Ocean fishing is the one aspect of the class that even those not crazy about fish at large or achievement completion eventually jump into. It’s faster paced than fishing is normally, and there are achievement rewards, including a mount, minions, and titles.

Plus ocean fishing is the fastest way to level Fisher by a long shot, netting tons of XP for Fishers of any level and essentially trivializing the leveling process (not those pesky FSH quests, though).

In this guide we’ll go over how to get started on ocean fishing, as well as the baits you need to increase the likelihood of proccing Spectral Currents while out on the ocean.

Final Fantasy XIV: How to Ocean Fish

Ocean fishing is available to anyone that has the Fisher job, even from level one. You can pick up Fisher, do its first quest, and pick up the ocean fishing quest.

Once you’ve completed the “My First Fishing Rod” quest you’ll be able to start ocean fishing by talking to Fhilsnoe (X:7.8 Y:14.5) at the Fisherman’s Guild in Limsa Lominsa, and starting the quest “All the Fish in the Sea."

To start an ocean fishing trip you’ll need to head to the Ferry Docks past the Arcanist’s Guild.

The activity isn’t unlimited. If you’re not sure when ocean fishing starts for your timezone, head to Dryskthota (X3.2 Y12.8) at the docks to see when ocean fishing recruitment starts again, and to see the schedule for the next two days.

Ocean fishing initiates every two hours. If you see that it starts on odd hours for you, you can bet on that always being the case. The same can be said for even hours. You can queue for ocean fishing up to 20 minutes after the start time, in instances where you might be late.

When the time comes for an ocean trip to start, you can once again talk to Dryskthota to join in the queue. You can do this either on your own or with a party of friends, as each fishing expedition allows for up to 24 players. You’ll be thrown onto a ship with other players regardless of whether you queued on your own or otherwise.

FFXIV Ocean Fishing Baits

There are seven different spots the boat can stop at during a single fishing trip. Before heading out, talk to Dryskthota and see which three locations the boat will be stopping at. The bait you should take with you and use will be determined by where the boat will be going.

The goal is to get spectral fish to bite (fish with green icons), to get a Spectral Current to pop at all three locations. Spectral Currents have high point fish you won’t see anywhere else, and are primetime for point gathering.

You can buy bait before you even head in at the Merchant & Mender just near Dryskthota.

At base, you’ll want these baits for each location to snag spectral fish:

Bloodbrine Sea — Krill The Ciedalaes — Ragworm Galadion Bay — Plump Worm Rhotano Sea — Plump Worm Rothlyt Sound — Plump Worm Southern Merlthor — Krill Northern Merlthor — Ragworm

If a Spectral Current pops and you want to really aim for the highest point fish in the area, you might want to swap baits.

This is more complicated, since the bait you’ll want to use during a Spectral Current varies based on location as well as time of day. We’ll go over those below, but don’t stress about this aspect if you’re new to ocean fishing or not terribly concerned:

Bloodbrine Sea spectral baits Daytime: Ragworm Sunset: Plump Worm Nighttime: Krill The Ciedalaes Daytime: Krill Sunset: Plump Worm Nighttime: Krill Galadion Bay Daytime: Ragworm Sunset: Plump Worm Nighttime: Krill Rhotano Sea Daytime: Plump Worm Sunset: Ragworm Nighttime: Krill Rothlyt Sound Daytime: Krill Sunset: Krill Nighttime: Krill Southern Merlthor Daytime: Krill Sunset: Ragworm Nighttime: Plump Worm Northern Merlthor Daytime: Plump Worm Sunset: Ragworm Nighttime: Krill

FFXIV Ocean Fishing Rewards

There are a ton of titles related to ocean fishing, but more importantly there are minions to be gotten as well as an exclusive mount to earn through this activity.

Major-general minion — Earn 5,000 points on a single ocean fishing trip. Gull minion — Encounter three seagull flocks while ocean fishing. Dolphin Calf minion — Encounter 3 dolphin pods while ocean fishing. Hybodus mount — Earn 10,000 points on a single ocean fishing trip.

That covers everything you need to know about ocean fishing in Final Fantasy XIV. Keep in mind that no matter how much you try and strategize, it’s possible you might just have a stroke of bad luck on any given ocean fishing trip.

If you found this guide helpful, check out our other Final Fantasy XIV guides here on GameSkinny.