Fishing in your 40s

[Trell]

Well, aside from breaking numerous comp rods, I toughed out fishing for Gugru Tuna until I hit lvl 38 and got my promotion to apprenctice in Windurst. Broken Comp rods sell for the same price as new ones on my server anyway

Eventhough the cap for Tuna is at 41, it took me an eternity to get from lvl 37 to 38 while catching them. It was absolutely out of the question that I continue fishing for them till I hit the cap, if my skill up rate from 37 to 38 was any indication of what to expect.

Using the Osakana database (God bless it's creator), I looked at my other options. The problem is that all of the fish that are somewhat in my skill range (Gugru Tuna, Gold Lobster, Black Eel, Zafmlug Bass, Ice fish) either have terrible bite rates or are found in remote areas which I don't care to fish in (ex: Icefish).

I did get some skill off catching a few Bluetails and Monkey-oncles in Saruta Baruta, so I might stick to that eventhough my current skill level (39) doesn't allow me to catch them regularly.

What do/did you guys fish for in your very late 30s and 40s?

JR.

[PetriW]

I can't say how good this is around 40 but from 44 to 51 it owns:
Composite rod + sliced sardine.
With it you'll catch ogre eel (no skillup), gold lobster, bladefish and bastore bream. the Sliced Sardine costs 900-1k gil per 12 at the AH and you'll probably get twice that back per stack. Notice though that you'll get A LOT of "too small", but as you can get skill on that too it's np.
Average skillup rate seems to be 1 point per 2-3 hours for me. Bites are good ok at all times BUT make sure you move each time adv image fades or you'll start catching rusty.

Edit: baladefish lol

[Mullenkamp]

I've been fishing in South Gustaberg right outside the entrance to Bastok Mines catching all the fish PetriW mentioned. It took me from 28-36, and I'll be there until 38 at least. So if it's good for 44-51, I'm sure it'll be great for 40. I use sinking minnow just because it's cheaper, but I've used sliced sardine and it works just as good if not better.