Kavik's 2013 Cheap/Fast Skill Up Guide

First off: A list of baits/rods. Rods: Halcyon Rod Lu Shang's Fishing Rod

Baits: Little Worm (optional) ((3 Gil per fish)) Lugworm (optional) ((11 gil per fish)) Insect Ball (op) ((48 Gil per fish)) Sinking Minnow ((Price varies 1-3k Usually at guild)) Minnow ((1~k at the guild)) Shrimp Lure ((Cost me a one time price of 20k)) Fly Lure ((1k from the guild)) Robber Rig ((1500 guild points or 70k from the AH (on Fenrir)) Alternately Rogue Rig ((5k on AH on Fenrir)). Most of these are craftable if you already have them leveled or have friends.

Note: I prefer Lures as bait because quite frankly I'm a cheapskate. So once you buy the above lures. Assuming you don't break your lines. These and your Lu Shang's Fishing Rod should be the only costs associated with leveling fishing from 0-100 or 108. You can, at almost any time, go to the next fish on this list. Fishing is the only skill, sans Synergy, that allows you to fish any fish regardless or nearly so of skill level. Skill level only effects the difficulty of reeling in your catch. So if you can go to a higher level fish. Feel free.

The priority here is cost/fish ratio and total bites of fish vs target fish bite ratio. These should net you 2-3 Skill Levels per day. Naturally as you near cap at each place, skill ups will slow. This list http://wiki.ffxiclopedia.org/wiki/Category:Fishing/All_Recipes can be used if you wish to bridge any gaps or you cannot obtain some things.

Halcyon Rod is used until Lu'Shangs Fishing Rod is.

This guide is merely what worked for ME.

0-11 Moat Carp - Ideally, mog garden using insect paste, (100% catch rate of moat carp, no items or anything to waste your bait). Alternately you can use fastwater fishing rod, I caught 50 carp without breaking my rod once. Can use little worms with this set up for 100% Carp bites. If you're below 7 you can use little worms here as well for the crayfish to catch both until you hit 7 then either switch bait, rods, or both. NPC's for ~10 Gil Profit 7 gil per fish Max income from npc: 2000 gil.

Bonus is a Lu Shang's Fishing Rod item.

11-27 Tri-Colored Carp - East Ronfaure With a Shrimp Lure. Only gold carp and these will bite on the shrimp. NPCs for 53-56 gil each. Profit will vary depending on how much your Shrimp Lure cost you. Max Income from npc: 11,200

27-35 - Dark bass/crystal Bass Santuary of Zi-tah Pond. Use Sinking Minnow. Only these two fish will bite with a Holycon/Sinking Minoow set up. Making it easy to skill off of these with no 'trash' bites.Dark Bass npc for ~20 gil a fish. Crystal Bass you cannot npc except for guild points. You can auction house them or trade them in for rank points in your home nation. Or toss them. Profit will vary depending on how much your sinking minnow cost. Max income from npc: 4,000 (If you fished 100% Dark Bass).

This is going to seem like a mighty jump... but it's really not.

35-50 (or 53 if you wanna go to exact cap) - Shall Shell, Bibiki bay with robber or rogue rig. There are other fish that will rarely bite on your bait here but the % is relatively small. All of the other choices have a great deal of fish that will bite on your bait, wasting you time and money. 300~307 gil (450 to Fishing guild). Profit will vary depending on how much you spent on your chosen bait. Could be 300 per shell if you got your bait from guild points. Or you could be in the hole for a while. Max income from non guild npc: 61,400

50-55 Bluetail - Minnow. I Fished these in West Saruta in the sea. Good Bite rite etc. But these are kind of a stepping fish for the next part.300~307 gil. Max income from npc: 61,400

You need to obtain a Lu Shang's Fishing Rod. Just do it. Mercanbaligi NPC for 600gil/fish to the NPC so you will be making from now on a minimum of 120k a day fishing to cap (200 catches) without any items. At 200 moat carp a day (assuming you fished in your mog garden with little worms (see the moat carp section)this would cost you about 30,000 gil in bait. Assuming you only fished the carps, it would take you 50 Days to get this and would net you 70,000 gil from trading the npc's the carps). Meaning to obtain you Lu Shang's Fishing Rod you would profit, 40,000 gil. I'm impatient so I just bought mine.

55-96 Nashmau with a Shrimp Lure. Everything you can fish with a Shrimp Lure out of the Port of Nashmau. Mercanbaligi cap at 86, Ahtapots cap at 96. There are plentiful NPCs to sell these to while you're there as well These are the only 2 things that will bite on a Shrimp Lure. Merc's NPC for 600 gil and ahtapots npc for 700 gil. Alternately, you can go to talacca cove and catch, mercanbaligi, Ahtapots, and Dil which npc for up to 724 gil. Biggest con here is that you can fish up mobs here, which you cannot in Port Nashmau. Max income in either of these places: Between 120,000 to 140,000 gil depending on which % of which fish you catch.

From here out, any fish under 1500 PZ can be caught with a Lu Shang's Fishing Rod without risking a rod break. I suggest either Armored Pisces (goes to 108 cap) in Oldtown Mavop (Npcs for 980+ gil each max income 196,000) or any of the legenedary (again under 1500 pz fish). Giant Chirai in The boyada tree are the highest NPC priced fish which you can catch safely with a Lu Shang's Fishing Rod at 1100 gil per fish. Max income: 220,000

Happy Hunting! ~ Kavik of Fenrir.