotted time, she will tally the results and have them posted for ~14 days. The top 40 scores are mentioned, with the top 10 getting Penguin Rings (VERY nice) and a gil prize. There are other prizes as well that I am not sure of.

Ebisu Fishing Rod
The quest for Ebitsu is even longer and harder than that of Lu and will probably be the hardest and longest quest you undertake as a fisherman. It requires more time, more patience, and more skill. This quest is called Indomitable Spirit. For more information on it, see Indomitable Spirit or Fishing 701: Ebitsu.




Fishing 312: Fatigue

Fishing Fatigue has become a huge subject over the past year. Because of fishing bots, Square Enix had to implement something to try and stop cheaters. At first, they implemented a system where the more you fished, the less chance you had at catching fish (and, conversely, the more chance you had of hooking an item). This was fairly easily reset by changing zones, however, it would not be completely reset and after a while the only thing you could do is stop fishing and it would be reset over time.

The fatigue system is a lot more advanced now, but still has not done much to stop bot fishers. Why? Because if you are AFK fishing, even if you catch one fish, its one more fish than you would have caught in that time. Therefore, this has only really hurt real fishers (but at least its dramatically decreases the amount of fish these bots fish up and sell). It seems that this new system takes much longer to kick in than the old system did, and it is more gradual as well. Fatigue is not really noticed by small fish fishers until you become so fatigued that it effects your recast timer and you start seeing a lot more "You didn't catch anything" messages. It seems that this takes 3 or 4 real life hours to kick in, depending on what you are fishing and when you are fishing The gradual shift is much more easily seen when battling larger fish, especially legendaries. I have noticed, even after just an hour or two of fishing for legendaries that it becomes a little harder to decrease the stamina of a fish. Well, this makes sense since your character is getting a little more tied. As you continue to fish, you begin to hook more items and more monsters until finally your recast time becomes longer and longer. At this point, it is definitely time to quit fishing for a day or so.

There are a couple of different theories surrounding the "gaining" of fatigue. One is that you have a limit on the number of fish that you can catch in a day (most say this is around 200), and once you hit this, fatigue kicks in. I think this is somewhat true, but more advanced. I think that there might be a cap, but each fish is weighted differently (legendaries bring you closer to cap quicker than carp). I also think that fatigue doesn't kick in, but builds up, making it harder and harder to catch fish. Either way, there seems to be some sort of cap.

My one last theory surrounding fatigue is that your character can build up its own stamina for fighting fish. This comes from the numerous breaks that I have taken from fishing, and the numerous fishing sprees that I have gone on. A while back I was fishing pretty much every day, fighting legendaries and getting guild points to build up to do my Ebisu Fishing Rod quest. I could fish for some of these legendaries for a while without noticeing much happening. The I started catching Lik and Gugrusaurus and got a little discouraged at the work it took to catch these fish and the lack of results I was getting. So, I took a break. Now, I've picked up fishing again and it seems like my character gets more tired easier than it ever used to. As I've fished more, it seems like I can go a little longer without the gradual fatigue kicking in. But its just a thought. I'd suggest once you start fishing, keep it going!

No one is really sure how fatigue is reset. I believe it is a gradual resetting that happens over time. Others think that at midnight Tokyo time it gets reset. One thing I do know is that zoning hardly ever helps anymore. Once you hit fatigue, take a break from fishing!

Although this fatigue system does hinder us fishers, it more accurately represents real life. You do get tired after fishing for a while. You do lose your stamina when you don't do something for an extended period of time. And, the less people are able to fish up, the less the markets get flooded. So this does, in a way, make our fishing time more valuable to us.




Fishing 410: Fishing Instinct

A Fisherman's Instinct is the message that pops up in your log when a fish bites your line.

A fisherman's instinct is something that is "developed" over time (or as your fishing skill gets higher). In terms of the messages that you initially get, they are hardly ever correct. Unfortunately, my fisherman's instinct was great when this was introduced with the new fishing system, so I have not had any experience with the instinct at lower levels. However, from what I hear, you need not pay any attention to it while you are a young fisher. The messages that you get are almost always wrong and you don't need to bother paying any attention to them. As you grow in skill, the messages will begin to have a higher percentage of being correct. By the time that you reach veteran status, you instinct will be correct all of the time, however, you need to learn how to read the instinct for it to be deemed correct. The fact that "You have a good feeling about this one!!!" does not necessarily mean that you have a fish on the line. Here are some tips to reading the fishing instinct messages:

Fishing Instinct Message What It Means
"You have a good feeling about this one!" Small fish (item if VERY little stamina)
"You have a good feeling about this one!!!" Monster
"You don't know if you have enough skill to reel this one in." Small fish (item if VERY little stamina)
"You don't know if you have enough skill to reel this one in!!!" 75% Large Fish, 25% Monster
"You are fairly sure you don't have enough skill to reel this one in." Small fish (item if VERY little stamina)
"You are fairly sure you don't have enough skill to reel this one in!!!" 50% Large Fish, 50% Monster
"You're positive you don't have enough skill to reel this one in!" Small fish (item if VERY little stamina)
"You're positive you don't have enough skill to reel this one in!!!" Large Fish
"You have a bad feeling about this one." May break rod or lure
"You have a terrible feeling about this one..." Large Fish



Fishing 411: Fishing Tips and Theories

Some would consider some of the tips that I have listed as only theories, but I am confident enough in them to list them as tips.

Tips
  • Bait hooks fish better than lures.
  • Despire the fact that the Rogue Rig can hook many different fish, it is not advised because it seldom hooks fish and is mostly used because it is great a catching items.
  • Fishing is better outside the city than inside the city.
  • If you are not fishing for large fish, items, or monsters (or to break your rod) and a !!!"messages comes up on your screen, cancel your bite.
  • If you are trying to break your rod, you need to try and catch the fish (reduce its stamina close to or all the way to 0).
  • Sneak will prevent you from being attacked by a monster you fish up.
  • Sneak wears off at the worst of times!
  • Halcyon Rod is pretty much the best rod until Lu Shang's.
  • Do your research and try and use bait or lure in an area that isolates the fish that you want to catch. That will help you a lot in skillups and money fishing.
  • If you are fishing for money, watch the Auction House closely and see what is in demand at what times, or who needs what the most. This will help you get a greater yeild.
  • Fishing is considerably better during New Moon and Full Moon phases. Use the /clock command to see the current moon phase.
  • Do the Gobbie Bag quests to increase your bag size, so you can hold more of fish and bait.
  • Find a way to befriend Zaldon, because it seems that if you slap him around a lot like I used to do, your results are much worse than average with him. Even though I kneel down to him now days, it doesn't seem to matter, he remembers!
  • There are still some better locations for certain fish and money that I have not mentioned because it is for you to find them out!

Theories

  • For fishing fatigue comments and theories, check Fishing 312: Fatigue (most theories are there).
  • Angler's fishing gear (+1 fishing gear) DOES NOT improve bite rate or help reduce stamina better.
  • The Ebisu Fishing Rod is one of the least worth it fishing rods in the game due to EVERYTHING you have to go through to get it (someone please prove me wrong!!!).

Last Updated: August 1, 2006
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