New to fishing and confused

[Ninster]

I've been playing for nearly a year now and there's been several times I've attempted building the various crafts but I've never considered myself "dedicated" to one thing or the other. I'm mostly focused on adventuring and questing and that kind of thing.

So... I can expect that when I pick up a quest that requires fishing, I understand that I'm going to have to put up with a bit of effort due to my skill level of 2.

SO, I'm looking at the two Norg quests for NIN scrolls that require fishing up rusty subligars and rusty leggings, the two "junk" items.

After a few minutes of fishing in Port Bastok I've gone through 4 rods, catching only a quus and a cobalt jellyfish. I think I might be doing something wrong. Or is this how it goes? Fishing requiring more rods than bait?

I've read up and I get that the message when something hooks the line is a hint about what you've got but nothing's been consistent enough for me to figure out what I can catch and what catches me.

I apologize for being horribly ignorant about this, but any advice, particularly regarding the rusty leg and feet pieces I'm looking for?

[Karbuncle]

What fishing rod are you using? That plays a big factor in it if you bought a real crappy rod.

Halycon is a good, cheap rod. he Carbon Fiber is nice as well IIRC. Also, any message saying something along the lines of "YOu have a bad/terrible feeling" you'll want to give up, as its likely to break your rod (or be a monster if you're in an outside area).

[Dragoy]

Teegrins, Ninster!


When compared to the other crafts, fishing is very different with regards to requirements on skill level versus level of the fish. Some fish are very easy to reel in even if they were 60 or more levels higher than one's skill level is. Choice of rod and higher skill will make a difference, however.
If you're breaking rods, you're probably trying to fish up too large fish for the particular rod, such as Zafmlug Bass (http://ffxi.gamerescape.com/wiki/Zafmlug_Bass) or/and Bastore Bream (http://ffxi.gamerescape.com/wiki/Bastore_Bream) (which are level 48 and 86 respectively). They're certainly not the largest of fish, but can indeed shatter a bunch of rods. Even the cobalt jellyfish can do that to certain rods, I maybe guess.

As for items, which you are after, they can not give you skillupses at all, and I'm thinking rod/skill have no effect on reeling them in (unsure on that, really). What you mostly need is angler's discernment and bait.

By discernment, I'm referring to these messages, as well as generally knowing what to look for:


The messages the game gives you about what caught the hook.
You feel something pulling at your line. This means you have an item, or a cobalt jellyfish (can't remember other possibilities for certain, but generally it's an item).
Something caught the hook! This means you have a 'small' fish on the way.
Something caught the hook!!! This refers to a 'large' fish.
Something clamps onto your line ferociously! And finally, this is referring to a monster, which can't be caught inside towns.
There are also the descriptions Karbuncle mentioned, which I'll comment on further down below.


Rod movement and stamina depletion.

This could be called a discernment of sorts as well. You will eventually notice how these differ from item to fish, and from fish to fish.


Bait and locale.

The most important thing to be able to find what you seek in the first place. For the particular attire, I might use little worms at Bastok Markets (no cobalt jellyfish there). Might even try a fly lure if I felt like being fancy about it.

If you haven't before, check also the article about fishing at Gamer Escape (http://ffxi.gamerescape.com/wiki/Category:Fishing) for example, or at Wikia (http://wiki.ffxiclopedia.org/wiki/Category:Fishing), or wherever your favourite place for information is.


I do hope this helps!



What fishing rod are you using? That plays a big factor in it if you bought a real crappy rod.

Halycon is a good, cheap rod. he Carbon Fiber is nice as well IIRC. Also, any message saying something along the lines of "YOu have a bad/terrible feeling" you'll want to give up, as its likely to break your rod (or be a monster if you're in an outside area).
This may not be entirely true any longer.

I can't actually remember my experiences with those messages, except for very recent ones. That is, for a time now, I have been catching fish without any issues whether they had a bad feeling or a terrible feeling. I can't say I have tested that with rods other than Lu Shang's, however, which I finally acquired fairly recently.

I should like to think that monsters in particular would always give the clampy message.


Blubb!


Edit:

As for rods before Lu Shang's or/and Ebisu, halcyon is indeed good; I would use it for the small fish, and a composite fishing rod for the larger ones, which could break halcyon.