INFORMATION BELOW IS NO LONGER RELEVANT TO THE CURRENT VERSION OF THE GAME!

Hello! Vesper here of the Eorzea Fisher's Guild. For quite some time I have debated on putting down what I have learned in my time as a puller in writing, something that others could learn from. Many Pullers have given their words of advice to others or even put them down into writing. I have not up until now. Originally my thoughts were, "Why repeat what as already been said?". But alas Sisipu has been driving Wawalago crazy as of late and he enlisted me... with Sisipu as my assistant to write up a newer guide, one that includes a few of my own techniques. I have been a puller for many seasons and have learned quite a bit, but life is about learning and I am sure I myself have even more to discover as a puller. From time to time I will release an updated version of this manual. Advanced warning, Sisipu has informed that she will be collecting the old manuals and passing the newer manuals out. I have agreed if only to give myself a few hours of peace from her constant humming, merrymaking and general cuteness, which at times can just be too much for one Midlander to handle. Ahh but now look at me, I am rambling. Without further delay let us get on with the manual!

Fishing Rods: To fish you need a fishing rod. If you do not already have one, a basic Weathered Fishing Rod can be purchased in Limsa Lominsa, Gridania or uldah. Better fishing rods are available as you become more seasoned as a puller. You should always update you fishing rod whenever possible, using the most optimal one available. Keeping your fishing rods up to date is very important when you enter a new grade. It makes catching those new fish which are above you easier to pull in. You can use a weathered fishing rod all the way to rank 50, but when first entering new grades you will likely encounter more lost catches, especially more 'instant' losses.

Baits, Lures, Fly's and Rigs: To fish you also need some sort of bait to attract the fish. I always suggest starting out with Lugworms or Bloodworms, they are very inexpensive. There are currently 22 types of bait available in three catagories, All Purpose, Freshwater and Saltwater. Some for freshwater, some for saltwater and some general purpose. To start out Lugworms (In Saltwater) or Bloodworms (All Purpose) will be fine.

Fishing Spots: There are fishing spots all over Eorzea. Once you have your rod and your bait it is time to locate one of these. To start out I suggest the Docks in Limsa Lominsa, the Fountain near the Uldah Adventurers Guild or The Streams of Gridania. Make sure your rod is equipped in your mainhand slot and that your bait of choice is equipped in the pack slot. Go up to the edge of the water and you should see an exclamation point. Open your menu and choose fish.

The Depth Meter: First off let's look at the Depth Meter. When you first cast the default location of the bar is in the middle. We call is the 0 Depth point. From here you can go up or down five times. Going up we refer to as +1, +2, +3, +4, +5 and going down we refer to as -1, -2, -3, -4, -5. Keep this in mind as each fish has its own sweet spot, a location where is it most likely to be caught on the depth meter. You can catch all fish in an of the area at any depth, you just have better odds at catching them at their favored depth in the water.



Now that you have selected your depth you have two options. Wait or Cancel. Choose wait and you will cast your bait to the depth you previously chose. Choosing cancel should be obvious.

Waiting for your Bite: After a few seconds of waiting you with either get a message notifying you that you Feel a Nibble, Feel a Bite or Nothing Bites. If you get the nothing bites message, simply recast and try again. The chance of successful catch on a bite or nibble in my experience is the same, any difference in success is negligible, I have never noticed a difference between starting my Jig on a nibble as opposed to waiting on a bite.

Someone had mentioned to me that they believe it affects your remainder bar, as in jigging on a nibble versus waiting for a bite will get you less chances to jig it in, I started paying alot more attention after hearing that. But still, the differences seemed completely random. Once you nibble or bite notification it is time to start your Jig.

The Jig Meter: In my experience there are five points on the Jig meter you want to try and hit. I have numbered them for easy reference. When looking at the picture imagine that the yellow numbers are actually locations you want to stop your Jig at. The circle represents the Jig dot. Our goal here is to narrow down the location on this meter which will allow us to pull in our catch.

When I first start Jigging my personal system is to either start with spot 2 (Center of the Left), 3 (Center of the Entire Meter) or 4 (Center of the Right). I find by choosing the center points it makes it easier to get narrow down fishes location on the meter. As opposed to just randomly Jigging here and there. For the sake of the guide I have called this The Three Point Jig.


Once you set your first Jig you will now get one of several messages.


Messages:

You've hooked something but cannot reel it in: This seems to be the default message you get if you are not very close to the mark on your first Jig. If you get this choose one of the other two (Center) points I mentioned.

The Fish is taking line: More often than not this means you are jigging in the wrong direction. Try jigging on the opposite side if you get this message.

You take in some line: You are going in the right direction but are not quite there yet. This can be tricky at times. Jigging just a bit left of right of where your Jig dot is will usually reel in the catch for you. If you jig to one side and get the Fish is taking line then just jig a bit to the other side of the previous Jig dot and you should get it.

The fish is tired, but you cannot yet reel it in: With the exception of “You reel in your catch” this is the best message you can get. Jig again and land your Jig dot on the exact same spot as you got the message, or as close as possible. You will reel in your catch if your close enough.

You reel in your catch: You have successfully caught your fish! Do it again!


Techniques:

The Three Point Jig: The three point Jig is my basic technique I use to figure out where the fish is hiding. To execute this Technique you first Jig the center (Point 3) if you get nothing worthwhile you move to the center left (Point 2) if you still do not get anything you move onto the center right (Point 4). This is very effective in figuring out where the fish is. If you still get no useful information please view the Peist's Eyes technique.




The Peist's Eyes: Okay so sometimes you will do the Three Point Jig technique and you will only get You Have Hooked Something, The Fish is Taking Line, the Fish is Taking Line... At this point you likely have very little stamina on your bar remaining. What to do? The Peist's eyes that's what. Make another jig towards the left and center it between point 2 & 3. More often than not this has saved a fish for me. You can do this on the opposite side by dropping it in between point 3 & 4. But I have had far more luck on the left personally.




The 42: Sometimes you will jig to point 2 or point 4 and you will be off a bit more towards one direction instead of the center. In this situation if you get a You take in some line message try your next jig on the same half of the meter, but this time go a bit more in the direction with the most open space between point 3 and your jig dot.


Tips & Tricks of the Puller:

Catch What Your Aiming For: Make your targeted fishing more efficient by going to an area where the fish you want is the only or one of the few that bite hard on a certain bait. Example: Instead of fishing Halatali for Bone Crayfish go to Mun-Tuy Cellars and use Chocobo Fly's, Only Bone Crayfish and Crayfish favor that bait there. It will speed your pull rate of Bone Crayfish, helping you catch more in less time!

Save Some Bait: As I continue my research into favored baits I have found that nearly all fish in Eorzea have more than a single favored bait. Do yourself a favor and anytime you see that a fish has favored baits that include both live or processed bait and Lures or Flies, choose the lures and flies as you will only lose these rarely. Leaving your consumable baits plentiful for future.

Fishing Above Your Grade: Fishing above your grade is a great way to make more SP faster. The best way to do this is to target a fish that you already have no issue catching in your current or lower grade and finding a spot in a higher grade waters where it spawns. Refer to normal favored bait guidelines. Please note that even though you can fish higher grades in this way, if the the grade is much higher than you there can be large strings of nothing biting.