Fishing
Fishing can be done actively and passively. Fish are necessary ingredients for cooking and oil making. Fishing requires a rod, bait and finding a good place to fish. It gives XP in Cooking and Herbalism.
Character Development: Fishing
In order to catch different fish, the fishing rods in the Character Development skill tree must be unlocked by fishing and gaining XP either actively or AFK.
Press the ['] quote button to see your fishing progression.
Fish and Preferred Bait
Fish are caught at the best rates when using that fish's preferred bait:
- Carp: Breadball
- Herring: Cyperus
- Zander: Grub
- Salmon: Beetle
- Cod: Worm
Which fish is caught and how quickly you get a bite depends on these factors:
- Fishery condition
- Your Character Development progress in Fishing
- Tier and quality of the fishing rod
- Which bait is used
- Whether or not a lure is active
- How well you do in the mini-game if actively fishing
Cod and salmon are more likely when these factors are fulfilled by high quality requirements such as Rich Fishery, a Master's Fishing Rod, using the fish's preferred bait, and having a lure active.
Fisheries and Condition
Fish can be caught in any water deep enough to swim in. "Fisheries" are an area of water divided up into rough squares a few meters across, similar to the image below. The image below is to understand the concept of fisheries generally, not an exact indicator of where fishery lines are or their exact shape or size. There is no way to see the exact size or edge of a fishery. Throwing your bait every few steps will give you a good idea as you see condition levels changing.
There are 4 qualities of fishery:
- Rich
- Average
- Poor
- Exploited
A fishery in higher condition results in faster catches of fish and a greater likelihood of catching rarer fish like salmon and cod (if using bait that could catch salmon or cod). A fishery's condition will decrease over time as more fish are caught. Fishing also decreases the condition of all adjacent fisheries, at a slower rate. Over time, all these fisheries will replenish.
To find the condition of the fishery, equip your fishing rod, and use the bait. When the bait touches the water, you will begin fishing and display the condition. It is a good idea to throw out bait many times, running along the shore. You will see various water conditions as you explore. It may take some time before you find an average or rich fishery.
A quick way to do this without wasting bait is cast, see the quality, immediately jump, move down the shore, and repeat. Because the fishing animation is several seconds long and the bait will be used if you let the animation complete, so jumping to interrupt it allows you to see the fishery condition information without using a bait. Catching a fish will always use 1 bait.
Fisheries near capital and in safe zones are much more likely to be Poor or Exploited than fisheries further away. It may take quite a while to find a rich fishery and it will likely be in a Warzone (loot enabled) area.
Fishing Rods
There are 4 tiers of fishing rod. They are created with the Engineering profession.
- Novice's Fishing Rod
- Journeyman's Fishing Rod
- Craftsman's Fishing Rod
- Master's Fishing Rod
Higher tier rods have a higher chance to get a bite faster and a higher chance to be cod or salmon. Access to fishing rods is gained by improving your Fishing skill in Character Development.
Higher quality rods have a lower overall cast time. If you are afk fishing this can be a difference of 20 seconds or so between a +0 and a +6 rod. When active fishing, a lower overall cast time means fewer pulls are required to reel the fish in (less time playing the mini-game).
Bait and Lures
There are 5 types of bait. Using the correct bait increases your chance to catch specific fish.
Breadballs: Carp specialty. Made by disassembling bread (also good for leveling cooking).
Cyperus: Herring specialty. Can also catch carp. Grown as a crop.
Grubs: Zander speciality. Can also catch herring and carp. Found when weeding crops or digging in the dig pit.
Beetle: Salmon Specialty. Also catches zander, herring, and carp. Found when weeding crops.
Worms: Cod specialty. Also catches salmon, zander, herring, and carp. Found when weeding crops, fishing, and digging in the dig pit.
Lure: Bought at the Glory vendor for 800 Contribution points or in the Supporter Shop for 150 ambers. A lure improves the speed at which you catch fish, decreases the rate of exploitation of the fishery by 50%, and increases your chance to catch salmon or cod. Lasts 30 minutes. Multiple people can benefit from the lure, and its range extends a decent distance.
The lure itself shows up on the map as an icon that any player can see. This means players looking for PvP might come find you! A lure is NOT the same thing as bait.
Active Fishing
Active fishing is the fastest way to catch fish and earns the most XP. To actively fish, equip a fishing rod, and put your bait on your hot bar. To cast your line, use your bait, hover the mouse over water, and click. After a few seconds, you will get a bite. Follow the indicators on the mini-game to reel the fish in.
Fishing in higher quality water will yield fish more quickly and you have a higher chance to catch salmon or cod. As you fish, the quality of the water will deplete, and you will need to move after a while to a new location.
You will always catch something when fishing. What you catch and how long it takes depends on the factors listed above.
Passive Fishing
To passively fish, simply equip a fishing rod, cast your line once and leave it. The minigame will still activate, but eventually you will catch a fish. Passive fishing is much slower than active fishing and may be dangerous to AFK. Fisheries are still depleted while AFK fishing, so beware how long you remain idle in one place.
Fish Traps
Fish traps are the slowest and most passive way to fish. Access to using Fish Traps is gained by leveling up fishing mastery in Character Development Fish traps are craftable constructions in the Engineering profession. A fish trap can be placed in any water deep enough to swim in, and may be looted by enemies, but not allies. It is a good idea to check the fishery quality with your rod and some bait before throwing your trap in the water. Placing the fish trap in a better fishery will catch fish faster. Due to the limit of 2 fish of each type, checking your trap regularly is important.
You can only have 1 fish trap active at a time. You can actively or passively fish in the same location as a fish trap.
A fish trap must be interacted with once every 3 days or it will despawn.
Fish traps can hold 2 of each type of fish.
If you consistently find that your fish trap is empty, it's likely it's being looted by an enemy. Try to find a better spot!
Also see: Crafting | Gathering Resources | Forestry and Farming
