Mooch is a skill that becomes available to FFXIV’s Fishing job at level 25. It allows you to use a fish you’ve just caught as bait for a bigger one.
But what is mooch?
It’s just a fishing ability, and not a particularly useful one at that.
Mooch allows you to keep a caught fish on the line and use it as bait to catch a bigger one. Which sounds very exciting in theory, but not really as much in practice.
You can only use Mooch when you’ve caught a High Quality fish, and then there’s only a very specific subset of fish that can be caught with it.
It’s likely that you could fish for hours and never get the opportunity to use Mooch.
You kind of have to be aiming for it to get the most out of it, by using bait specifically to attract moochable fish.
So What’s The Point In Mooching?
There are some fish that can only be caught by using Mooch.
So this will rely on you catching a High Quality fish that can then be used as bait via Mooch, and repeating the catching process to land your prize.
There’s nothing particularly special or vital about Mooch as a process. You don’t need to do it – the fish that you get from it aren’t essential to anything.
Sometimes they’ll be requested through levequests, sometimes they’ll be needed for a cooking recipe.
Mooch is just a bit of added flavor to the fishing job. Some variety to keep you interested.
I’d recommend doing a bit of planning if you want to catch some fish with Mooch.
Here’s a handy list of all the fish that can be Mooched. Check it out and decide where you want to go.
The Mooch ability will light up on your toolbar when you’ve caught an eligible fish, so keep an eye out for it!
You can also keep hold of bait fish for Mooch – you don’t have to cast them right away.
This is useful if you’re aiming for fish that only appear within a certain time frame, and can eliminate some of the stress of catching bait within that window.
Using certain skills while holding onto a bait fish will cancel it out:
Fish Eyes, Chum, Surface Slap, Identical Cast, and Patience I/II.
What Does Mooch II Do?
You’ll unlock Mooch II at level 63.
It does exactly the same thing as Mooch, but ignores the High Quality requirement, meaning you can use it on any Moochable fish you catch.
There is a catch, though (sorry).
Mooch II has a three minute cooldown, where Mooch has none.
Mooch II also costs 100GP. So it can have an impact on your overall fishing utility budget.
You also can’t hold onto fish caught with Mooch II. You’ll have fifteen seconds from catching the Normal Quality fish to use the ability, otherwise the opportunity passes.
So it can be useful in some very niche situations.
But you still want to aim to Mooch normally where possible, if at all.
I’m New To Fishing, Is It Worth It?
That really depends on what you want to get out of it!
If you want to make money from your job, probably not. There’s many more profitable ways to spend your time in-game.
But it can be very relaxing and rewarding in its own right.
The Ocean Fishing activity is very social and enjoyable; and Fishing can take you to some very beautiful places in Eorzea.
