Welcome to Gaia! ::

Table of contents:
1)My crudentials/ Why I think am I quallified to make this thread
- a)My personnel experience
- b)Other sources
2)Basics of Fishing
- a)Basic requirements/ Glitches
- b)Where do I find each fish?
- c)How fish move/ How to catch fish
- d)What do I do with the fish I've caught
3)Tips on how to fish Bass'ken Lake
- a)Why Bass'ken is best for beginners
- b)Tips on recognizing the larger fish
- c)Tips on how to filter Bass'ken
- d)I can catch the large fish now what?
4)Tips on how to fish the Port of Gambino
- a)Why should I go to Gambino second?
- b)Tips on recognizing the larger fish
- c)Tips on how to filter Gambino
5)Tips on how to fish the Durem Reclamation Facility
- a)If Durem pays the best for fish, why don't I just go there first?
- b)Tips on recognizing the larger fish
- c)Tips on how to filter Durem
6)F.A.Q.

If you like anything you see here please make a post (doesn't have to be a bump) to help keep this thread afloat

Basics of Fishing:

What do I need to start fishing?
Well just like the game tells you when you go to start, you need a fishing rod and some bait, which you can buy at "The ole fishing house" in Bass'ken Lake. Then you just click on the lake you want to fish at (I recommend Bass'ken Lake for those who are beginners) then click on the bait you want to use (I also recommend using F bait if you are starting out). Don't panic if you don't see your rod on the first screens, you get to pick the rod you want to use once you are in the game (if you have more than one rod in your inventory).

Basic rods are the norm for all new players.
For more info on rods and baits check out this thread. (First two posts)
http://www.gaiaonline.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4852325
(note: Only the regular strength rod lacks the ability to reach water's deep enough to hook a large fish, the best regular rod for the job is probably the distance rod)

Something is terribly wrong and my game won't start!
This guy has some good info on glitches that prevent you from starting a game. (3rd post down)
http://www.gaiaonline.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4858935
Also check the announcements to see if an error is occurring that Gaia is trying to fix.

Where do I find each fish?
Here's that post I told you had great fish info. (First post, third quote)
http://www.gaiaonline.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4594036
For the shorter, less detailed version go to this thread. (Third post down)
http://www.gaiaonline.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4858935

How does bait grade affect my catches?
The better your grade of bait the more likely you are to catch larger fish, and the less trash you will have to encounter during your game. This doesn't mean go out and buy A bait first thing, you may have seen posts asking about "Bait Degredation". Simply put it means when you wait twelve real time hours inbetween your fishing games you can buy lower grade bait that will act like A bait. The specific patern that you should buy to get A bait results are F-F-D-D-D then switch to A bait, or wait twelve real time hours to go again. More info here: (first post)
http://www.gaiaonline.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4858935

How do I find a rare fish?
You don't they find you. Rare fish are a random Gaia event like pick boxes, or pink links. They can show up at any distance, with any rod, with any bait (except for degraded F bait apperantly). For more info click here. (Second post)
http://www.gaiaonline.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4858935

How do the fish move/ How do I catch a fish?
Here's the good info post again, the second post shows how fish move; and further down is information on the speed/determination of each type of fish.
http://www.gaiaonline.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4594036

To catch a fish you must move your mouse around the screen in the opposite direction to stop a fish from moving before it goes out the red lines. I have also taken the liberty of making a diagram that shows how far you have to move your mouse on the screen to stop various fish.

In each lake I will explain how you can apply this information to filter out unwanted materials and get a good haul.

Now that I have these fish what do I do with them?
There are a number of things you can do with them. You can collect them in order to make a nifty fish hat (and now they have trash clothes too), which can be done at the "Fish Exchange" at "The ole fishing house".
Info on hats: http://www.gaiaonline.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4852325

Or you can sell them off. While you can sell them at the fishing house you won't make as much money off of them as you would if you sold them through the market (link to the fish market where you can buy/sell/trade your fishies http://www.gaiaonline.com/forum/viewforum.php?f=125). The only fish I would recommend selling at the fish house are the small fish of each lake (guppies, seedkins, & pebbos) since there is not much demand for them any more.

Tips on how to fish the Port of Gambino

Why should I fish at the port second?
I recommend going to the port next because the fish are harder to catch then in Bass'ken (and therefore pay better), but not as hard as the fish in Durem. There is no reason why you should HAVE to go to Gambino instead of Durem, it just seems like the logical choice.

How to improve your filtering:
Now that you have come to the port let me say three words "Trash is SLOW", it is perhaps the easiest thing to identify in this place because it is the slowest and takes forever to turn. If you don't like getting trash then this place is a walk in the park for you. After that it get's a little tricky figuring out what is what since the port's fish populace have a pretty even temperment to them. If you can learn to distinguish the tunas from the seedkin/trout then you are doing good. If you can leard to distinguish the trout from the seedkins you are doing great.

How to spot tunas and trouts:
Just like in Bass'ken it is easy to sort out these fish from the smaller ones since they are a bit faster, but require a lot more pull to get them to stop. Spotting trouts are a little trickier though, here's what I've learned so far. Seedkins seem to have a basic speed at which they move, the trouts move just a bit faster then that and turn faster than the seedkins. Also when the fish is pulling to the right if you are holding your mouse next to the left red line on the right of it (the orange zone in the power gauge) then the seedkins will have a tendancy to move towards the left red line or not move at all, while the trout will be more likely to move slowly towards the right.

For the love of helmets! I still can't tell when they are going to turn.
How sad that you have come this far only to be defeated by an inability to operate a stop watch and a mouse at the same time. No worries though because there is a way to tell when your fishy is getting ready to switch directions on you with nothing but your brain. If you simply make a tune that you can count to (like "Sound of Music" Do, re, mi, switched with 1, 2, 3) then you will be able to tell when fish are going to turn because they stay pretty true to the tune so long as you don't change it. There is a point at which you want slow the tempo down a bit which is the slow zone (it is coloured blue on the power gauge), and it is easy to spot because that is where the water goes darker. Then you just have to know how much pull you need and your set, it will take a long time to get used to but is well worth it if you can guide a tuna up the middle and it never moves.

F.A.Q.
Q: How do I find out where my score is at if it only displays the top 25 fishers?
A: On the first page when you click to see the top fishers all of your information is displayed (your score overall/by lake, how long you fished each lake, and what number you are on the top fishers). If you happen to be looking for info on how far away from the next spot you are then you are out of luck cause they won't tell you.
Q: Conflamit! Why can't I trade my fish with my friend... huh? Huh?!
A: Well the answer is that you can't trade game items like fish or bait, at this point the only way to do that is to go to the market (both persons require a market pass to trade one fish for another). Put your fish in your shop as a of an agreed upon price, then get the other person to bid as quickly as they can. You can then choose to accept the bid and end the transaction with you getting your gold them getting thier fish.
Q: What does upgrading my rod do for me?
A: When you upgrade your rod you improve it's casting distance and increase the distance between the red lines.
Pic depicting how upgraded rods look found here:
http://www.gaiaonline.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4852325

I tried to cover as many basic questions as I could however if you don't see something and would like to know my answer to it please post or pm me your question.

lol good thing made this without annoying people posting when you ask not to... yea I saw your last topic.. lol

Somehow I don't think this will make much of a difference in preventing the incompetence which causes ignorant questions, but good luck anyway.

This is the 100th time I've seen a topic like this. And even if you can get this topic off the ground nobody will come in. They will only make new topics like: "Help me", "What Rod is best?!", "Newbie here" and "What bait is best?"

But so I don't look like a jackass; Good luck 3nodding