Hey guys, Just thought I'd sum up my first couple days of fishing with what I would describe as a 'quickstart' guide to help new folks get ingrained in fishing the two main (IMO) species in this game. Carp As many people will have, I took my first step into Fishing Sim World (FSW) carp at Gigantica. The Carp generally start weighing in at 30lb so it's a good place to get some decent sized catches under your belt. I was able to catch instantly using the stock size 12's you get to start with and mainly chopped worm or maggot. My favourite spot here was the top left spit that sticks out into the lake. After trying a few platforms, it was clear this this one harbours a lot of fish - although not necessarily the biggest ones (for the purposes of a quickstart I won't go into targeting the named big boys). Casting 80-100% (starter gear) directly ahead lands your rig in a weedbed, which is preceded by a gravel bed. This seems to be a definite holding spot for lots of carp. I don't know the lake topography but I would expect there is some form of channel or trench in here. I generally only use two rods in this zone as the bites are so numerous. After a few levels, I immediately bought pop-up tigernuts (20mm) and the pop-up dumbell (18m) to target larger fish. I coupled this with the size 4 chod. Over time, I also upgraded to the 15lb line. After a few hours in this spot I had picked up a load of carp, but hadn't tipped the scales at over 35lb - although I did pick up Mr. Angry here (60lb). I managed to get him in with no drama on 15lb line, using pop-up tigers and the size 4 chod. I replicated this strategy on Manor on multiple pegs, wherever I could hit a weedbed. It was very effective BUT no named fish (for the amount of time I spent that's a surprise). I have yet to test further, but my idea is that weedbeds will be very fruitful for playing the numebrs game, but if you're looking for weight I'd maybe head to a silt or gravel bottom where theres some form of margin/structure if you're looking for the named fish. Tips You will pick up a fair few tench even using size 4 and using the massive tigernuts. If you have a decision to make (ie. I have 3 fish on - do I pick up rod 1, 2, 3??) The slower moving fish are the carp, the faster moving ones are the tench. That said, you will generally pick up larger tench so be careful you don't lose a trophy. The line weight hasn't bothered me too much. Don't splurge on line just to get heavy line to start. Work your way up. The heaviest line isn't necessary right away. You will launch the spod into outer space if you cast 100% Largemouth (but bass in general) I split largemouth and smallmouth because I generally am actually targeting the largemouth. As you may have read above, I like going for weights so largemouth is my choice. I will pick up smallmouth as well, but not as often. I prefer fishing Lake Johnson for bass; boulder is good but it's enormous depth and abundance of features makes it hard to choose exactly where to fish. I like choosing on sight and using the sonar as a verifier. On Boulder I find myself doing the opposite and relying on the sonar. On Johnson you're able to use all the starting lures to good effect, although the first upgrade you NEED to get is the Perch Swimbait (5 inch for bigger fish). It's dynamite; morning, noon, night, rain or shine. It just catches bass, after bass, after bass. It has a limited depth range in all honesty but fishes great within the 2-12ft depth range. I usually opt for a constant retrieve @ speed 2 - this is what I consider Plan A. Plan B is to modify speed to 2 or 4. If I see that bass are following me in, but not necessarily taking, I switch to a stop and go. Plan C is changing lure, usually to a Rat-L-Trap, although I may change to a Diving Crank if I have around 25ft+ depth and the fish aren't necessarily holding at the surface and/or aren't willing to ascend to make a pass at my lure. Setup is real simple, just use the basic start-up stuff for the sake of catching fish quick. I actually downgraded my tackle to the 3lb line to try and introduce more variability in the fight, but it didn't change too much. IMO the 7lb starter can be your first and last line. I pick up a few Pickerel and the odd Pike using this setup, but I doubt that'll change and thus I didn't put much effort into stopping it. As for Lake Johnson, The north mudbanks and swampy groves are great for picking up bass in good weather. As is Flint cove. There are so many different topographical features that you can't help but find shoals. There are also generally pretty big fish in those shoals; my trophy LMB is 14lb+ and multiple 13lb and 12lb.I also found the Inlet nr. Magnus Island to hold a lot of fish; there appears to be a channel trench under it that holds some stocky fish and a few shoals. Lake boulder is a slightly different story. There are multip[le cliff-face edges that bass seem to stick to. Find them and patrol the edge, you'll see there are tonnes of fish (unless it's raining; see tips). I also had some fair success along alder shore (sic; can't remember it's name), just taking 10-15 casts into shoals, then moving 10-15m and going again. Tips Don't fish in the rain unless you have lots of time and the patience of a saint. The fish are there, but not as prevalent in normal locations. Looks for shallow banks, that gradually taper that would likely have a muddy floor. This is where I found almost all my largemouth in the rain. If the fish are deep don't go for them (for the purposes of this being a quickstart). You will not start quick. Hang the lure at the end of your retrieve. This is leaving the lure in the water, maybe 1-2ft deep, and you'll get takes. Fish are following you in and watching your lure, stopping is sometimes the triger needed to take - this is a particularly popular 'hack' for flyfishing as well IRL, for anyone who does it... Don't fish in the rain Get the Perch swimbait ASAP if you want lots of bass fast When you go out, take a few casts off the harbour,. There are almost always bass there. Summary I hope you found this useful. For TL;DR, see below: Gigantica northwest peg that juts out into the lake. Cast 80-100% into weed bank Buy pop-up tiger nuts and size 4 chod Repeat Point 1 with new tackle Buy Perch Swimbait (5in) and go to L Johnson Fish in Flint cove and the inlet nr. Magnus Island + the northern mudbank area Catch loads of Largemouth If anyone has any other quickstart tips for any other species I'd appreciate it. I'm looking to try targeting some Pike if anyone knows the score?
If you are after Boss on Gigantica, Alcatraz is the peg to be. I fish 38-40 yards straight out in silt using 18mm Dumbell & Size 4 hooks, and produced 38 boss catches (some multiple catches) so far. I have fished every peg and no where near as much success as Alcatraz. Its a fishing game, so what works for some, may not work for others. You have to find what best works for your self I never liked the Dumbells, but since switching to them my fortune has gone sky high. I highly recommend people give those a go.
Thanks for this, I'm going to spend tomorrow evening trying this out. Will give you a shout if I can get the same results at Alcatraz.
I caught most of my boss carp at Gigantica on 10 hooks with dandrabaena worms. Way more in fact than I did on 4 or 6 hooks with big baits. Hook and bait sizes is just as broken here as it is in Euro fishing. Saw similar things at Manor. Had session tonight there with 15mm and 18mm boilies , only small carp and tench. Switched to the small 8mm boilies , boom suddenly 2x boss carps and 2x boss cats on the small baits.
