Fishing question

[Asir]

I know the basic Moon cycle for the best fishing for skill ups but I had a real problem with fishing today. I had not fished in roughly 3 days on my mule and about a week or two on main. Fishing is one of my favorite things to do in this game so I was surprised to find myself getting frustrated with it today.

After fighting for a stack of millioncorn from the guild in Windy (Sandy's in second so no cheap millioncorn for me), I sent them to my main to be turned into bait. I was rather surprised at my high rate of HQ animations, almost all twelve stacks of insect paste. I sent 8 stacks to my mule then logged onto him(us ladies need eye candy too) to work on his fishing skills.

In Windurst Waters, I set up at the spot I usually had the best luck catching mostly Moat Carps and tossed in my line. 3 hours later, I have used up exactly 2 stacks of insect paste which netted me a stack and a half of moat carps, half a stack of gold carps, 2 rusty buckets and 3 gil. The pattern seemed to be I'd catch something, then catch nothing for the next 5 casts. Upset with my results, I sent my rod and my bait back to main to fish at Knightswell.

After collecting my fishing gear on my main, I head over to Knightswell thinking I'll have better luck there since my main has 27 Fishing. It seemed the game felt like repeating the same pattern as on my mule. I was not happy with this at all.

I have enjoyed fishing in this game for almost 2 years, having gotten interested in it 6 months after I joined. Since they changed the fishing to be more interactive, I have never had a problem catching fish whenever I chose to. I often walked away from Knightswell with all my bait replaced with beautiful moat carps. I've never had it take me long to finish through a stack of bait like it did today. I guess I should finish my rant and get to my question.

Has anyone else noticed a change like this in the behaviour of the fish you're too high to skill up on? A friend of mine suggested it might have to do with the moon phase but I've fished through every phase without a problem before today since they changed fishing. For reference, the moon phase was at 50% while I was in Knightswell today.

[Kirsteena]

Unfortunatley I have found patterns like that for no apparent reason. It just seems to be an "of the day" thing. I wouldn't worry too much - you will probably find it is normal next time you go to fish, frustrating as it is at the time.

[Jei]

I usually have a huge streak where fish don't bite for a long period of time like that too. And yes, around 40-60% moon is when it always happen. I'd ride the ferry for 30 minutes catching nothing almost the entire trip.

And for reference, there are 2 places you can get your million corn from.

1. is the Aragoneu regional vendor. This zone sometimes go under beastmen control but not that often on my server
you can do a search in this page for Regional Vendor, Aragoneu
http://ffxi.somepage.com/npcdb/

2. is the merchant north of mog house in Aht Urghan Whitegate. Unlimite corns 24/7

Also, there's a merchant in Kazam that sells insect ball for 36 gil each, unlimit.
http://ffxi.somepage.com/npcdb/608

[Taskmage]

It's also possible that the two areas you fished in were just depleted of fish by too many people fishing there. I've had this happen a few times at knightwell.

[Icemage]

Fishing luck waxes and wanes based on the moon phase. You "might" get good results at 50% moon, but it's rare, and you "might" get bad results during a new or full moon, but again, it's rare.

That being said, fishing is never guaranteed. Sometimes even the best of conditions produces bad results, and vice versa. There's a lot of partially understood "truths" to fishing in FFXI - skill level, moon phase, prevailing weather, current season in game time, time of day, the presence of fog or clouds, and a healthy dash of plain, unadulterated luck determine what you end up with.

All you can do is try and match your fishing activity during the most optimal time periods and hope for the best.


Icemage

[Asir]

Thanks for the reminder on the regional merchant and the kazham merchant. I keep forgetting they're there. As for Whitegate merchant, I'm still waiting on my hubby to order the expansion for me.

And thanks for letting me know the fish don't like to bite for everyone. Seeing the "You didn't catch anything" phrase repeatedly while being no where near fatigued was quite irritating. I think the fished out theory might be the most likely, mainly because I've often fished through that moon phase without a problem before. Then again, SE might've put something else entirely into the fishing system and all our theories could be way off the mark. I think tomorrow I will bring my lucky Wild Rabbit's Tail with me while I fish.

[Nakti]

I'm still not convinced about places being "overfished". But there's definitely increases and decreases in spawn rate. And it can be different for different fish. Moon phase and time just seem to enhance or diminish the spawn rate. One thing I've noticed is the Black Sole bite rate picks up a bit after Vana'diel sunset. Spawn rate is like the weather. If you're unhappy with it just wait a little while.

As far as I know you can't be too high level for a fish...

A weird exception though...

Once I hit ~58 level fishing - if I fish in Windy for moats during a Full or New Moon using my Lu Shang's Rod I *cannot* catch any Crayfish. (I always use Little Worms.) I catch only Moats, Golds, and the rare item. I see other people catching Crayfish so I know they're still spawning. Am I immune to the "junk fish"?

One of these days I'll test to see if that's true in other Crayfish areas.

[Taskmage]

Last time I was at Knightwell fishing, it was full moon and there were three other fishers there. We did fine for a little while and then suddenly our bites just stopped. Not a single one of us would get a fish for nearly 20 minutes, and at least two of us had just gotten there and should have been nowhere close to fatigue. Then, about once a game hour all of us simultaneously would cast 1-2 moats and then go back to nothing for a long period of time again. A certain number of items spawning at regular intervals is consistent with the current understanding of chocobo digging, which is so similar to fishing that I would be surprised if they didn't share much of the same code. Vendors work the same way, just on a much longer timer. It may seem like thier stock is infinite, but I've seen even normal, non-guild NPCs run out of stock on certain items when the demand is high.

Double Post Edited:
About your crayfish, as your skill rises higher level fish will bite more often for you than lower ones. At Knightwell with little worms I catch one crayfish for every three stacks of moats roughly. The only time crayfish will start biting more is if the carp are fished out.

[Nakti]

About your crayfish, as your skill rises higher level fish will bite more often for you than lower ones. At Knightwell with little worms I catch one crayfish for every three stacks of moats roughly. The only time crayfish will start biting more is if the carp are fished out.

Even if that's the case, my bite rate for crayfish is 0% even if I keep fishing till hard fatigue (trying to get hubby his own Lu Shang's). And the 0% crayfish bite rate has only ever happened during New and Full Moons. The moment it turns to Waxing Crescent or Waning Gibbous I start to get Crayfish bites again.

Now I'm really itching to test this somewhere besides Windy. Hopefully, I'll have time this weekend.

It may seem like thier stock is infinite, but I've seen even normal, non-guild NPCs run out of stock on certain items when the demand is high.

[Neomage]

Today while I was fishing for my Lu Shangs, I got:

Crayfish
Crayfish
Crayfish
Crayfish
Crayfish
Crayfish
Crayfish
Crayfish
Crayfish
Crayfish
Nothing
Nothing
Moat Carp
Moat Carp
Moat Carp
Moat Carp
Moat Carp
Moat Carp
Moat Carp
Moat Carp
Moat Carp
Moat Carp
Moat Carp
Moat Carp

Exactly like that, not one thing out of order. Only used 2 stacks of bait.. but it was weird O.o