For the Lu Shang’s Fishing Rod quest, you can turn in Forest Carp (21) as well as Moat Carp. Forest Carp are only found in Yhoator Jungle (Underground) (J-11 is a great location) and Yuhtunga Jungle (Pond/Underground). If you can get FFXI Gil here and fish safely, it is a wonderful place to level until you hit fishing level 21.

A final outdoor location that is wonderful up until 56 is Jugner Forest at Lake Mechieume. With Little Worms you can catch Moat Carp, Tricolored Carp, and the occasional Gold Carp, all while catching Crayfish, Dark Bass and Giant Catfish. Take care though, the Giant Catfish are big fish, so are followed by a !!! in the fishing instinct message, so there is a chance there is an item there that breaks your rod. I would suggest Insect Balls so that you can target carp and cancel the !!! bites. The Halcyon Rod is great here, as well.

If you don't care about going for Lu quite yet and desire skillups more, you can still fish for those Tricolored Carp, but as stated, skillups will be slow for the first 7 or 8 levels. A better fish to go for would be Quus (19). These can be easily found in Selbina. If you fish with Lugworms or Sardine Balls, you will be able to target Greedie (14) as well. You can also catch Fat Greedie (23) which are used in the Under the Sea quest. If you have access to Norg, you are able to catch both Yellow Globe (17) and Quus (19) with a Sabiki Rig.

After hitting 19, you have two other choices, beyond the options listed above. You can head to Bastok Markets (River) and use a Minnow, Sinking Minnow or Frog Lure to target Giant Catfish (31) and Dark Bass (33). Because of the strength of Giant Catfish and the size of Dark Bass I would suggest using a Mithran Fishing Rod if you can afford it. If not, use a Single Hook Fishing Rod, Clothespole or Halcyon Rod because all other small rods will break on the catfish. If you are tired of city fishing, you can hop on the Ferry from Selbina or Mhuara and using a Shrimp Lure and a Mithran Fishing Rod or Halcyon Rod (or some other small rod.) You can fish for Nebimonite which cap at 27. Nebimonite are small, fairly easy to catch fish, but they do not bite nearly as much as fish inside the cities do. Also beware of the dangers you can find on the Ferry. For more on the dangers, please see Fishing 301: Levels 28-40 (Deep-Sea Fishing). As a tip here, if you see massive sweat balls flying off your rod when you hook a fish, let it go, do not try and reel it in, as you might break your Shrimp Lure and whichever rod you use.

Whichever route you decide to take, don't forget to turn in your Skillup Item when you reach level 18-20.