How to fish in Stardew Valley

There's tons of content in Stardew Valley to keep you busy, but one of the most fun — and financially rewarding — is fishing. There's a wide variety of different fish, crustaceans, and cephalopods to catch in the game, as well as some other exciting surprises along the way.

But let's not get ahead of ourselves; the first step is mastering the basics before you venture out into open waters, and on that front, we've got you covered.

Stardew Valley fishing: A step-by-step guide

There are different levels of fishing poles in Stardew Valley, the first of which is the Bamboo Pole. You can then work your way up to the higher tiers, including Fiberglass Rods and Iridium Rods.

How to get fishing pole in Stardew Valley

The morning of the second day of Spring, you'll wake up to a letter from the town fisherman, Willy, inviting you to come and meet him down at the dock. Fortunately, this event happens early on, as the game always begins in Spring. Travel to the beach area to start a short cutscene for the fishing pole.

Upon taking him up on his offer, Willy will give you the Bamboo Pole, allowing you to catch fish. Hooray!

Once you get your fishing skill to level 3, you can get the next best rod from Willy: the Fiberglass Rod, which you can purchase for 1,800 gold. The Fiberglass Rod unlocks the ability to put bait on your line — more on that later. The final fishing rod you'll have access to is the Iridium Rod, which will run you a steep 7,500 gold and will unlock after you reach fishing level 6. The Iridium Rod allows you to add bait as well as various fishing tackle, but again, we'll cover that below.

How to play fishing minigame in Stardew Valley

Okay, so you've finally got your fishing rod, but how do you actually use it? With your rod equipped, walk up to a body of water. The three main fishing locations in Pelican Town include the ocean, the river, and the lake. Here's what you need to do to start fishing in Stardew Valley:

1. Find a body of water.
2. With your fishing rod equipped, hold down the button 'Use tool' button.
3. A meter will appear to determine how long you'll cast it. Hold and release the button at your desired length.
4. Wait for a bite, displaying an exclamation point near your character, and press the 'Use tool' button.
5. A bar appears, and you must keep the smaller green bar hovering over the fish to capture it (tapping the 'Use tool' button works best).

Holding the 'Use tool' button with the fishing rod brings up a meter that allows you to gauge how far you want to cast your line (holding it longer results in a longer throw). To cast, simply release the button at the right time, and you should be all set.

When you get a bite on the line, you'll hear a sound cue and see a little exclamation point animation pop up. Hit that same button again to start the fishing mini-game. A bar will appear with a smaller green bar inside and a meter to the right. The goal here is to fill the meter on the right by hovering the green bar over the fish icon as it moves upside down. When you press (or hold) the button, the bar goes up, and when you release it, the bar goes down. The key to a successful catch, nine times out of ten, will require you to tap the button to keep the bar hovering.

The key here for beginners is patience and practice because the Stardew Valley fishing mini-game is notoriously difficult, especially at the start of the game. It seems counter-intuitive, but the more fish you catch, the more you'll level up your fishing skills, which will cause your green bar to grow bigger and actually make things easier. If all else fails, Willy sells a practice fishing rod at his shop on the beach, permitting you to get a better feel for it before moving on and up.

How to put bait on a fishing rod in Stardew Valley

Once you're in the big leagues with the more advanced fishing rods, some other elements will come into play. The first of these is bait, which allows you to catch fish more frequently, causing them to bite faster. Bait can be acquired through the following techniques:

• Willy's Fish Shop
• Craft bug meat (kill monsters in the mines)
• Found in treasure chests (can fish these items up)

Putting the bait on your rod is pretty simple. All you'll need to do is pick up the stack of bait in your inventory and hover over the fishing rod. Then, select the "use" button (right-click or the face button in the western position on a controller) to add the bait to your rod. You can take the bait off of your rod by hovering over your fishing rod in your inventory and engaging the "use" button again.

The Iridium Rod allows you to add tackle as well, including items like bobbers, spinners, and weights that give you different advantages and will enable you to catch some of the game's more challenging fish. Any tackle can be added to your Iridium Rod using the same technique you used to add bait.

All fish in Stardew Valley

Since Stardew Valley showcases various seasons and locations, there is a vast array of fish types out there. We'll break down each type, including standard seasonal, Legendary, Legendary II, Night Market, and Crab Pot fish.

Seasonal fish

Fish Type	Season	Location	Time	Weather
Albacore	Fall and Winter	Ocean	6 a.m. to 11 a.m. 6 p.m. to 2 a.m.	Any
Anchovy	Spring	Ocean	Any time	Any
Blue Discus	All seasons	Ginger Island pond and rivers	Any time	Any
Bream	All seasons	River	6 p.m. to 2 a.m.	Any
Bullhead	All seasons	Mountain Lake	Any time	Any
Carp	All seasons	Mountain Lake, Secret Woods, Pond, Sewers	Any time	Any
Catfish	Spring, Summer (Secret Woods), and Winter (only with Rain Totem)	River, Secret Woods, Pond, Witch's Swamp	6 a.m. to 12 a.m.	Rain
Chub	All seasons	Cindersap Forest River and Mountain Lake	Any time	Any
Dorado	Summer	Cindersap Forest River	6 a.m. to 7 p.m.	Any
Eel	Spring and Fall	Ocean	4 p.m. to 2 a.m.	Rain
Flounder	Spring, Summer, and all seasons on Ginger Island	Ocean and Ginger Island oceans	6 a.m. to 8 p.m.	Any
Ghostfish	All seasons	The Mines (Floors 20 and 60) and Ghost drops	Any time	Any
Halibut	Spring, Summer, Winter	Ocean	6 a.m. to 11 a.m. 7 p.m. to 2 a.m.	Any
Herring	Spring and Winter	Ocean	Any time	Any
Ice Pip	All seasons	The Mines (60th floor)	Any time	Any
Largemouth Bass	All seasons	Mountain Lake	6 a.m. to 7 p.m.	Any
Lava Eel	All seasons	Mountain Lake, Cindersap Forest pond, Ginger Island pond and rivers	Any time	Any
Lionfish	All seasons	Ginger Island ocean	Any time	Any
Lingcod	Winter	River (Town and Forest) and Mountain Lake	Any time	Any
Midnight Carp	Fall, Winter, and all seasons on Ginger Island	Mountain Lake, Cindersap Forest pond, and Ginger Island pond and rivers	10 p.m. to 2 a.m.	Any
Octopus	Summer and all seasons on Ginger Island	Ocean and Ginger Island oceans	6 a.m. to 1 p.m.	Any
Perch	Winter	River (Town and Forest), Forest Pond, Mountain Lake	Any time	Any
Pike	Summer and Winter	River (Town and Forest) and Forest Pond	Any time	Any
Pufferfish	Summer and all seasons on Ginger Island	Ocean and Ginger Island oceans	12 p.m. to 4 p.m.	Sun
Rainbow Trout	Summer	River (Town and Forest) and Mountain Lake	6 a.m. to 7 p.m.	Sun
Red Mullet	Summer and Winter	Ocean	6 a.m. to 7 p.m.	Any
Red Snapper	Summer, Fall, Winter (only with Winter Totem)	Ocean	6 a.m. to 7 p.m.	Rain
Salmon	Fall	River (Town and Forest) and Forest Waterfalls	6 a.m. to 7 p.m.	Any
Sandfish	All seasons	The Desert	6 a.m. to 8 p.m.	Any
Sardine	Spring, Fall, Winter	Ocean	6 a.m. to 7 p.m.	Any
Scorpion Carp	All seasons	The Desert	6 a.m. to 8 p.m.	Any
Sea Cucumber	Fall and Winter	Ocean	6 a.m. to 7 p.m.	Any
Sea Cucumber (Purple variant)	Summer, Fall, and all seasons on Ginger Island	Ocean and Ginger Island oceans	6 p.m. to 2 a.m.	Any
Slimejack	All seasons	Mutant Bug Lair	Any time	Any
Shad	Spring, Summer, Fall	River (Town and Forest)	9 a.m. to 2 a.m.	Rain
Smallmouth Bass	Spring and Fall	River (Town) and Forest Pond	Any time	Any
Squid	Winter	Ocean	6 p.m. to 2 a.m.	Any
Stingray	All seasons	Pirate Cover (Ginger Island)	Any time	Any
Stonefish	All seasons	The Mines (20th floor)	Any time	Any
Sturgeon	Summer and Winter	Mountain Lake	6 a.m. to 7 p.m.	Any
Sunfish	Spring and Summer	River (Town and Forest)	6 a.m. to 7 p.m.	Sun and Wind
Tiger Trout	Fall and Winter	River (Town and Forest)	6 a.m. to 7 p.m.	Any
Tilapia	Summer, Fall, and all seasons on Ginger Island	Ocean and Ginger Island rivers	6 a.m. to 2 p.m.	Any
Tuna	Summer, Winter, and all seasons on Ginger Island	Ocean and Ginger Island oceans	6 a.m. to 7 p.m.	Any
Void Salmon	All seasons	Witch's Swamp	Any time	Any
Walleye	Fall and Winter (Rain Totem pole only)	River (Town and Forest), Forest Pond, Mountain Lake	12 p.m. to 2 a.m.	Rain
Woodskip	All seasons	Secret Woods pond and Forest Farm	Any time	Any

Legendary fish

The Legendary type goes a step above the normal ones, displaying a crown on their icons for their elite status. They can only be caught once with each save file, which is why they are so rare. You'll need to have a higher Fishing Level, as they cannot be acquired with lower ranks like the Bamboo Pole.

Fish Type	Season	Location	Time	Weather	Fishing Level Requirement
Angler	Fall	Wooden bridge near JojaMart	Any time	Any	Level 3
Crimsonfish	Summer	The Beach (East Pier)	Any time	Any	Level 5
Glacierfish	Winter	South of Arrowhead Island in Cindersap Forest	Any time	Any	Level 6
Legend	Spring	Mountain Lake (near a log)	Any time	Rain	Level 10
Mutant Carp	All seasons	The Sewers	Any time	Any	N/A

Night Market fish

The three-day festival, Night Market, gives you the chance to obtain various unique goods. Go to the Submarine to start fishing for exclusive fish, including other types that are available throughout the seasons.

Fish Type	Season	Location	Time
Blobfish	Winter 15, 16, and 17	The Beach	5 p.m. to 2 a.m.
Midnight Squid	Winter 15, 16, and 17	The Beach	5 p.m. to 2 a.m.
Spook Fish	Winter 15, 16, and 17	The Beach	5 p.m. to 2 a.m.

Extended Family quest Legendary fish

In addition to Stardew Valley's standard Legendary fish, you can get ahold of the Extended Family quest's Legendary IIs. Go to the same spots as the Legendaries to uncover other variants.

Fish Type	Season	Location	Time	Weather	Fishing Level Requirement
Glacierfish Jr.	All seasons	South of Arrowhead Island in Cindersap Forest	Any time	Any	Level 6
Legend II	All seasons	Mountain Lake near log	Any time	Any	Level 10
Ms. Angler	All seasons	Wooden bridge near JojaMart	Any time	Any	Level 3
Radioactive Carp	All seasons	The Sewers	Any time	Any	N/A
Sons of Crimsonfish	All seasons	The Beach East Pier	Any time	Any	Level 5

Crab Pot fish

Craft or buy a Crab Pot to discover more fish in Stardew Valley. They'll float on any body of water, luring in critters with their bait.

Fish Type	Location
Clam	Ocean
Cockle	Ocean
Crab	Ocean
Crayfish	Freshwater
Lobster	Ocean
Mussel	Ocean
Oyster	Ocean
Periwinkle	Freshwater
Shrimp	Ocean
Snail	Freshwater

Miscellaneous captures

Sometimes, you'll catch miscellaneous items that aren't a fish at all. These objects can be used in multiple recipes or sold through the shop.

Items	Location
Cave Jelly	Mines - Level 20, 60, and 100
Green Algae	Anywhere (except for the Farm Pond in Standard Farm)
River Jelly	Freshwater
Sea Jelly	Saltwater
Seaweed	Ocean (Fishing) or Beach (Foraging)
White Algae	Mines, Sewers, Mutant Bug Lair, Witch's Swamp

If you want the ultimate angler experience, check out our guide on the best fish for your fishing pond. There are sure to be even more fish as more Stardew Valley updates roll out, so come back to see what other critters you can find.

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