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Stardew Valley Fishing Guide

  • from PLITCH
  • 09.01.2024

To be able to fish successfully in Stardew Valley, you need one thing above all: practice. In this Stardew Valley Fishing Guide, we’ll show you what to look out for and how to best master this mini-game. In addition, you can hunt for the unique animals with the help of our tips on catching legendary fish.

1) Fishing in Stardew Valley – not everyone’s cup of tea

Why is fishing necessary in Stardew Valley?

Fishing in Stardew Valley isn’t just for fun. You need to catch various fish for the aquarium in the community center and can also use some of them to make dishes. Sometimes you need fish for the delivery orders of the villagers.


What can you get from fishing?

With each fish you catch, you work off the appropriate collection in any case. In addition, you will receive various rewards for completing the tasks in the community center. These include bait (river fish), disguised spinner (pond fish), teleport totem beach (ocean fish), small light ring (night fish), crab trap (crab trap), and sailor plate (specialty fish).


How hard is it to fish in Stardew Valley?

Fishing in Stardew Valley is a real challenge for many since you have to play a mini-game for each fish. Especially at the beginning, this is relatively difficult and can become annying rather quickly. The best thing to do is to start catching fish at the beginning. Because the earlier you start, the faster you get better.


2) Stardew Valley Fishing Guide – How does it work?

Control of the minigame

To be able to fish in Stardew Valley, you first need a fishing rod. You can get your first one from Willy. He also owns the fishing store on the beach, where you can later buy better fishing rods, bait, and more. Once you have selected the fishing rod, press the left mouse button on the PC to throw it into the water. The longer you press, the farther your character will cast it.

Hint:
The farther your fishing rod is cast, the better the quality, rarity, and size of the fish that bite.

If one of the fish bites, the float will begin to wobble and for a brief moment an exclamation point will appear above your head and a sound will be played. Pressing the Use button triggers the mini-game.

The challenge here is to keep the green bar in the middle of the display on the fish by using or not using the left mouse button. The bar on the far right fills up until it’s green. When you reach the top, you pull the catch out of the water. If the prey escapes too often, the bar turns red and you lose the fish.

Simple fish move only moderately and have relatively calm patterns. If you want to catch legendary fish in Stardew Valley, this becomes a real task as these move extremely fast in the display just described.

In addition, you can land treasure chests along with the fish. To do this, however, while you fill the bar for the fish, you must also fill an extra bar for the crate at the same time.


What improvements do you get when your fishing skill improves?

The more time you spend on waters with your fishing rod, the better your fishing skill becomes. This not only increases the green bar for pulling fish out of the water. The higher your level, the wider your cast will be, which will increase by one at level 1, 4, 8 and 10.

As a reward, you’ll receive:

  • Level 2 – Bait crafting
  • Level 3 – Crab trap production / Sailor plate cooking recipe
  • Level 4 – Recycle machine production
  • Level 5 – Decide between fisherman (fish 25% more valuable) or trapper (crab trap production costs decrease)
  • Stage 6 – Turner and trap fish bait production
  • Stage 7 – Cork bait and treasure hunter production
  • Level 8 – Worm bucket, barb and disguised turner making
  • Stage 9 – Magnet Making / Sea Foam Pudding Cooking Recipe
  • Stage 10 – Decide between Angler (50% higher fish value) and Pirate (double chance of fishing chests) as specialization Fisherman or Sailor (no trash in crab traps) and Lure Master (no bait needed for crab traps) as specialization Trapper.


Where can you fish in Stardew Valley?

In general, you can catch fish in all places where you have free access to water. For example, in Stardew Valley you’ll find rivers, ponds or even the sea. In addition, it can be worthwhile later to cast your fishing rod in the sewers or in the cave lakes.

Tip: You can make the catch “Perfect” when fishing in Stardew Valley. This means that you don’t even lose the fish with the green bar. If you succeed in this feat, the quality of the fish increases from silver to gold or from gold to iridium. In addition, your experience points for catching it will be multiplied by a factor of 2.4.


What can you catch with a fishing rod in Stardew Valley?

Besides fish, you can also land already mentioned treasure chests, but also trash.


3) Pro tips for fishing in Stardew Valley

Where can you fish in Stardew Valley?

Which species of fish are available depends on factors such as the season, the weather, the body of water, and the time of day. Where the best place to fish is, is simply determined by what fish you currently need, for example for the community center.

So, if the tiger trout is still open, you should find a place to fish in the city and try it in the fall between 6:00 am and 6:00 pm. The carp, on the other hand, you will catch only in the summer all day in the lake situated in the mountains.

There is no general rule for the variety of fish and factors.


Self-caught trash can have value in Stardew Valley

Starting at level 4, you can build the recycling machine. In this, you have the option to turn the trash you get into something helpful. For example, driftwood becomes wood or coal, soggy newspapers become torches or cloth, and much more. Only the Joja-Cola and the wilting plant cannot be recycled.


Efficient fishing means not wasting time

Like everything else in Stardew Valley, catching fish takes time, especially in the beginning. So try to fish as efficiently as possible, either by taking advantage of a rainy day or by always trying to use up your remaining energy in the day for fishing.


Bait and equipment for fishing in Stardew Valley

You can generally use bait only from the fiberglass fishing rod. You start with the practice rod after the first meeting with Willy. This will only catch common fish. With the levels in the fishing skill, further fishing rods such as the fiberglass rod (level 2) or the iridium rod (level 6) are unlocked in the fish store. With both of them, you can use bait. Until then, you could also buy the bamboo fishing rod.

In Stardew Valley, there are various bait items for fishing. The common bait can be made from beetle meat or bought. It increases the chance that fish will bite you. There are also fishing accessories:

  • Twister and Disguised Twister: Increases the biting rate.
  • Trap fish bait: The fish can not escape so quickly
  • Cork bait: It provides a larger fish bar
  • Lead bait: The fish bar is heavier and does not jump around on the bottom
  • Treasure hunter: The fish does not jump off the line while you are reeling in treasure
  • Barb: Fish bar attaches to the fish; however, is only helpful with weak fish
  • Curiosity Bait: Perfect for catching rare fish in Stardew Valley
  • Quality bobber: Increases the quality of the fish caught


4) Catch Legendary Fish

You can catch the legendary fishes found in Stardew Valley under certain conditions. However, you are only able to take them to your farm as trophies once per game state. Moreover, they hardly serve as gifts, since no one particularly likes or loves them. Also, you don’t need the first 5 mentioned for a task.


Purple fish

The purple fish lives in the ocean. It can be found in deep water from the eastern pier to the beach during the summer. To catch it you need level 5 in fishing. Its regular price is 1,500 gold. If you’ve chosen angler as a profession and it’s of iridium quality, you can get 4,500 gold for it.


Angler Fish

The angler fish is a predatory fish that uses its bioluminescent rod for hunting. You can find it anytime in the fall north of Joja Market by standing in the middle of the wooden plank and casting north. You need fishing level 3 to catch him. Its regular price is 900 gold. If you’ve chosen angler as a profession and it’s of iridium quality, you can get 2,700 gold for it.


Legend

It is the king among fishes and it is considered “not to be caught”. You can find it all day in spring in the mountain lake when it rains. You have a high chance of catching it near the tree trunk in deep water. However, you need level 10 to be able to catch him. Its regular price is 5,000 gold. If you’ve chosen angler as a profession and it’s of iridium quality, you can get 15,000 gold for it.


Glacier fish

For the glacier fish, there is nothing better than thick ice. You can find it in deep water at the southern end of Arrowhead Island in winter. To hunt it, however, you need level 7 of the fishing skill. Its regular price is 1,000 gold. If you’ve chosen angler as a profession and it’s of iridium quality, you can get 3,000 gold for it.


Mutant Carp

The water of the sewers has significantly changed the mutant carp. You can catch it in the sewers during all seasons. No level is required for this, but of course, you must have access to it first. Its regular price is 1,000 gold. If you’ve chosen angler as a profession and it’s of iridium quality, you can get 3,000 gold for it.

There are legendary fish II in Stardew Valley. These can be found in the same places as the ones already mentioned. However, they can only be caught during Mr. Qi’s challenge. Outside of this challenge, you cannot catch the following 5 fish. Catching these is not necessary to earn the “Master Angler Achievement”.


Son of the Purple Fish

It can be found in the same place as its father. Its regular price is 1,500 gold. If you’ve chosen angler as a profession and it’s of iridium quality, you can get 4,500 gold for it.


Angler’s wife

The Angler Fish’s wife also relies on the shining rod and just like her husband, she is in the same waters. Its regular price is 900 gold. If you’ve chosen angler as a profession and it’s of iridium quality, you can get 2,700 gold for it.


Legend II

The legend of the legend is also native to the mountain lake. Its regular price is 5,000 gold. If you’ve chosen angler as a profession and it’s of iridium quality, you can get 15,000 gold for it.


Junior Glacier Fish

Once hatched, it moves to a similar climate as its dad. Its regular price is 1,000 gold. If you’ve chosen angler as a profession and it’s of iridium quality, you can get 3,000 gold for it.


Radioactive carp

What goes into the sewer, stays in the sewer. Thus, the radioactive carp spent a lot of time playing in the contaminated mud. Its regular price is 1,000 gold. If you’ve chosen angler as a profession and it’s of iridium quality, you can get 3,000 gold for it.


Easy Fishing in Stardew Valley with PLITCH!

With the tips we’ve provided, you should have a much easier time now, though the game still has a few more surprises in store for you. But if you don’t have the time or the patience to constantly struggle in Stardew Valley, you can always just use PLITCH.

Customize the game to your liking with our codes and play the game by your own rules. Our Stardew Valley fishing cheat will make it easier for you to fish and catch the legendary fish in the indie hit.

Happy Gaming!