Fish can be found in the ocean, lakes, rivers, and in certain levels of the mines. Most fish can be caught with a fishing pole (see fishing) but some require crab pots to catch them. Some fish only spawn at certain times of the day while others only appear when it rains. Upon catching them, the name of the fish and its length are displayed. Players can keep track of how many fish they've caught and their record lengths in their Collections menu. Fish can be used as ingredients in cooking and are required to restore the Fish Tank in the Community Center.
While players can fish near any body of water, some places have lower rates of success. These areas are more likely to produce junk, which can be sold for a small profit or saved and turned into useful items using the recycling machine (which unlocks with level 4 fishing.)
When a fish is hooked a window appears with a fishing mini-game. The player must move the highlighted area up or down to keep the fish inside it. While the fish overlaps it the catch meter will fill, while the fish is not inside the area it will decrease. If the catch meter fills completely the fish is caught, if it becomes completely empty the fish escapes. If the fish does not leave the meter boundary once, you will receive a "perfect" notification. When making "perfect" catches, the quality of the fish increases -- silver quality fish become gold quality and gold quality fish become iridium quality. (Normal quality fish are unaffected.)
When playing the fishing mini-game with mouse and keyboard, the bar will rise when the left mouse button is pressed and will lower when the mouse button is not pressed.
There are 5 types of fish in the mini-game:
Mixed: These fish use the basic movement pattern.
Smooth: These fish have a more steady movement pattern.
Sinker: These fish have a faster downwards acceleration.
Floater: These fish have a faster upwards acceleration.
Dart: These fish move more random with a [2 x difficulty]% higher possible amplitude in both directions, moving erratically up and down the fishing bar.
See the fishing page for more details about equipment, mechanics and things unlocked as the fishing skill levels up.
These fish can only be caught in the submarine ride at the Night Market during Winter 15-17. They can be caught during any weather, and at any time while the market is open (5pm – 2am).
Due to the small size of the fishing area, it may be impossible to catch iridium quality fish in the submarine.
There are five fish in the game classified as 'legendary'. These fish are caught in specific places and have a high difficulty. When reeling them in, these fish are shown wearing a hat. Legendary fish will not appear again on a save file after being caught once. Legendary fish can be caught at any time of day.
There is a Lost Book named "Secrets of the Legendary Fish" which contains the seasons and the locations of the legendary fish.
The highest fishing skill plus food bonus (e.g., from Lobster Bisque), the Iridium Rod, Bait, and Tackle like the Trap Bobber or Cork Bobber may be necessary to catch legendary fish. Catching the most difficult of them depends more on luck than on good reactions. You simply have to try again and again until the fish doesn't move too fiercely.
All of these creatures can be used as components in the Crab Pot Bundle. Some are only catchable using a baited Crab Pot. Crabs drop from Rock Crabs (15%) and Lava Crabs (25%); Clams, Cockles, Mussels, and Oysters can be foraged on the beach. Between beach foraging and Rock/Lava Crab loot it is possible to complete the Crab Pot bundle without the use of a crab pot. Baiting the rewarded crab pots however, is not possible without first reaching level two in fishing, or viewing Linus' 4-Heart cutscene.
All crab pot fish can be used in Cooking. Some recipes require a specific fish while others can use "any fish." It is more profitable to cook all normal quality catches (other than Crab, Lobster, and Crayfish) into Sashimi than to sell them uncooked. (This changes with the Fisher and Angler Professions.)
Note that any fish dropped by monsters or foraged from the beach do not count towards the fish collection. They must be caught with a pole or in a crab pot.
Foraged fish can be of normal, silver, gold, or iridium quality. Fish caught in crab pots are always normal quality.
All Crab Pot fish are worth 5 XP.
Constantly filters water to find food. In the process, it removes dangerous toxins from the environment.
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Ocean
3.174444%
1/7
Other Catchables
There are some consumable non-junk catches players can reel in while fishing. They do not trigger the fishing mini-game, but are instead immediately picked up. Each gives 3 Fishing XP when caught. All three can be used in cooking, most notably Seaweed in the Maki Roll recipe for the Chef's bundle.
Below is a quick reference table showing when it is profitable to turn fish into Sashimi based on the quality of the fish. Fish that never make a profit when turned into Sashimi are not listed (Crab, Crayfish, Lobster, Legendary Fish, etc.).
*Turning Sardines into Dish o' The Sea to temporarily increase Fishing Level may be a better choice.
History
1.4: Added the ability to catch iridium quality fish with perfect catches. Added Flounder and Midnight Carp. The Legend can now only be caught once per save file.