Fishing

Fishing is an activity in Stardew Valley that allows the player to catch fish from rivers, lakes, the ocean, and the fountain. It requires the use of a fishing rod.

Skill

• You gain fishing experience from both using the fishing rod and using crab pots.
• Your skill level will gradually make your green brick wider (fishing bar), allowing you to catch fish easier at higher levels.
• Your fishing rod does not factor into your fishing skill, it only allows you to attach bait and lures which can "customize" your fishing needs (keeping the fish in the green brick, make it easier to catch treasure, etc.)

Level 1

• Fishing Rod Proficiency (+1)\

Level 2

• Fishing Rod Proficiency (+1)
• Ability to Craft Bait

Level 3

• Fishing Rod Proficiency (+1)
• Ability to Craft Crab Pot
• Recipe for Dish O' The Sea

Level 4

• Fishing Rod Proficiency (+1)
• Ability to Craft Recycling Machine

Level 5

• Fishing Rod Proficiency (+1)

Choose between:

• Fisher - fish worth 25% more
• Trapper - resources needed to craft crab pots reduced

Level 10 Fisher Track

• Fishing Rod Proficiency (+1)

Choose between:

• Angler - fish worth 50% more
• Pirate - chance to find treasure while fishing doubled

Level 10 Trapper Track

• Fishing Rod Proficiency (+1)

Choose between:

• Mariner - crab pots never catch trash items
• Luremaster - crab pots no longer need bait

Process

1. Equip a rod while standing next to a body of water.
2. Press and hold the left mouse button to use the fishing rod. A progress bar will fill and empty, moving from colors red to green, to determine how far your bobber will be thrown, with red being closest to the player and green being furthest. Release the left mouse button to throw your line.
3. Wait for an exclamation point to appear next to your bobber and click the left mouse button. The Hit! text will display next to your bobber to show that you've hooked a fish.
4. A vertical bar with a fish icon and a green brick will appear on the screen next to a vertical progress bar. The bar on the right is your catch progress, filling as the fish icon stays over the green brick on the left, and falling when the fish icon isn't. Clicking and holding the left mouse button will move the green brick up, and releasing the mouse button will cause the brick to drop.
5. Try to keep the fish inside of the brick as much as possible to raise the catch meter. When the catch meter is full, the fish will be caught.

Treasure

Occasionally, a red chest icon will appear in the vertical bar on the left with the fish icon. If the green brick is held under the chest icon, a smaller progress bar will appear over the chest to display your progress towards also getting treasure. When the smaller progress bar fills, you can gain the treasure at the end of the activity, but only if you also catch the fish. Treasure can be basically any mineral artifact or even trash (sometimes fish bait).

Tips

• Not all ponds are the same. The pond by the Mine is different than the pond by the Wizard's Tower.
• Ensure you keep one inventory slot open. Regularly you will fish up plants (seaweed in saltwater, algae in freshwater), you can eat these to get some energy back and continue fishing.
• Keep the "trash" if you can, once a Recycler is crafted you can "recycle" it into useful items. Trash sometimes get turned into ore, and driftwood can be turned into coal, etc.
  • You cannot recycle the Joja cola, however it can be a great gift for Sam as he is the only NPC that likes it.
• Keep your mouse clicked when line is cast for quicker reaction time.