How do I do ocean fishing...?

[Zaddi]

A blanket statement like "use krill/ragworms out of spectral, plump in spectral" will assuredly net you very low points. You need to use the correct bait for the fish that have the most points. Typically you want to use the bait the spectral current trigger fish bites on most outside of spectral, switching to the appropriate bait for a big fish if you get the intuition buff for them. Once in a current, you want to pay attention to the time of day since that will dictate which of the big point fish are available. Use the appropriate bait for whichever big point fish is up, making sure to use Double Hook when they bite. Most of the time you can tell by the length and type of bite which fish is on the line to a certain level of confidence, and that is when you Double Hook. You should be trying to get three Double Hooks into each current, and hoping for HQ Double Hooks for the really massive payouts. If you use Double Hook intelligently, you will always come out with tons of points from each current.

I have some research to do, obviously XD I'm going to learn fisher. It just leveled WAY too fast, so I'm very confused atm...

[Jojoya]

You don't know that you had the lowest score in your party. The score at the end is displaying the top 10 out of everyone on the boat, not just those in your party. You might have been #12 on the boat but number #1 in your party if the others were having even worse luck.

RNG is a big factor as well. Something as uncontrollable as being the one to catch the fish that triggers a spectral current adds 10% to your score.

I have some research to do, obviously XD I'm going to learn fisher. It just leveled WAY too fast, so I'm very confused atm...

Until you get a chance to learn more, there are some simple things you can do.

Always be trying to catch something unless you're prevented by a zone transition. Cast again as soon as you finish hooking. Don't use Release, that slows you down. It does mean having sufficient inventory space before you board (I suggest at least 35 slots).

If you're unsure about the best bait for the zone and time, just pick one to use and stick with it rather than waste time fumbling around trying to decide which to use.

Save your GP for spectral currents then use Double Hook. Lower level fishers who haven't learned Double Hook can use Patience to improve their score but a larger number of NQ and HQ fish using Double Hook will earn more points than a small number of HQ fish gained from Patience.