On only your second day in Stardew Valley, Fishing is introduced. You’ll be sent a letter by Willy inviting you to the beach, whereupon you’ll be adorned with your first rod and introduced to the world of Fishing. It’s an invaluable skill that provides numerous benefits; fish can be given as gifts, used in cooking recipes, assist in repairing the community centre fish tank and even find some key items for the museum. It’s in your best interest to get familiar with Fishing then, which is why we’ve written our guide today. Join us below as we tell you everything you need to know about this most essential of skills.
How To Fish In Stardew Valley
Standard Fishing
Upon attempting to fish for the first time, new players are likely to find it quite tricky. To capture your target you must keep the fish icon within the green bar. This might sound simple, but the fish isn’t going to come easily, so the fish icon will bounce up and down the entire fishing bar. Judicious use of the action button must be used then to keep your target in the green. As you do so, the catch bar to the right will fill up – fill this up and the fish is caught, let it empty and the fish gets away.
There’s more to it of course. For starters Fishing will use up energy, so it’s best to keep an eye on this especially in the early game. Additionally, some fish will dodge and dart up and down the bar and others have a smoother movement, but either way the method remains the same: Keep it in the green and you’ll net yourself a fish. Should you manage to keep the fish in the green bar for the entirety of the mini game you’ll net yourself the perfect catch, which increases the rarity of the fish caught, so practice truly pays off!
Crab Pot Fishing
Once you reach Fishing skill level 3, you’ll learn the recipe to craft Crab Pots. These are an excellent way to fish, mainly because you don’t have to be there doing the actual fishing, but they do require a little set up work. First of all you must craft the Crab Pot, which requires 40 Wood and 3 Iron Bars. This can be reduced to 25 Wood and 2 Copper Bars should you choose the Trapper skill, which we’ll detail later. Either way, you’ll need to put a little work in before you can automate some fishing.
These Crab Pots can then be placed anywhere that you would usually fish, outside of deep waters. We’ll detail various areas to fish in our next section, but it’s worth noting that these can even be placed on your farm, making the whole process very convenient. Once placed you’ll need to add some bait, then return the next day to collect your loot. Said loot won’t always be fish by the way, sometimes your pots will capture junk – newspapers, CD’s and the like – but don’t immediately throw these away. Pop them into a recycling machine, which you’ll learn to craft at Fishing level 4, and you’ll be able to convert these into useful crafting materials!
Overall, regular fishing will net you more experience points, but Crab Pots can be an excellent way to optimise your time. If you’ve got a day of exploration or dungeon diving planned out, why not place some pots whilst you do so?
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Locations For Fishing
There are countless areas to fish in Stardew Valley. You can cast your rod anywhere you can find water, but depending on the location you’ll find yourself pulling up different things. Some places have fish and others mainly give you junk, so it’s worth knowing where it’s best to cast your line. The following are some of the best places to go fishing:
The Mountains
North of your farm you’ll find the Mountains, which contain a lake that you may fish in. This is a great place to start your fishing journey, mainly because the fish available here are quite easy to catch, especially Carp. Fish here are also used for the Lake Fishing Bundle at the Community Centre, though this will require visiting the lake throughout the different seasons. It’s also worth noting that you can place Crab Pots at the lake in the mountains.
The Forest
To the south of your farm is the Forest, which contains multiple fishing spots, including one in the Secret Forest once you unblock it (use a Steel Axe to cut the log blocking the entrance). Fish caught here can be used for the River Fishing Bundle, which is required to fix the fish tank at the Community Centre. It’s worth noting too that there is a small pond to the east side of the forest which contains slightly different fish, albeit a smaller selection.
The Beach
As you might imagine, having been introduced to the skill here, you may fish at the beach. It contains a great selection of fish, and it’s also a prime spot for placing Crab Pots, given the amount of water available. This area also contains fish required for the Community Centre, and it’s also the scene of the Night Market, which is an event that takes place on 15th to the 17th of Winter. During this Festival you’ll only catch trash whilst fishing, but you can get on a Submarine and catch some fish that are only available during this time period. You might even catch a Pearl whilst doing so, though the chances are very slim.
The River Farm
When choosing your farm layout at the start of the game, you can choose the River Farm. As you might imagine, this is covered in areas where you can fish – pictured above – but it’s limited when it comes to planting crops. We wouldn’t recommend you pick this during your first play through, but once you’re a little more familiar with the game it’s a great challenge to take on. You’ll be able to catch the same fish as those seen in the Forest here, and you can plonk down as many Crab Pots as you want!
Other Fishing Locations
- The Desert – You can capture a Sand Fish here, which is required for the Rare Fish Bundle.
- The Witches Swamp – You can capture Void Salmon here, needed for an unlock.
- The Sewer – You can capture a Legendary fish here. Green and White Algae can be found here too.
Fishing Skills Detailed
As you fish throughout your Stardew journey, you’ll gain skill levels in Fishing. Each level will gain you a new ability or recipe, all of which are detailed here in the Wiki, but once you reach level 5 you’ll be given a choice – Fisher or Trapper – which will influence the skills you gain as you level up. As you might imagine, these skills will push you down the regular fishing or crab pot route. The following are the two options and their subsequent skills detailed:
Fisher Route
Fish worth 25% more.
- Angler: Fish worth 50% more.
- Pirate: Chance to find treasure doubled.
Trapper Route
Resources required to craft crab pots reduced.
- Mariner: Crab Pots no longer produce junk items.
- Luremaster: Crab Pots no longer require bait.
There’s no right way to choose, especially because you can reset these skills by visiting the dog statue in the sewers, however we tend to prefer the Fisher route. It’s personal preference of course, but who doesn’t like fishing up treasure?
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Tips For Better Fishing
- If you fulfil certain requirements, you can capture Legendary Fish in different areas. Most of these can only be captured once and whilst they don’t really serve a great purpose, the challenge of capturing them can be fun. They’re worth a fair bit of gold too. You can find details of these in the Wiki.
- If you spot some bubbles in the water, you can fish here to catch a fish quicker than usual. Unfortunately, these sometimes spawn in places you cannot reach.
- You can eat certain foods to increase the size of your fishing bar. These also work at level 10, so it’s worth using them when attempting to catch legendary fish. If you’re hunting for recipes, try watching the Queen of Sauce cooking channel on Sundays, or the repeat on Wednesday.
- Sometimes a treasure chest will appear when fishing, like we’ve pictured above. Contents of the chest will vary, but can include weapons, accessories, ores , geodes and artifacts. In this regard the further you cast your line, the better the rewards.
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