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This is a rough guide meant for the beginner. I avoided getting into the nitty gritty because most of that discussion is either controversial, not researched well or subject to constant change either by SE or by knowledge continually being gleaned from the game.
One resource site you may be interested in and where I go frequently (Maintained by Kida & Friends): Disciples of the Land: Information on Fishing, Mining and Logging in Final Fantasy XIV (FFXIV)
Edit: 1/26/11 - added a bit on baits/lures below.
-------------------------------------------
I kid you not ... fishing is fun. For the most part. It's miles away the better of the gathering activities (mostly cause I don't have to run around ... ehehehe) and only requires very minimal investment with bait and gear (for the most part pre-30s) It's more interactive than the system in WoW and less RNG-ish (to a degree) than in FFXI. There's not too many MMOs with fishing as an activity so I won't bother mentioning any other.
Why fishing? Two important reasons. Culinary and Alchemy. The patch in December gave a boost to Alchemy and made fishing a profitable venture. Culinary had already relied on (to some degree) on fishing but Alchemy took fishing to a whole new level. It's also a good way to pass the time if you're not interested in grinding Hand, War or Magic when waiting for friends to log in (or you only have a few minutes to spare)
Optimal grade levels for fishing rank (this is unofficial and no one has any concrete evidence ... anyone with additional information or correction please post to this thread)
Grade 1: R1-10
Grade 2: R5-15
Grade 3: R10-20
Grade 4: R15-25
Grade 5: R20-30
Grade 6: R25-35
Grade 7: R30-40
Grade 8: R35-45
Grade 9: R40-50
Grade 10: R45-55
(Please note that there are currently no fare above Rank 50 in the game despite the datamined information on YG -- thanks for the clarification Kida!)
You can tell if you're starting to push the outer limits of an optimal water if your SP gains drop precipitously below 100. Gains should be at an optimum of about 120 to 140 under the best of conditions but is tolerable at around 110 or 150. Beyond this range the SP gains are either too low for the time investment (i.e., under 90) or too high in a manner in which you're not able to get any bites and/or have too many fishes escaping.
Freshwater and Seawater fares (i.e., Fishes, Reptiles) currently range up to Rank 96 for Emperor Sharks. It's near impossible to catch very high rank fares w/o luck and the best equipment and lures possible and probably under the optimal lunar phase (Full Moon) Your ability to catch particular creatures is largely dependent on rank, your physical level and lures. The gear just helps in being able to pull in hooked fares.
A sample gear would be the one I'm currently sporting at R13.
It's not rank appropriate but sue me ... I'm just too lazy to bother with lugging around so much gear and my inventory space is too maxed out for me to care. The only thing I care about that needs to be ranked appropriate is the tool - the fishing pole in this case.
Now, I can handily craft my own up to R24 CRP level recipes but I prefer to just buy from the Ul'dah wards because the amount of time and resources to craft one is simply not worth niggling over a few thousand gils. In the time spent to craft one you could've fished up about a stack of something that could very well sell for the gil you were trying to save. Just as it is in ANY MMORPG, time is "money" and efficiency is what helps you to enjoy the game more.
So the UI is fairly straightforward and I'll just touch upon this briefly:
The grade of the body of water you are fishing is displayed first and foremost in the upper left hand of this UI. Please bear in mind that this is a pop-up UI and you will not be able to access the main menu when this is active. Beneath this is a message box which, while it may seem duplicate to the chat log, espouses important alerts with your fishing activity and is better because you do not need to take your eyes off the important "jig" area of the UI.
To the right of the UI is the interactive part where you input simple commands in response to the activity. The "jig meter" is a hud-type of display which allows you to see the pattern in which you "jig" or move your fishing rod. The bottom right corner is the option dialog in which you input your responses. Your current lure is displayed to the left of this and helps you to remember what you're using.
The jig system is pretty much the same as any of the two other gathering activities. You basically set down a marker for your initial "attempt" and depending on the responses you are given, put down another marker and so on until you successfully haul in your catch. Before all this, you are asked to set the depth of your cast and while this may seem trivial, it's actually really important. Every fare seem to have an ideal depth from which you can catch them and some fares can only be easily caught at this level. Once the depth has been set you'll see the following:
You wait for a fish to bite.
Basically you're casting out a line. This is the standard message.
You feel a nibble.
You feel a bite.
Nothing bites.
You can have either three things happen after you cast your line. A nibble allows you to either Wait or Jig but it's highly recommended to Wait. Same with bite but it's highly recommended that you Jig instead of Wait unless (this is subject to debate) a particular fare has a better chance of being reeled in if waited on at least once. Nothing bites means just that and you're prompted to set the depth again or quit fishing immediately after.
You have hooked something but cannot reel it in.
The fish has tired but you still cannot reel it in.
You reel in your catch!
The fish got away.
A few things can occur if you have a response other than Nothing bites or You feel a nibble. If the fare manages to take the hook you'll get the first message. If you are lucky you may even get the 2nd or 3rd message instead. And lastly, those unlucky moments or when you're fishing at an inappropriate graded water, you'll receive the 4th message. If you receive the 1st or 2nd message, you'll be prompted to interact with the Jig.
You set the marker somewhere along the arc. I usually like to set it about 1/5 along the arc from the left and it does make it a bit easier than setting it in the middle as explained below. There is some controversy over this because some players claim (usually with anecdotal evidence and not researched fully) that every fare has a "sweet spot" along the arc. Once the marker has been set, the following can occur:
You reel in your catch!
The fish got away.
The fish has tired but you still cannot reel it in.
You take in some line.
The fish is taking line.
You take a great deal of line.
The fish is taking a great deal of line.
If you receive the first two messages then there really is nothing more you can do. You'll be taken to the beginning (asked to set depth or quit fishing) and start all over. If you receive the 3rd message, then the absolute sure fire way of reeling in the fare is to set the next marker right on top of the first. Notice that when you Jig again you'll be seeing another marker move back and forth along the arc where you can set it. Once the second marker has been set the first will disappear altogether.
The next four messages are displayed if you do not get The fish has tired but you still cannot reel it in message. You take in some line means that you need to set the third marker in the direction of the second marker from where you set the first marker. The fish is taking line is in the opposite direction. "Great deal of line" by the fish means you're way opposite of where you should be and by you means you need to place your next marker a lot more in the direction you're in.
An example:
[-----------1-----2--------------------]
If I get "The fish is taking line" after placing the 2nd mark here, I need to place the next marker to the left of the first. If I get "You are taking some line" then I need to place it to the right of the second, ideally the same distance from which I placed the second from the first. Fares can react to the increments by a lot or little, so take care when placing your markers. Eventually you will get a feel for the Jig after fishing a few times.
You lost what felt like a/an xxxx.
In the event that the fish got away you may receive this message. If so, you will receive reduced skill points but no experience. Also the message is important and can be followed by this:
You sense xxxx above/below/right where you are fishing.
Success or fail (and failure only if preceded by the aforementioned message) you will get a helpful hint on where you should set the depth plumb for your next cast. Follow the hints and you'll be sure to find the "sweet spot" and that will greatly increase your chances of hooking the fare you're looking for. For those of you who are lazy ... (credit goes to Disciples of the Land: Information on Fishing, Mining and Logging in Final Fantasy XIV (FFXIV))
----------------------------------------------------------------
Baits/Lures
Currently in the game you either have an option to use baits (consumable type of items) or lures (reuse possible) While baits can certainly get expensive over time it is still cheaper than lures and there is no guarantee that you won't lose your lures either. There is a possibility for your line to be "snapped" and thus lose your lures. Thankfully, this occurs very rarely with sub rank-20 water/fares so you could get by with just a handful of lures. The reason why lures can be really expensive is that they require certain types of lacquer/paint crafted by high level alchemists using hard to gather bugs (usually found through high level botany and super rare monster drops) If you constantly browse the wards, you'll eventually find a few of these and they tend to be priced really high ... unless you are lucky and the person who is selling it has been trying to get rid of it for weeks in which case he'd have priced it at super discounts.
Baits tend to be crafted in culinary and can be profitable if enough players find fishing attractive enough. Currently in the game there's very little incentive for anyone to take up culinary but as more players find concrete stat information on the effects of food this will change. Since the change made to Alchemy many players are starting to pickup fishing and demands for baits will eventually start to grow as players realize that they can target certain fares in order to produce certain items/materials. There is definitely an intricate web like connection SE has built with these crafts and because of their interdependency with one another it becomes paramount for players to plan ahead before getting too involved with any one craft.
There isn't too much information regarding baits/lures, their bite rates and their success with targeted fares. In the spirit of an early guide for would-be fishers, I decided that I will casually update this section to include my findings and eventually hope to incorporate findings from other sites and players to have a more comprehensive listing of the effectiveness of the various baits/lures and maybe grade them with regards to their value (bang for the buck)
Chocobo Fly - Currently tested in waters north of Camp Horizon and has had a rate of about 50% crayfish bite, 20% river crab bite, 15% ghostfish bite and 5% darkbass bite (10% no bites). No other fare was being caught. 90% to full moon.
Goby Ball +1 - Tested near the waters surrounding the Ferry Docks (Thanalan Region) ... fish behind chocobo caravan at the front of the dock ticket office. High rate of Hammerhead Sharks (+1 up) with this particular bait along with "strike it big" for Tiger Cods.
Crab Ball - Seems to isolate catches to just Ash Tuna, Hammerheads and Breams (Depth 0, Grade 4 Cedarwood, Sea Cliff)
One resource site you may be interested in and where I go frequently (Maintained by Kida & Friends): Disciples of the Land: Information on Fishing, Mining and Logging in Final Fantasy XIV (FFXIV)
Edit: 1/26/11 - added a bit on baits/lures below.
-------------------------------------------
I kid you not ... fishing is fun. For the most part. It's miles away the better of the gathering activities (mostly cause I don't have to run around ... ehehehe) and only requires very minimal investment with bait and gear (for the most part pre-30s) It's more interactive than the system in WoW and less RNG-ish (to a degree) than in FFXI. There's not too many MMOs with fishing as an activity so I won't bother mentioning any other.
Why fishing? Two important reasons. Culinary and Alchemy. The patch in December gave a boost to Alchemy and made fishing a profitable venture. Culinary had already relied on (to some degree) on fishing but Alchemy took fishing to a whole new level. It's also a good way to pass the time if you're not interested in grinding Hand, War or Magic when waiting for friends to log in (or you only have a few minutes to spare)
Optimal grade levels for fishing rank (this is unofficial and no one has any concrete evidence ... anyone with additional information or correction please post to this thread)
Grade 1: R1-10
Grade 2: R5-15
Grade 3: R10-20
Grade 4: R15-25
Grade 5: R20-30
Grade 6: R25-35
Grade 7: R30-40
Grade 8: R35-45
Grade 9: R40-50
Grade 10: R45-55
(Please note that there are currently no fare above Rank 50 in the game despite the datamined information on YG -- thanks for the clarification Kida!)
You can tell if you're starting to push the outer limits of an optimal water if your SP gains drop precipitously below 100. Gains should be at an optimum of about 120 to 140 under the best of conditions but is tolerable at around 110 or 150. Beyond this range the SP gains are either too low for the time investment (i.e., under 90) or too high in a manner in which you're not able to get any bites and/or have too many fishes escaping.
Freshwater and Seawater fares (i.e., Fishes, Reptiles) currently range up to Rank 96 for Emperor Sharks. It's near impossible to catch very high rank fares w/o luck and the best equipment and lures possible and probably under the optimal lunar phase (Full Moon) Your ability to catch particular creatures is largely dependent on rank, your physical level and lures. The gear just helps in being able to pull in hooked fares.
A sample gear would be the one I'm currently sporting at R13.
It's not rank appropriate but sue me ... I'm just too lazy to bother with lugging around so much gear and my inventory space is too maxed out for me to care. The only thing I care about that needs to be ranked appropriate is the tool - the fishing pole in this case.
Now, I can handily craft my own up to R24 CRP level recipes but I prefer to just buy from the Ul'dah wards because the amount of time and resources to craft one is simply not worth niggling over a few thousand gils. In the time spent to craft one you could've fished up about a stack of something that could very well sell for the gil you were trying to save. Just as it is in ANY MMORPG, time is "money" and efficiency is what helps you to enjoy the game more.
So the UI is fairly straightforward and I'll just touch upon this briefly:
The grade of the body of water you are fishing is displayed first and foremost in the upper left hand of this UI. Please bear in mind that this is a pop-up UI and you will not be able to access the main menu when this is active. Beneath this is a message box which, while it may seem duplicate to the chat log, espouses important alerts with your fishing activity and is better because you do not need to take your eyes off the important "jig" area of the UI.
To the right of the UI is the interactive part where you input simple commands in response to the activity. The "jig meter" is a hud-type of display which allows you to see the pattern in which you "jig" or move your fishing rod. The bottom right corner is the option dialog in which you input your responses. Your current lure is displayed to the left of this and helps you to remember what you're using.
The jig system is pretty much the same as any of the two other gathering activities. You basically set down a marker for your initial "attempt" and depending on the responses you are given, put down another marker and so on until you successfully haul in your catch. Before all this, you are asked to set the depth of your cast and while this may seem trivial, it's actually really important. Every fare seem to have an ideal depth from which you can catch them and some fares can only be easily caught at this level. Once the depth has been set you'll see the following:
You wait for a fish to bite.
Basically you're casting out a line. This is the standard message.
You feel a nibble.
You feel a bite.
Nothing bites.
You can have either three things happen after you cast your line. A nibble allows you to either Wait or Jig but it's highly recommended to Wait. Same with bite but it's highly recommended that you Jig instead of Wait unless (this is subject to debate) a particular fare has a better chance of being reeled in if waited on at least once. Nothing bites means just that and you're prompted to set the depth again or quit fishing immediately after.
You have hooked something but cannot reel it in.
The fish has tired but you still cannot reel it in.
You reel in your catch!
The fish got away.
A few things can occur if you have a response other than Nothing bites or You feel a nibble. If the fare manages to take the hook you'll get the first message. If you are lucky you may even get the 2nd or 3rd message instead. And lastly, those unlucky moments or when you're fishing at an inappropriate graded water, you'll receive the 4th message. If you receive the 1st or 2nd message, you'll be prompted to interact with the Jig.
You set the marker somewhere along the arc. I usually like to set it about 1/5 along the arc from the left and it does make it a bit easier than setting it in the middle as explained below. There is some controversy over this because some players claim (usually with anecdotal evidence and not researched fully) that every fare has a "sweet spot" along the arc. Once the marker has been set, the following can occur:
You reel in your catch!
The fish got away.
The fish has tired but you still cannot reel it in.
You take in some line.
The fish is taking line.
You take a great deal of line.
The fish is taking a great deal of line.
If you receive the first two messages then there really is nothing more you can do. You'll be taken to the beginning (asked to set depth or quit fishing) and start all over. If you receive the 3rd message, then the absolute sure fire way of reeling in the fare is to set the next marker right on top of the first. Notice that when you Jig again you'll be seeing another marker move back and forth along the arc where you can set it. Once the second marker has been set the first will disappear altogether.
The next four messages are displayed if you do not get The fish has tired but you still cannot reel it in message. You take in some line means that you need to set the third marker in the direction of the second marker from where you set the first marker. The fish is taking line is in the opposite direction. "Great deal of line" by the fish means you're way opposite of where you should be and by you means you need to place your next marker a lot more in the direction you're in.
An example:
[-----------1-----2--------------------]
If I get "The fish is taking line" after placing the 2nd mark here, I need to place the next marker to the left of the first. If I get "You are taking some line" then I need to place it to the right of the second, ideally the same distance from which I placed the second from the first. Fares can react to the increments by a lot or little, so take care when placing your markers. Eventually you will get a feel for the Jig after fishing a few times.
You lost what felt like a/an xxxx.
In the event that the fish got away you may receive this message. If so, you will receive reduced skill points but no experience. Also the message is important and can be followed by this:
You sense xxxx above/below/right where you are fishing.
Success or fail (and failure only if preceded by the aforementioned message) you will get a helpful hint on where you should set the depth plumb for your next cast. Follow the hints and you'll be sure to find the "sweet spot" and that will greatly increase your chances of hooking the fare you're looking for. For those of you who are lazy ... (credit goes to Disciples of the Land: Information on Fishing, Mining and Logging in Final Fantasy XIV (FFXIV))
----------------------------------------------------------------
Baits/Lures
Currently in the game you either have an option to use baits (consumable type of items) or lures (reuse possible) While baits can certainly get expensive over time it is still cheaper than lures and there is no guarantee that you won't lose your lures either. There is a possibility for your line to be "snapped" and thus lose your lures. Thankfully, this occurs very rarely with sub rank-20 water/fares so you could get by with just a handful of lures. The reason why lures can be really expensive is that they require certain types of lacquer/paint crafted by high level alchemists using hard to gather bugs (usually found through high level botany and super rare monster drops) If you constantly browse the wards, you'll eventually find a few of these and they tend to be priced really high ... unless you are lucky and the person who is selling it has been trying to get rid of it for weeks in which case he'd have priced it at super discounts.
Baits tend to be crafted in culinary and can be profitable if enough players find fishing attractive enough. Currently in the game there's very little incentive for anyone to take up culinary but as more players find concrete stat information on the effects of food this will change. Since the change made to Alchemy many players are starting to pickup fishing and demands for baits will eventually start to grow as players realize that they can target certain fares in order to produce certain items/materials. There is definitely an intricate web like connection SE has built with these crafts and because of their interdependency with one another it becomes paramount for players to plan ahead before getting too involved with any one craft.
There isn't too much information regarding baits/lures, their bite rates and their success with targeted fares. In the spirit of an early guide for would-be fishers, I decided that I will casually update this section to include my findings and eventually hope to incorporate findings from other sites and players to have a more comprehensive listing of the effectiveness of the various baits/lures and maybe grade them with regards to their value (bang for the buck)
Chocobo Fly - Currently tested in waters north of Camp Horizon and has had a rate of about 50% crayfish bite, 20% river crab bite, 15% ghostfish bite and 5% darkbass bite (10% no bites). No other fare was being caught. 90% to full moon.
Goby Ball +1 - Tested near the waters surrounding the Ferry Docks (Thanalan Region) ... fish behind chocobo caravan at the front of the dock ticket office. High rate of Hammerhead Sharks (+1 up) with this particular bait along with "strike it big" for Tiger Cods.
Crab Ball - Seems to isolate catches to just Ash Tuna, Hammerheads and Breams (Depth 0, Grade 4 Cedarwood, Sea Cliff)
We all hope to see them soon but so far no luck on these.
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