Quote Originally Posted by Tyonto View Post
I hope I don't come across as hostile/rude; I'm just person-who-collects-a-lot-of-ocean-fishing data and is passionate about it and teaching people that it is not as difficult to do well in it as it seems. So I appreciate you creating something to help people who are new.
Not at all! Seeing you with fewer than 10 posts made on the forum, but writing up such a long, informative, detailed reply on this thread, my spider tingling sense told me that you are a very experienced fisher, and you definitely know your game! I am just a newbie here. I think I (and a lot other people too) can benefit from your experience!

Quote Originally Posted by Tyonto View Post
Hookset use in ocean fishing is the same as in the overworld, which means it is based on the fish size. Just like in the overworld ! is Precision and !! is Powerful. !!! fish of green rarity of higher in ocean fishing are like big fish in that they can be either Hookset.

For Hooksets in general: A fish with an average size of <20im means the fish will confidently be Precision and an average size of >30m will confidently be Powerful. 20~30im is a bit of a grey area.

There are six ocean fishing fish in total which are Precision. The one I didn't mention above is Seafaring Toad, which is beyond the scope of this guide, but yes the five mentioned are also all Precision.

Here's some applied tests done:

The Spectral fish in general have a pretty high escape rate so even using the correct one they have a decently good chance of getting away but all of the above have average sizes in-line with being Precision Hookset fish as well.
Dude, this is GOLD! This is important information and precious data that may rectify a common misconception! No wonder I kept missing the Shooting Stars and Ginkgo Fins! I did get them eventually with Powerful Hook, but the failure rate is horrendous. If I had known this earlier, I'd have a much better chance of catching them! Similarly, the Seafaring Toad has been ultra-elusive, and I failed sooo many times before finally getting it today:



If I had known this earlier, I might have gotten her much earlier!

And I cannot believe the Spectral Sea Bo, Butterfly and Discus favoring Precision instead of Powerful! Did you obtain these data yourself by testing? The advantage of using Precision is gigantic! And it's so hard to believe that HALF of the Spectral Fish would be favoring Precision instead! I need to make a note on this definitely. In fact, it's information that is very critical to the WHOLE ship's crew when trying to spawn Spectral Current!

Quote Originally Posted by Tyonto View Post
Devil's Sting requires Krill, has a !! bite but bites much later than Titanshell Crab or Mistbeard's Cup. Flaming Eel is a !! bite whose bite time overlaps with it but it is not available when Devil's Sting is. Flaming Eel is Sunset, Devil's Sting is Day.
This table is showing accurate macro-based timings:

The blue highlights are what the fish is most likely to bite on (or the required one, not account for Versatile Lure), the green ones mean the fish can bite on that bait but they have lower bite rates.
On any ocean fishing bait: Titanshell Crab is an "instant" bite which displays as 2-3s, stopping exactly as your macro timer hits 3s and Mistbeard's Cup is 3-4s, but won't bite exactly when your macro hits 3s. Devil's Sting starts biting much, much later and does not overlap with them in any way.

The example with Titanshell and Mistbeard's Cup's timings is a good example for most of the low-point high-yield DHx4/THx7 fish and how they can be blind THed, but it might appear difficult (but in practice is not really). But, in text this difference is both difficult to explain properly and so is difficult for novices to grasp, so I would agree that trying to get this across in a guide aimed at novices is not worth going into detail on and keeping it to the easy one of Jetborne Manta is appropriate but it can bite using Krill too.
Devil's Sting bites so much later and has both a higher point value and better bite rate so I think this is worth mentioning. However, if going to continue to use Lulu's timings and/or not explaining theat at face value they don't express how they can be blind TH/DHed, the Callichthyid recommendation is the second version of "easier" stated above, so is sound if that is the approach being taken, but brought it up to highlight that Devil's Sting is flat-out better and also still very easy.
I see now. I should definitely include the recommendation of Devil's Sting for Daytime of Ciedalaes! Thanks!