Final Fantasy XI

(1) Introduction

Most of the basics of fishing can already be found in other guides and probably do a better job of explainig than I can. The meat of this guide is the skill gain chart found in section (3), which lists when you will expect to stop gaining on a certain fish. The other sections, (4) and (5) are my personal thoughts on Rods and Baits on what I’ve experianced with fishing, and from what I’ve heard and read from Japanese players and Japanese Fansites.

I take no credit other than the translation for the chart found in section (3) of this guide. Information for the Skill Cap list was all translated from here: http://www.geocities.co.jp/Playtown-Bishop/7994/index.html

(2) Version History

1.0 First Translation, anything with a ‘?’ after it still needs to be verified

1.1 68 ??? changed to “Ides Catfish?”

1.2 Greedie will bite on minnow lure.
Greedie, Zafmlug Bass, Cobalt Jelly can be caught with the worm lure.
? removed from Giant Catfish on “Sinking Minnow” lure, this was verified
Thanks to Hattori, Midgardsormr for these verifications!
Yellow Globe can be caught with Lugworm, thanks OmenCat!
Slice of Carp verified for Crayfish, thanks TheWatcherUatu!
Sabiki Rig verified for Zamflug Bass, thanks Yolos of Odin!
Minnow verified for Giant Catfish and Dark Bass by me.

1.3 Changed Layout, added (5) Baits and Lures
Updated section (4) Poles and Rods,

1.31 Cobalt Jellyfish added, Silver Shark verified, and No Gain verified on some items
Thanks again Akira!

(3) Skill Gain Caps

Again, I take no credit for the information provided below, other than the translation of it from Japanese to English. The original is found on this page: http://www.geocities.co.jp/Playtown-Bishop/7994/index.html

Anything with a “?” after it has not confirmed. Guild Price is what the Fishing Guild in Port Windurst would BUY these fish for from me with 13 Charisma, so prices may vary. If Guild Price lists “x” it means I couldn’t find a guild vendor that would buy that fish.

(4) Poles and Rods

My thoughts on rods, I’ve used at least 10 of each on many different fishing areas, baits and types of fish and broken them all. Mithran I’ve only broken once on Large ocean fish. I’ve set to break a composite. Note: I haven’t used Lu Shang’s.

Mithran Rod - Good for Fresh Water fishing, this can catch all “Small” sized fish without breaking, as well as be able to withstand the weight of the occasional “Rusty” item. This rod will last you for a good amount of time. If you do manage to break it, you should be able to sell the broken rod for almost as much (if not as much) as a brand new one.

Carbon Rod - OK for “Small” fishing. But it will break with “Rusty” items. I would recomend this item only for Salt Water fishing using the Sabiki Rig for best results. When and If you do break one of these on a rusty item, you can sell the broken rod for abouthalf the price of a new one.

Composite Rod - Best for Salt Water and Fresh Water “Large” fishing. Broken can be sold for about half to three forths the price of a new one.

Lu Shang’s - Best for “Small” fishing. From what I hear, it is unbreakable. The Quest for this rod is in Port Sandoria.

Clothespole - Best “Cheap” rod, I still recomend a Mithran over it, but I know how it is to be tight on cash. Upgrade to Mithran as soon as possible. Can sell a broken one for less than half the price a new one costs.

Bamboo - I’d use a Clothespole over it personally, but I highly recomend just saving and getting a Mithran instead. Not worth selling broken.

Yew - see “Bamboo”, not worth selling broken.

Willow - see “Bamboo”, not worth selling broken.

Fast Water - see “Bamboo” broken is worth half of the price of “new”.

Tarutaru - see “Bamboo” broken is worth half of the price of “new”.

Glass Fiber - see “Bamboo” broken is worth half of the price of “new”.

Single Hook - see “Clothespole”, broken is worth half of the price of “new”.

- How fishing rods work -

“Big fish” rods can catch small fish, just not ALL small fish. The way fishing works, in very basic terms, each time you cast, the game factors in weather, time of day, moon phase, what bait you have, what skill you have. From that it decides if you hook a fish or not. Then, probably randomly within a set of max and minimum it can come up with, it decides how “big” the fish is.

You see this more with the larger fish like Giant Catfish, where it actually displays the fish size in its description after you fish it up.

Then finaly, it checks what rod you are using. If that weight is within the minimum range, you will catch the fish. If that weight is beyond the maximum, the line breaks or the rod itself breaks.

In the japanese version of the chart in section (4) it actually shows what range fish can be in, I was tired, and feeling a bit lazy at that point and just wanting to get the guide done and out there so I just simplified everything to “Small” or”Large”. The way they showed it was by classifing fish sizes by chance of how often it was small or large, and something else that I couldn’t translate. I’ll improve this at a later point possibly. But pretty much, 1/4 the time while fishing with a Big Fish rod you will get the “too small” message, 3/4 the time you will actually catch the small fish.

This is another reason why I recomend the Mithran Rod. It seemingly has a better chance of catching the smaller “small” fish than other Big Fish rods. I assume it has a lower minimum number, as well as a smaller maximum which is why I recomend the Composite for actual “Big” fish fishing, as I’ve broken a mithran rod fishing for “Big” fish.

(5) Baits and Lures

Not going to list all baits and lures here, because they all have their time and place. The chart in section (3) should tell you what works with what, and what doesn’t. The Baits and Lures listed below are just what I’ve personally seen workbest.

Sabiki Lure - Great Saltwater fishing lure for 0 fishing to low 20’s. This cancatch you up to 3 fish at once.

Minnow - Good for 10+ fishing skill along with a “Big Fish” pole, I personally say only use this along with a Composite Rod. You will tend to catch bigger fish with this, I’ve personally broken a Mithran Rod using this lure.

Sinking Minnow - See “Minnow”, same basic idea, just slightly differn’t fish, and and seemingly bigger fish.

Shrimp Lure - Great Saltwater fishing lure for 20-30+ skill, best results with Ocean fishing, done off a boat. I tend to hang out on the Selbina- Mhaura boat with this lure for great results. Only use Composite with this lure unless you have a very large supply of Gil.

Insect Ball - This along with a Mithran Rod in fresh water can be a nice money maker. Go to areas with Moat Carp like Windurst and sell in 12 stacks on Auction House. Or save those Moat Carp for a certain quest =)

(6) Credits

The skill chart was translated from Japanese to English

Stuff that couldn’t be translated by Babel Fish was translated by Japanese friends in game.