After getting the fishing pole that was left behind by the old man in the Port of Balfonheim, I returned to the Dalmascan Eastersand and gave it to the guy standing on the dock. Talk about lightning fast reflexes? Good lord!! You really have to be extremely quick to get the hang of it. I tried twice and gave up.

The best mini fishing game that I ever came across was in The Legend of Legaia. And I'm sure that most of you had played this game.

Nope i havent wats it like?

Oh, there is a fishing mini-game in FFXII? I didn't know that, I might check it out later. The only other game I know that has a fishing mini-game is Dark Cloud (which was decent, I guess). And Xenosaga II, but I don't even remember how that one worked (so it probably sucked).

But yeah, I'll definitely check it out, sooner or later. =p

Woah.. whenever my girlfriend finishes with it I'll check that out.

The fishing mini-game in FF XII is indeed a bit of a challenge, but it's basically just your typical button-pattern kind of thing. Y'know, hit Right+Left+X+O before the cursor reaches the other side of the screen or whatever. As you progress through the mini-game, each new area you go to will be harder, adding on more buttons that you'll have to hit in order to catch your fish. The patterns aren't entirely randomized, though. The official strategy guide gives a full list of patterns for each area. GameFAQs has a guide for the fishing side-quest, though it doesn't seem to give the patterns. If you wanna check that out anyway, though: here.

I collected all of the bottled messages from the Nebra, and did a few other things, up to obtaining the Matamune (from Gilgamesh, haha; funny cameo), but never bothered to get that far into the side-quest. You eventually go to some other areas to fish, and for completing the quest, you'll be rewarded with the Lu Shang's Badge, which is one of the three items needed to make the Wyrmhero Blade.

Sometime into the side-quest, you can also use certain areas to fish and gain some rare items such as Scarletite, so if you need something like that, then this mini-game is one way of obtaining them.

The fishing game also rewards you Adamantite, well 30% of getting it, in I think the final bit.

Yeah, that's the other one I meant. I think some part or other gives a 30% chance of that or 30% Scarletite. I forget what the rest of the percentage is made up of. But yeah, the point is it's handy, particularly for those rare metals. (Especially Adamantite, though, since I think there's only, like, one or two other ways of getting it, one involving one of the trophy-carrying rare game.)

Hi Kioli,

In the "Legend of Legaia", you can obtain your first fishing pole by talking to the guy on the beach (forget the town) and then come back later to retrieve it after the "mist" sets in. The other fishing pole, which is the best in the game, (legendary pole) can be had in "Dr. Usha's labratory" next to bed by the teddy bear after you complete a certain task.

There are three kinds of lures: light, medium and heavy. And since you only have three of each it's best to use them wisely. Because there are some mighty big fish that roam the bottom of these ponds and you can loose them in an instant. For instance, a light lure will only scrape a little bit of the surface where the medium and heavy lure will set you at the middle and bottom.

The object of the game is to cast out as far as you can and then reel in by using the lower directional button on your game pad. You'll know when you're on the right track when you see "good" come on the screen.

When you get a "bite" the only way to survive is not let the tension go into the "red". If it does it will break your line and you'll have to start over again. But beware of using the heavy lure because there are some big monster fish on the bottom of these ponds. And if you happen to be luckier than me in catching one my hats off to you.

Like FF12, you can win some great prizes. However, should you try it, you'll see that it's a lot more easier. Good luck in your pursuit.

Oh, one more thing, about the second pond. Before you can fish there you'll have to defeat the ice boss as well as revive the three genesis trees. Until you do that you're only confide to one.

The best fishing minigame is the one from Breath of Fire III, hands down.

Really? I'll have to give that a shot. That's if the game is not out of circulation.

Thanks, Noir !

Try Suikoden II =).

hey thanks i didnt know that but ill look into it.