Stardew Valley Fishing Guide

One of Stardew Valley’s fun and rewarding tasks is fishing. That comes as no surprise, as any farm simulation game like this modern day classic would not be complete with a comprehensive fishing feature and mechanic. Aside from being a source of income, Stardew Valley fishing is an integral part of the Community Center.

Although the Stardew Valley fishing system is easy to learn, there are multiple layers to explore in order to truly master it. A beginner player may find all the nuances overwhelming. But not to worry! Here is the Stardew Valley fishing guide from beginning to end, including how to catch the Legendary Fish!

Stardew Valley Fishing: The Basics

The environment, seasons, and locations in Stardew Valley all have a huge part in the day-to-day activities. It is a very straightforward approach to applying real world environmental effects to the game. It affects everything from the plants that can be grown, the fruits you can forage,  to the schedules of the people in the game.

With regard to fishing, the types of fish that you can try catching will differ depending on the location, weather, and the time of day. So these should be taken into consideration as you progress with your fishing efforts.

But before you even start looking for fish, you have to learn how to fish first. Go visit Willy at the Docks. Willy is the proprietor of the fish shop. He will give you a brief rundown of the fishing mechanics and provide you with your first fishing pole. The Bamboo Fishing Pole can also be bought from Willy for 500G.

The Bamboo Fishing Pole is pretty basic, but it gets the job done for the early stages. Although you could theoretically try catching all kinds of fish with it, your odds of success are extremely low, especially since it cannot use Tackle. Instead, start practicing with it and build your Fishing Skill level. You can try fishing at any water body in the game.

Casting the line at water bodies will initiate the mini game. A small fishing window appears and a fish icon with a bar is displayed. The goal is to keep the fish icon within the green bar as another yellow bar to the right gradually fills up. If the fish icon is not within the green bar, the yellow bar decreases. Once the yellow bar turns green and reaches to the top end, the fish is caught. If the opposite happens and the yellow bar turns red and vanishes, the fish escapes.

Fishing Skill XP is gained for every successfully caught fish. Failed attempts do not generate Fishing Skill XP. This can get a little grindy, especially at the start. Once you have a Fishing Level of 2, you can start crafting Bait or you can buy it from Willy for 5G. You will also need to upgrade to a Fiberglass Pole to use Bait. Willy sells these for 1500G.

Once you have a Fishing Skill of Level 6 or higher, get an Iridium Rod. It costs 7500G, but it allows you to use both Bait and Tackle at the same time. This makes fishing go more smoothly, reducing the stamina cost for the effort. Moreover, it reduces the delay time between casting and biting.

One option you can choose is using Crab Pots. These are traps set on fish locations. The good thing about it is you don’t have to be there. You can lay down crab pots and come back later to find the fish caught. You will still gain Fishing Skill XP for successfully catching fish. On the down side, you will only catch lower tier fish and this does not practice your "twitch" skills necessary for fishing with rods.

When and Where to Find Fish

As mentioned earlier, the fish you can catch in Stardew Valley varies depending on multiple factors, mainly the location, the weather conditions, and what the time of day it is. As the Community Center Fishing Goals require specific fishes to acquire, this can be challenging.

Not to worry, though! We have provided a handy list of every fish in the game with this Stardew Valley Fishing guide, including the essential information to find them. Note that there are fish that overlap (particularly the Any Season ones), so you can really only get all the fish in the game through consistent grinding for them.

Any Season Stardew Valley Fishing

These fish can be found during any Season and any weather condition. Your only considerations are the location and, with some species, the time of day.

Stardew Valley Spring fishing list

The following list provides information of the fish available during the Spring:

Stardew Valley Summer fishing list

These fish varieties can only be caught during the Summer seasons:

Stardew Valley Fall fish list

Here are the fish types that are available in the Fall:

Stardew Valley Winter fish List

Winter is probably the most time-consuming season to hunt for fish. This list provides the information you need of the varieties available during this season:

Legendary Fish

Aside from the standard fish types, there are one-of-a-kind legendary fishes in Stardew Valley. Nearly all of these can only be caught once. The game records this on the save file itself, so there is no way to catch multiples of Legendary Fish without some form of cheating.

Aside from the specific season, location, and weather, Legendary Fish requires some conditions to be met.

• Angler – You have to position yourself in the center of the bridge. You must beat a difficulty of 85 to catch it. Needs Fishing Level 3.
• Crimson Fish – You need to cast the line at max to reach the deep water area. The difficulty for this fish is 95. You will need a Fishing Level of 5 or higher.
• Glacier Fish – This is another Legendary Fish that needs max cast of the line to deep water. Difficulty to beat is 100 and your Fishing Level should be 6 or higher.
• Mutant Carp – The difficulty for this Legendary specimen is 80. Although there is no Fishing Skill Level needed, you do need to donate at least 60 items to the Museum in order to unlock the Sewer area.
• The Legend – The Legend is the most difficult to acquire. Aside from having a difficulty of 110, your Fishing Skill Level has to be at the highest at Level 10.

Tips for Better Stardew Valley Fishing

• Use Wild Bait – Wild Bait is superior to other baits in the game because it improves chances of catching two fish at once. This requires getting the Bait recipe from Linus. He will give the recipe after attaining 4 heart levels and talking to him between 8pm to 12am. Make sure the weather is clear when you do.
• Build up your Fishing Skills with the Training Rod – The Training Rod can be bought from Willy’s shop for 25G. While it is limited to difficulty 50 fish, it does work as if you are at Level 5 Fishing Skill, making it easier to catch fish and build up your Fishing Skill XP quickly during the early stages. If for nothing else, you can earn a good deal of money while you are building up your resources.
• Eat Fish Skill Boosting Food – There are recipes that you can get to cook Fish Boosting Food. These can give anywhere from +1 to +4 to your Fishing Skill level for the duration. These boosts are applied even at your max Fishing Level of 10. This means you can actually fish at level 11 to 14, which the game calculates under the hood. Reducing the difficulty and gaining improved odds that you will catch fish will help you complete your Stardew Valley Fishing goals!