Welcome!
I hope this guide helps you learn fishing, it can be an excellent source of income as it's profitable all times of the year! Including winter!

If I have forgotten anything or something needs to be tweaked, feel free to add me or send a comment my way!

We are currently looking for the rod requirements for many of the fish types. Currently the wiki has zero information about rod requirements so we are leaving the information up to the community! Thank you for your help! ❤

Thanks! c:

By now you should have gotten the letter in the mail from Willy, who was on a fishing expedition, to come by the docks on the beach.
There he will give you your very own fishing rod, the Bamboo Rod, to be exact.

The minigame that starts when you reel in a fish can be difficult at first, but you'll get better at it!

1. Grab your pole using your mouse wheel or pressing 1 thru = on your keyboard to select it.
   
2. Face the direction of the water and hold your left mouse button.
   
3. Hold it until the casting bar hits the desired area (preferrably MAX!)
   
4. Wait until the you hear a specific sound and you see an ! mark!
   
5. Click once to reel in that fish! (You can also double click, which is what I do personally)
   
6. If it's a fish, the minigame will start! If it's trash/algae/seaweed it'll automatically reel it in.
   
7. Keep the fish inside the green bar by holding or clicking your left mouse button/release it to drop the bar if the fish goes down to make your progress bar go up, if it falls out, you lose progress.
   
8. If you get a treasure chest, try to get the bar almost complete before attempting to grab the chest.
   
9. I find tapping the left mouse button repeatedly holds it in place better and it's easier to keep the fish inside. But if the fish is moving around a lot, then hold the mouse button to move the bar up faster.

I recorded a video of me fishing so you have a visual guide!


Practice makes perfect and some fish are easier to catch than others!
The game isn't always the same and sometimes the fish move alot faster than other times!

Keep an eye out for bubbles or ripples in the water when you're running around doing your errands or just fishing c:

These bubbles can give you better chances at rarer fish and act as bait to allow faster bites!
So don't waste them! Throw your bobber right into the bubbles and profit!

For your visual guiding, I have listed the general locations of many places where you can fish!
The stars represent prime locations which I will also list below in text form as it's more detailed.
Note: Some of the prime locations/fishing spots do require some effort to get into.

Some PL's are guaranteed a gold star fish if you fish with MAX or close to it.
It's also the location of a few Legendary fish!

You may need a rod upgrade to reach some of the spots!

Southern tip of the island north from the Wizard's Tower, just at the top of the angle on the right of the bridge to the right.
Location[i.imgur.com] | Location 2[i.imgur.com] | Map[i.imgur.com]

Southern tip of the second island in the mines lake.
Location[i.imgur.com] | Map[i.imgur.com]

Eastern pier in the ocean. (need to repair the bridge first), cast down & left from the left side of the pier. Can find Crimson Fish here!
Location 1[i.imgur.com] | Location 2[i.imgur.com] | Map[i.imgur.com]

Middle of the river mouth triangle, in the darkest blue. Cast from either side!
Location[i.imgur.com] | Map[i.imgur.com]

Westernmost pier, cast into or just below the rock.
Location[i.imgur.com] | Map[i.imgur.com]

Leah's door, go below and left six tiles.
Location[i.imgur.com] | Map[i.imgur.com]

North of town, stand left of the little rock infront of the fence.

Below the path, right of Jodi's House.
Location 1[i.imgur.com] | Location 2[i.imgur.com]

If you're looking for a specific fish, do CTRL + F on your keyboard and enter the fish name!

"Place it in the water, load it with bait, and check the next day to see if you've caught anything. Works in streams, lakes, and the ocean."

The crab pot is a craftable or buyable item!
You can buy it from Willy for 1500g or craft one yourself with:
x 40

x 3

You can also buy iron ore from the Blacksmith for 150g each.
You need 5 ore to make 1 bar.
5 x 3 = 15 x 150 = 2250g. It's much cheaper to buy it directly from Willie instead of buying the ore and crafting it yourself if you don't already have the Iron Ore/Bar available!

After awhile, you may have gathered quite a bit of bait and found out your bamboo rod doesn't have a hook for said bait! (So odd!)

Luckily, you can upgrade your rod and this allows you to use that bait!


You'll get a letter in the mail when Willy has a pole upgrade in his shop!



Grab and the bait and right click your rod, simple as that!

Tackles are used to make it easier to catch fish!
Many of these recipes will unlock as your fishing skill increases.


You can only use tackle on an iridium rod!

Warning: this section may contain spoilers as it includes the rewards for each bundle.
Ignore this section if you do not wish to see possible spoilers!

Completing this collection gives you the following reward: Glittering Boulder Removed (the one next to the Mines entrance)

You can level your fishing skill by successfully fishing and looting fish from the crab pots!
At level 5 & 10 you can choose between 2 professions.

Here are some tips that may be helpful!

• In the minigame, tap your left mouse button repeatedly to keep the bar steady on the fish.
  
• Smallmouth Bass are plentiful in Spring and are pretty common, while waiting for your first crops, catch a few of these! At 50g each, they can help you get started!
  
• Save all the bait you get for when you upgrade your rod.
  
• Get a recycling machine and turn your fishing trash into treasure!

This mod made by steffjes on the official forums for Stardew Valley aims to make fishing a lot easier!

It makes the fish shoot up and down less frequently.
It makes the fish move smoother so you can easier track them.

You can download it here[community.playstarbound.com]!