Group Fishing Bonus?

Oakclaw

Hello,

It's common knowledge that fishing in a group increases your chances of catching a rare fish, but how exactly does the bonus work? Does each player receive a increased chance of catching a rare fish as long as someone else has their line in the water? Or do all the people need to actually be catching fish?

The reason I'm asking is that a friend and I are going for Master Angler together. Some water types are ridiculously rare in certain zones. If one of us catches all of the rare fish from that water type, could one of us (the one that already caught the fish) let our line break off, allowing the other person (the one that still needs the rare fish) to fish the hole much longer while also getting the bonus for group fishing?

Jimmy

Must be grouped together.
Must both be active in hole.

lagrue

I'm on the fence about this bonus still - I seem to have better luck fishing alone, for the simple fact that holes contain limited number of fish in the hole. Even if the odds per cast are better, it seems to me to be negated by the fact another person is there.

Apparently each player adds a 10% bonus to the drop, or in effect doubles it - but if they're taking half the fish, doesn't that roll back around to being exactly the same odds?

I've never seen the math clearly worked out - so I'm not sure its worth it to be with other people.

Nestor

You don't group to catch fish to farm Perfect Roe, you do that by yourself. You group to do the Achievements. I have done zone fishing achievements in about 20 minutes this way, most of that time traveling to the 4 water types

The amount of fish per hole is the same, about 15/16. However, being grouped with other people dramatically improves the chances of getting a Green or Blue Trophy fish. Once you have 4 or more in the group, you pretty much get a Green or Blue on each cast. I have done fishing events with 7 or 8 of us on a whole and every cast pulled a Trophy Fish. Of course the hole is depleted on about 2 casts per person. But, compared to how long it takes to haul a trophy fish out single? It's no contest.

Note, just fishing with someone else does not seem to help, at least not me. I think you have to be grouped for the chance multiplier to be in effect. I have never pugged ungrouped with 3 or 4 or more in a hole, just one other. Of course, the other person's trophy fish rates goes up when I am around just not mine.

BlackSparrow

lagrue wrote: »

I'm on the fence about this bonus still - I seem to have better luck fishing alone, for the simple fact that holes contain limited number of fish in the hole. Even if the odds per cast are better, it seems to me to be negated by the fact another person is there.

Apparently each player adds a 10% bonus to the drop, or in effect doubles it - but if they're taking half the fish, doesn't that roll back around to being exactly the same odds?

I've never seen the math clearly worked out - so I'm not sure its worth it to be with other people.

Huh. You're right, that is literally the exact same odds at a drop per hole, no matter how many people are fishing there. XD

Assuming your numbers are correct:

1 person: 12 casts per hole x 10% chance of a good drop = 1.2 drops
2 people: 6 casts each per hole x 20% = 1.2 drops
3 people: 4 casts each per hole x 30% = 1.2 drops
4 people: 3 casts each per hole x 40% = 1.2 drops

So if anything, the "group fishing bonus" isn't actually a bonus... it's just compensating for the loss of casts of multiple people on one fishing spot.

Though there is one benefit of group fishing: you're likely to reach the same drop rate much faster. So you get more drops when counting by number of casts... but your drop rate per individual fishing hole is the same.

Nestor

Your still ignoring the reason to group while fishing, Green and Blue Trophy Fish. No faster way to knock those achievements out.

Its not about the number of fish you get in general, its the number of trophy fish you get.

As I said above if your farming Perfect Roe, fish alone, your farming the Trophy Fish, fish in a group.

VinyParsley2016

Oakclaw wrote: »

Hello,

It's common knowledge that fishing in a group increases your chances of catching a rare fish, but how exactly does the bonus work? Does each player receive a increased chance of catching a rare fish as long as someone else has their line in the water? Or do all the people need to actually be catching fish?

The reason I'm asking is that a friend and I are going for Master Angler together. Some water types are ridiculously rare in certain zones. If one of us catches all of the rare fish from that water type, could one of us (the one that already caught the fish) let our line break off, allowing the other person (the one that still needs the rare fish) to fish the hole much longer while also getting the bonus for group fishing?

This is a lie.

Oakclaw

BlackSparrow wrote: »

So if anything, the "group fishing bonus" isn't actually a bonus... it's just compensating for the loss of casts of multiple people on one fishing spot.

Though there is one benefit of group fishing: you're likely to reach the same drop rate much faster. So you get more drops when counting by number of casts... but your drop rate per individual fishing hole is the same.

If you have an abundant amount of holes, like saltwater, then it makes sense to fish in a group because you can run straight to the next hole, always having somewhere to fish. It's the foul and river (in certain zones) that have a really low number of holes. If you're fishing in a group, the holes dry up faster than they respawn. This is when becomes debatable to fish in a group or solo. This is why I'm hoping you can get the group bonus even if people are letting their line break.

Nestor wrote: »

The amount of fish per hole is the same, about 15/16. However, being grouped with other people dramatically improves the chances of getting a Green or Blue Trophy fish. Once you have 4 or more in the group, you pretty much get a Green or Blue on each cast. I have done fishing events with 7 or 8 of us on a whole and every cast pulled a Trophy Fish. Of course the hole is depleted on about 2 casts per person. But, compared to how long it takes to haul a trophy fish out single? It's no contest.

What I'm trying to figure out is how the bonus works. Do you simply have to be in a group to get it? Does everyone need to be at the hole? Does everyone need to have their line in the water? Like I said above, if my fishing partner still gets the bonus simply for my line being in the water then I could let it break each time, allowing him to fish the hole and get the bonus plus have the same number of cast per hole as if doing it solo... see what I'm saying? It would be a waste of bait but all we're going for are the trophy fish so I would gladly throw away bait to get the rare fish faster.

VinyParsley2016 wrote: »

This is a lie.

What? I'm asking a question...

kargen27

Nestor wrote: »

You don't group to catch fish to farm Perfect Roe, you do that by yourself. You group to do the Achievements. I have done zone fishing achievements in about 20 minutes this way, most of that time traveling to the 4 water types

The amount of fish per hole is the same, about 15/16. However, being grouped with other people dramatically improves the chances of getting a Green or Blue Trophy fish. Once you have 4 or more in the group, you pretty much get a Green or Blue on each cast. I have done fishing events with 7 or 8 of us on a whole and every cast pulled a Trophy Fish. Of course the hole is depleted on about 2 casts per person. But, compared to how long it takes to haul a trophy fish out single? It's no contest.

Note, just fishing with someone else does not seem to help, at least not me. I think you have to be grouped for the chance multiplier to be in effect. I have never pugged ungrouped with 3 or 4 or more in a hole, just one other. Of course, the other person's trophy fish rates goes up when I am around just not mine.

That has not been my experience. I have two characters that are master anglers and have helped others in our guild get the achievement. We had fishing events every Friday night for quite a long time. Any more than four people fishing does not seem to improve the odds any. Four poles in the water improves chances but nowhere near the every cast numbers you are mentioning. With four people fishing you are having a fairly good day if three trophy fish on average come from each hole. Not three per person but three total.

And to answer the question asked, for the bonus you have to be fishing. What we would do is let those who still needed fish cast first then we would cast right after. If you have been in the water for a few seconds then jump to break the line and recast hoping your pole was back in the water when the person needing the fish caught one.

I've fished while grouped and with pugs on the same hole. Bonus seems to apply to number of poles in the water whether you are grouped or not. That has been my experience anyway.

Roovin

BlackSparrow wrote: »

lagrue wrote: »

I'm on the fence about this bonus still - I seem to have better luck fishing alone, for the simple fact that holes contain limited number of fish in the hole. Even if the odds per cast are better, it seems to me to be negated by the fact another person is there.

Apparently each player adds a 10% bonus to the drop, or in effect doubles it - but if they're taking half the fish, doesn't that roll back around to being exactly the same odds?

I've never seen the math clearly worked out - so I'm not sure its worth it to be with other people.

Huh. You're right, that is literally the exact same odds at a drop per hole, no matter how many people are fishing there. XD

Assuming your numbers are correct:

1 person: 12 casts per hole x 10% chance of a good drop = 1.2 drops
2 people: 6 casts each per hole x 20% = 1.2 drops
3 people: 4 casts each per hole x 30% = 1.2 drops
4 people: 3 casts each per hole x 40% = 1.2 drops

So if anything, the "group fishing bonus" isn't actually a bonus... it's just compensating for the loss of casts of multiple people on one fishing spot.

Though there is one benefit of group fishing: you're likely to reach the same drop rate much faster. So you get more drops when counting by number of casts... but your drop rate per individual fishing hole is the same.

The entire point is that it saves massive amounts of time

Oakclaw

kargen27 wrote: »

And to answer the question asked, for the bonus you have to be fishing. What we would do is let those who still needed fish cast first then we would cast right after. If you have been in the water for a few seconds then jump to break the line and recast hoping your pole was back in the water when the person needing the fish caught one.

Thanks for responding to the question. So it sounds like you only need to have your line in the water and not actually catching fish? I assume it will work the same by lettting the fish break your line when you get a bite instead of jumping to break it?

Oakclaw

UPDATE: for anyone that is going for this in the future, you DO get the group bonus regardless if people are catching fish or not. It must be related to having the lines in the water at the same time.

elijafire

Great investigating, to add to this, If you cut the line prematurely then you don't lose your bait. If you let the fish get off the hook you do, so keep snapping the line to keep your bait.

Also I recommend switching zones frequently and just use regular bait, the "special" bait does nothing seemingly and the new "fish food" is borked, I get better catches without it.