Special thanks to Carste who wrote up this Guide!! (Guide posted in Carste's wording)

*********************

First things first - I'm going to explain how to fish because it took me a while to figure it out (yeah n00b me). When the pole hits the left side of the screen hold 6 on the numpad, and when it hits the right hold 4. Don't you touch anything when it's in the center. Also, make friends with the first person view; it makes fishing that much easier.

As far as rods go, there are really only two you should be concerned with (at least to the point where i am) - the halcyon and the lu shang. If you can't afford the halcyon, start of with the a smaller one and then buy it as soon as you can.

Next line of business, inventory. Put as much stuff in your mog house as possible - free up items to catch more fish. While you're at it, do all the gobbiebags and mog house expansion quests. Fewer trips to the auction house means more time can be spent fishing. This is especially helpful when you head to the selbina-mhuara boat.

Macros: set at least one macro whose only command is "/fish". You could also set a macro to equip new bait when you run out, but i never did. Also, if anyone knows how to write a macro to auto arrange items, let me know.

Gear: I haven't bought any, but i'm sure it helps.

And finally make http://www.finalfishing.com your homepage. You probably don't need to go to that extent but at least become familiar with it. It'll prove to be very helpful.

Now, on to the leveling guide:

Lvls 0-11:
fish for moat carps (cap: 11), they sell for about 10k/stack or you can turn in for the Lu Shang rod. you'll catch crayfish (7) at this point too, which can lvl your cooking to 3 if you so desire. I did this at Port San D'Oria, but if you can find a place where these bite next to an auction house, the more power to you. For bait (another reason San D'Oria) go to South San D'Oria and buy little worms for 36 gil/stack from Lusiane (F-8). One final note if you're fishing here, you'll occassionally get bites for tricolored carp which are catchable, and gold carp, where you'll have no chance whatsoever to reel in at this point. tricolored fish up at a speed close to moat carp so you probably won't be able to tell the difference, but the gold carp will prove to be quite the challenge.

Lvls 11-17:
First thing you should do is start fishing yellow globes (17) which were selling for 7k/stack back when I did this. Buy a sabiki rig and you can fish up to 3 at a time. You'll also be fishing up Bastore Sardines which can be good for leveling cooking some more (they don't sell for anything on the auction house). After hitting 17 head to the storage of water in Bastok Markets or the ship between Selbina and Mhuara.

Lvls 17-27:
Two things I tried at this point: 1. the storage of water in Bastok Markets, and 2. the ship. I prefer the second of the two, but you don't have to worry about any mobs in Bastok.

1. Bastok Markets -
The storage of water is the area of water behind Harmodios's Music Shop. Here you'll be able to catch Moat Carps (for money or lu shang), Dark Bass (33), and Black Eel (47). The Black Eel sell for 10k in Jeuno, although they don't catch too often. Same thing herem buy a large number of little worms and you'll get all three (not sure if you'll be able to catch the Black Eel at this point but you will after a few levels).

2. Ship -
Time for another small investment, go buy a shrimp lure. The ship hits the Selbina and Mhuara ports at 8:00, 16:00, and 24:00, so you may have to wait a bit for the first arrival. A few notes about this ship: the mobs range from lvl 20-30 with a few NMs that can kill in a just a few hits. So, a couple pointers if you can dose up sneak before heading to the deck so the NMs don't aggro to you, or just hope someone else catches the aggro and hit up the highest point on the stairs in the back of the ship where you can still fish (you should be fairly safe here). Be cautious of the pirates, another few NMs can spawn from these guys and provide you with a nice case of death. As far as fishing, you will be able to fish up monsters but there is absolutely no reason you should at this point as long as you pay attention. when you catch something it'll say "Something caught the hook!". pay attention to the number of exclamation points at the end of the first line. If there are 3 (!!!) it's either a large fish (which you can't catch yet) or a monster. So, hit escape and let it go.

The nebimonites (27) are your target on the ship. They'll have one exclamation point, so toss away (!!!)'s. They're energy depletes rather quickly so if you get a (!) and it's taking a while to drop energy, drop the fish altogether, it's probably a noble lady and you risk breaking your line and losing your expensive shrimp lure at this point. Another little point of information, You'll catch things that say "You have a bad feeling" these can be nebimonites or items. I give up the catch in fear it's an item because it'll break your line and you'll lose the lure still. And finally, nebimonites can get a little agitating, it can be as bad as 1 catch per ship ride or as hot as 14 per ride.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------
This is the point where I am now and I'll give my plans for lvling but
they could change. I'll be sure to update as time goes on.
----------------------------------------------------------------------

lvls 27-46:
This may seem like a huge jump, but there's going to be a significant number of times moving between fish at this point. My current plan is to hit up ??? outside windurst to catch Gold Lobsters (46, !) and Ogre Eel (35, !) . And this is where cooking comes in, lvl cooking to the point where you can make peeled lobsters (lvl 7: wind + lobster), and you are going to fish the lobsters and make several (15ish) stacks of peeledlobster. Bastore Bream catch at this point too, but they cap at 86 and break halcyon rods, so avoid these if at all possible. Also, avoid (!!!) that's just a nuisance. You'll likely be at lvl 30 at this point.

Take this bait back to the boat and you are now targeting blutails (55) and noble ladys (66). Once again, avoid (!!!) they'll break your rod or just be a monster. You'll snag some nebimonites in the process too for cash. When you run out of peeled lobsters as bait, don't fret, hopefully you brought your cooking a little past 7, and you can make slice of bluetail x4 (lvl 15: wind + bluetail) and that will let you catch cone calamary (48, !). When you run out of blue tail head back to ??? and catch more lobsters.

lvls 46-66:
At 46, you'll be capped with respect to lobsters and calamary, so reequip the shrimp lure and we're hitting up only noble ladys until 66. Same as before avoid the (!!!) they're worthless, also, try to avoid items because they'll break your line. You'll be catching nebimonites in the process, but you'll be making a lot of money for both the nebimonites and the nobles sell decently at the old auction house.