How to Get the Most Out of Fishing in 'Final Fantasy XV'

Fishing is one of the many side activities you can participate in while exploring Final Fantasy XV’s massive open world, giving Noctis and the gang a chance to kick back for some relaxation in-between missions on their quest to liberate Insomnia from the Nilfheim Empire. Fishing is an absolute blast, but it requires you to learn quite a bit — which Final Fantasy XV keeps hidden from the short tutorial — to make the most of the experience. If you’re having a tough time catching fish or reeling in those who bite, don’t worry about it though. Mastering the art of fishing isn’t something you can do within a few hours of playtime, but there are a few handy tricks worth knowing while you work on becoming a master angler yourself.

Here’s a few pointers to set you on the right path to becoming the best.

Purchase Angler Action in the Ascension Tree

Before you even get started with fishing, you’ll want to head over to the Exploration tab of the Ascension Skill Tree and grab Angler Action. This perk costs 18 AP to unlock and gives you a reward of 1 AP for every fish you end up catching while working on your fishing skill — meaning that you can accumulate a ton of points to spend on other unlocks in the Ascension Tree. It’s easy to accumulate a few hundred AP while leveling up fishing this way, so don’t miss the opportunity.

Don’t Forget to Re-spool your Line

Even though your rod, reel and type of lure are a necessarily piece of the fishing process, nothing is more important than maintaining your line when working through long fishing trips as Noctis. Your line essentially determines how long you can wrestle with a fish while pulling them in, but if you let the durability run too low it can break. If you don’t remember to change our your lines when their durability is running low, you’ll often lose big prize fish when they finally show themselves.

Understand Your Lures

Lures are key to catching different types of fish and as such, are one of the most complicated elements to fishing in Final Fantasy XV. There are tons available throughout the game as rewards or as purchases from one of the many fishing shops, but in general they all tend to follow the same basic principles. There are six main types of lure, each best suited for a specific situation.

• Popper lures are built for catching fish who swim near the surface of the water.
• Pencil lures are best used when fishing early in the morning or late in the evening.
• Crankbait lures are perfect for tackling fishing spots with underwater obstructions like branches or rocks.
• Swisher lures are designed to bring calm fishing spots to life.
• Vibration lures are great for fishing in wide open areas.
• Minnow lures are meant for use in clear waters where you can see your catches.

Each of these lures also feature a distict color and weight, which help you catch different types of fish in at the various fishing spots around Eos. Lure weight determines how deep it will go underwater, resulting in bigger fish biting the line, while lure color determines which fish are attracted to your bait. For the most part, fish seem to be interested in biting lures which closely represent their own color patterns. Make sure to use the right lure for the job, or you’ll find yourself walking away with only a few bites to your name.

Use Different Lines Depending on the Catch

While you certainly don’t want to break your lines while catching fish, you also want to make sure that you aren’t wasting more expensive lines on easier catches. There are only three types of lines present in the game: Spider Silk with 1,000 durability, Super Baleen with 1,500 durability, and Dragon’s Beard with 2,000 durability. Rare fish and quest-related catches will tear through the durability on your line, which means you’ll probably want to use Super Baleen or higher to reel them in, but your average catches while grinding out fishing levels don’t do much and should be caught using Spider Silk. This will save you some money in the long run and allow you to perfect your basic fishing skills.

Upgrade Your Basic Equipment ASAP

Like the rest of the game, fishing comes with its own set of equipment that can be upgraded over time as you progress through the fishing mini-game in Final Fantasy XV. Your lines and lures can be changed out consistently based on what you’re trying to catch, but your rod and reel have a more permanent effect on how well you fish. Better rods further reduce the damage fish do to your line based on their defense stat, while reels allow you to pull fish in quicker by depleting their stamina bar. As such, you’ll want to upgrade from the base one Noctis has equipped as soon as possible by visiting fishing shops to purchase them or by completing side quests related to fishing. Our recommendation is to head to Tabby’s Tackle Shack (southwest of Lestallum) as early as you can to purchase the Butterfly Edge rod and Galatea reel — which should make your introduction to fishing much less painful than it needs to be.