6.32 THE ART OF FISHING

People fish for many reasons, from competitive sport, to income, to just
relaxation. With a little practice, you too will be a master fisherman, landing
those trophy fish with ease!


Commands
--------

BAIT HOOK WITH <bait>
---------------------
This baits your hook with the proper bait. You must be wielding a fishing pole.
Remember that there are four sizes of bait, and small bait will only catch a
small fish, medium a medium fish, large a large fish, and huge a huge fish.

You can find bait and fishing poles in several places: Shastaan, Tasur'ke, and
two rooms south of the entrance to Minia are a few.

CAST LINE <direction>
---------------------
When casting your line, you must stand one room away from the room you're
casting into, which must be either a river or a lake. You'll cast a random
number of yards here. After you've cast, you just wait for a nibble or strike.
You may only catch fish in freshwater or river environments. One does not fish
the ocean from land generally, although deepseafishing will allow one to fish
from on ship.

This takes balance and the balance cost varies with traits and skills.

For deepsea fishing there is a variation on this command:
CAST LINE [SHORT|MEDIUM|LONG]

Shorter casts are a bit faster than medium, and medium a bit faster than long.
Conversely, long casts carry a better chance of getting a stronger strike
than medium, and medium have a better chance than short.

TEASE LINE
----------
This is done after you've gotten a nibble, or a small or medium strike. The
ideal time to tease your line is a bit over 2 seconds after the nibble or
strike happens. Your chance of the teasing working decreases the further away
from the ideal time you are. Remember that there IS potentially value in
teasing the line after a small or medium strike, because it increases the
chances that jerking the pole will hook the fish. It's also worth noting that
the higher your survival skill, the better you will be at teasing the line.

This takes balance and the balance cost varies with traits and skills.

JERK POLE
---------
After you have a small, medium, or large strike you may do this. The ideal time
to jerk your pole is a bit under 2 seconds after the fish has struck. As with
tease line, the further away from this ideal time you are, the less your chance
for success will be. And, like tease line, the higher your survival skill is,
the better you will be at this.

This takes balance and the balance cost varies with traits and skills.

REEL LINE
---------
This will reel the fish in a distance determined by both your survival skill
and the size of the fish. With some of the big fish, particularly sturgeons and
giant salmon, you will have to get very lucky indeed to reel fast enough to
stop these monster fish from running out your line and snapping it, so be
warned.

The distance you reel varies somewhat with the size and fight of the fish.

CUT LINE
--------
If you just don't want to battle a fish anymore, you may cut your line to
release it, but you'll lose your bait.

SELL FISH TO <bait shop denizen>
--------------------------------
Cha-ching! You'll get paid for every ounce of fish you've caught. Most
places that sell bait will also buy fish. Some won't.

Also SELL SMALLFISH  TO <buyer>
     SELL MEDIUMFISH TO <buyer>
     SELL LARGEFISH  TO <buyer>
     SELL HUGEFISH   TO <buyer>

Which has two implications - first, it only sells one type of fish, and
second, you get a detailed report on every fish sold, weight and payment,
plus a grand total.


RANKINGS FISHING
----------------
These record the biggest catch for each breed of fish both in history and for
the current Achaean year.


Notes
-----
1. Each breed of fish has a particular character to it, from cautious to
   interested to aggressive. These just dictate how likely that kind of fish
   is to go for your bait.

2. It's possible to fish out a room, but the fish will be replaced
   approximately every Achaean month.

2a. It's not possible to fish out a deep sea location like it is on land, but
    areas may be over-fished which will result in the chance of catching fish 
    being significantly lowered. Also, you will never be able to catch fish
    in some locations. Refer to HELP 23 and its related topics for more 
    details. 

3. "Auto-fishing" is illegal, like auto-ratting. If we catch you auto-fishing,
    you will be shrubbed, permanently.

4. SURVEY will let you know, in a freshwater or river room, if there are no
   fish, a few fish, or more than about ten fish available to catch in that 
   room.


Types of Bait
-------------
Small  : worm, minnow, sand flea
Medium : shrimp, clam, crab
Large  : mudsucker, octopus
Huge   : rock bass, marble carp


Types of Fish
-------------
Small:   Yellow Perch      (lake, weak fight, interested)
         Blue Eel          (lake, weak fight, cautious)
         Striped Shad      (lake, medium fight, interested)
         Longnose Darter   (river, medium fight, interested)
         Bearded Pikefish  (river, strong fight, interested)

Medium:  Rock bass         (lake, strong fight, aggressive)
         Catfish           (lake, medium fight, interested)
         Marble Carp       (lake, medium fight, cautious)
         Giant Chubsucker  (lake, weak fight, aggressive)
         Eastern Mooneye   (lake, medium fight, interested)
         Black Crappie     (river, medium fight, cautious)
         Walleye           (river, strong fight, aggressive)
         Trout             (river, strong fight, aggressive)

Large:   Pike              (lake, strong fight, aggressive)
         Sturgeon          (lake, very strong fight, interested)
         Giant Salmon      (river, very strong fight, aggressive)

Huge:    Whiskerknot Skrei (deepsea, medium fight, interested)
         Stripefish        (deepsea, medium fight, aggressive)
         Two-headed fish   (deepsea, strong fight, cautious)
         Giant Hatchetfish (deepsea, very strong fight, aggressive)
         Coelacanth        (deepsea, strong fight, cautious)
         Spotted Fangtooth (deepsea, strong fight, interested)
         Duskfin Tuna      (deepsea, very strong fight, cautious)
         Redfin Tuna       (deepsea, strong fight, aggressive)