Mickx's Fishing 101

~~updated 1/27/2004

Fishing is a very frustrating and time dedicating skill to rise. I’ll tell you
 right now that anyone wishing to raise this skill up to a high level, you are in
 for a long, long time consuming adventure. If you are looking to start fishing to
 make some quick gil, then success is not far away. 

I can not take any credit for the information I post here. I have had the help of
 a number of different player’s in-game and on these boards. Among a number of
 different websites that I will post links to at the bottom of this. I will also
 add that some of this information maybe a bit incorrect or off by a few numbers.
 I have tried to make it as correct as possible. Helpful advice to up-date any
 information is always welcomed. This info is only through my own experience in
 fishing. I am sure other players have found certain spots they enjoy fishing at
 more then others. Again please let me know, all helpful comments are welcomed. 

{Fishing Level} 
• 0 – 11 
{Fishing Rods} 
• Carbon Fishing Rod 
• Glass Fiber Fishing Rod 
{Bait} 
• Little Worms 
{Locations} 
• Port San D’Oria 
• Windhurst Woods 
• Windhurst Walls 
• Windhurst Waters 
{Target Fish’s} 
• Crayfish (7) 
• Moat Carp (11) 
{Notes} 
• At these levels it can be very frustrating. You will see a lot of messages like
 “You didn’t catch anything.” And “Something caught the hook! You lost your
 catch”. Trust me when I say this will get better soon. You will also break your
 fishing rod quite a few times. You can sell your broken rods back at the AH for
 some gil in return. Depending on what rod you broke.
 
I preferred to use the carbon rod myself in Windhurst because I noticed it broke
 less often. Also you can use Insect paste to fish for these but unless you can
 make your own, I would stick with Little Worms for bait. They work just as well
 and are extremely cheap. 


{Fishing Level} 
• 11-20 
{Fishing Rods} 
• Composite Fishing Rod 
• Mithran Fishing Rod 
{Bait} 
• Fly Lure 
{Locations} 
• East Ronfaure (in stream) 
{Target Fish’s} 
• Cheval Salmon (21) 
• Shining Trout (37) 
{Notes} 
• At this level range you can start using a Lure as bait. I found that my skill
 rose very quickly fishing these. 


{Fishing Level} 
• 20 – 27 
{Fishing Rods} 
• Composite Fishing Rod 
{Bait} 
• Insect Paste 
• Little Worms 
{Locations} 
• Jugner Forest (in stream) 
{Target Fish’s} 
• Tri-Colored Carp 
{Notes} 
• At this level you are back fishing for carp again. I found that using Insect
 Paste at this level helps out a lot. You will also be catching a lot of Moat Carp
 as well. This was very slow because of the fact I could not single out
 Tri-Colored Carp. You have to also consider your job level in this area because
 monsters do roam around near the stream. To be safe I would not fish here unless
 you are at least levels 30+ in your current job. Zeruhn Mines near Bastok Mines
 are another good option to go if you are under the level of 3.


{Fishing Level} 
• 27 – 30 
{Fishing Rods} 
• Composite Fishing Rod 
{Bait} 
• Sinking Minnow 
{Locations} 
• Ronfaure West (Lake) 
• West Sarutabaruta (River) 
• La Theine Plateau 
• Bastok Market (Storage of water) 
• Port San DOria 
{Target Fish’s} 
• Giant Catfish (31) 


{Fishing Level} 
• 35 – 40 
{Fishing Rods} 
• Composite Fishing Rod 
{Bait} 
• Sliced Sardine 
{Locations} 
• West Sarutabaruta (off cliff to the south of exit from Port Windhurst) 
{Target Fish’s} 
• Bladefish (64) 
• Bluetail (55) 
• Gold Lobster (46) 
• Ogre Eel (34) 
{Notes} 
• This again was at the same spot as from levels 27-34. It was a bit slower for me
 because of the wide range of fish I caught here. I found that buying Sliced
 Sardines from the Fishing Guild was cheaper then buying the items to make it on
 your own. 


{Fishing Level} 
• 40 - 50 
{Fishing Rods} 
• Composite Fishing Rod 
{Bait} 
• Peeled Crayfish 
{Locations} 
• East Sarutabaruta (Lake) 
{Target Fish’s} 
• Monke-Onke (51) 
{Notes} 
• These fish sell great at fishing guild. After awhile I did notice a drop in
 price. I think it was because of the number of fish I was selling there.
 Monke-Onke doesn’t stack in your backpack so leave plenty of room. This spot
 raised my skill rather quickly. 


{Fishing Level} 
• 50 - 54 
{Fishing Rods} 
• Mithran Fishing Rod 
• Composite Fishing Rod 
{Bait} 
• Insect Paste 
{Locations} 
• Port San D’Oria 
• Windhurst Woods 
• Windhurst Walls 
• Windhurst Waters 
{Target Fish’s} 
• Gold Carp (56) 
{Notes} 
• I found that at this point in time I was catching mad amount of Moat carp along
 with a few Gold Carp at times. It was a bit slow at first from 50-52. After that
 it seemed to raise my skill quickly. I had a lot better luck just fishing in
 Windhurst area then in Port San D’Oria. Also I used the Mithran Fishing Rod 99%
 of the time and it worked great for this. 



{Fishing Gear} 
To start off lets talk about fishing gear. I think fishing gear at any level can
 only help you. The “Fisherman’s” gear is great to start off with. Each piece of
 gear (Body, Hands, Legs, and Feet) adds +1 to your fishing skill. Later on it
 would be wise to purchase “Angler’s” gear because it still adds only +1 fishing
 skill per piece of equipment, but also adds a +DEF bonus. This helps when
 fighting monsters you pull while fishing. 

Also what helps is to get the fishing buffs from either Degong (next to the
 fishing guild) that is free but only lasts a short amount of time. Or from
 Panja-Nanja (near the fishing guild at the end of the dock) He charges for buff
 (amount differs depending on your level) but it lasts a lot longer. 



{Fishing Quests} 
The fishing quests you receive from Thubu Parohren next to the fishing guild in
 Windhurst Port. You can receive the quest start at the levels in the 8ths and
 have to finish it by the 10ths. For example you can receive your first quest at
 level 8 but have to finish it by level 10 or you will not advance your skill any
 higher. Next quest would start at level 18 and you would have to finish it by
 level 20. The next one would be at level 28 … “and so on”. The quests I found to
 be very easy because almost all the items Thubu Parohren asks for are sold right
 behind you at the fishing guild. 



{Fishing During Moon Cycles} 
• New Moon (zero moon, not lit) 
• Waxing Crescent (quarter moon) 
• First Quarter (half moon) 
• Waxing Gibbous (3-quarter moon) 
• Full Moon (full moon, 100% lit) 
• Waning Gibbous (3-quarter moon) 
• Last Quarter (half moon) 
• Waning Crescent (quarter moon) 

I have been told that the best time to fish are during the “New Moon” and “Full
 Moon” cycles. Sometimes I do notice a bit of difference in the amount of Moat
 Carp I would catch. Other times I would not notice that it was even a different
 moon. So I guess it’s really up to you on how you feel about when to fish during
 these times. I am also told that the best time during the full moon / new moon
 cycles to fish are between 95% to 100% and from 100% to 95%. 



{Making Insect Paste and other live bait} 
• Cooking is the crafting skill for making bait. As soon as you can start making
 Insect Balls, fishing for Moat Carp just seems so much more profitable. I started
 making them with cooking support at cooking level 20 and it capped at level 29.
 
Ingredients for making Insect Paste are: 
• Earth Crystal 
• Little Worm x1 
• Distilled Water x1 
• Million Corn x1 

I buy all my Items for cooking Insect Paste in South San D’Oria because I find
 them cheaper there then anywhere else. You can buy Little Worms from Lusiane at
 loc F-8 for 3gil each. You can buy Distilled Water from Shilah in the Lion
 Springs Tavern at loc K-6 for 11gil each. If San D’Oria is in first place I know
 you can buy Million Corn from Benaige in the Raimbroy’s Grocery at loc E-7 for
 44gil each. I stock up on these items and head back to Windhurst for hours of
 fun. 

You can find a great guide to raise your cooking skills here: 

http://vnboards.ign.com/FFXI_Crafting/b22595/61016774/?77 

and here to look up the ingredients: 

http://ffxi.allakhazam.com/db/search.html 



{Lu Shang’s Fishing Rod} 
The Ultimate fishing rod!! 
You receive this quest in Port San D’Oria. You have to turn in 10,000 Moat Carp to
 one of the two brothers standing at the end of the dock. (Not all at once) Here
 is a link explaining the quest: 
http://ffxi.allakhazam.com/db/quests.html?fquest=205 

THIS ROD CAN BREAK!! And you CAN NOT MAKE ONE. Only fix a broken one. 
To fix this rod you have to have a Woodworking skill at level 73 or higher. Other
 rods can be fixed by using Alchemist skills. I am not knowledgeable enough to
 explain how and what is needed to raise these skills. I am currently only level 5
 in woodworking. 

Here is a helpful link to assist you in raising your skill: 

http://vnboards.ign.com/The_Ranger/b22540/62451690/?72 



{Zone Connection Maps} 
A helpful link to an online map I like to use. Very useful in seeing what areas
 connect to each other. Also you can click on the different areas to see detailed
 information and zone maps. 

http://ffxi.allakhazam.com/maps/map.html 


These are other links to information that helped assisted me with this information: 
• A great site for seeing what time shop’s open and close. 

http://www.pyogenes.com/timer.html 

• Another good site with information about rods and where they might break at. 

http://www.fishermanrods.net/database_e.cfm 

• Outstanding information here about fishing 

http://www.blackenedforge.com/fishing 

• Another good site for fishing information: 

http://ffo.warcry.com/index.php/content/guide/fisher.php 


I hope this helps out some people who might have questions on where to go and how
 to fish. I’m sure others will have different opinions on the best places to fish
 at. This is just what I have done to get where I am right now. Along with some
 helpful info I collected long the way. 

Right now my fishing skill is at level 55 (Journeyman) 
I hope to add some more information later in the future of my progress. 

Thanks