Fishing¶
I've kept rods beside rivers, lakes and the open sea, and found reasons to go back to each. Depth, time, local stock and bait change the catch. Begin with a usable rod and bait, then consult the species entries when a particular fish becomes the project.
Rods, tackle and the fight¶
Put bait on a fishing rod, cast into suitable water, and read the fish's movement. Reeling, sideways control, tension and exhaustion are different parts of landing it. A stronger reel can help retrieve the catch; room for a longer fight and a more forgiving line can matter just as much when the fish objects.
Fishing Tackle is equipment to carry, rather than bait to consume. Keep actual usable bait in the rod. The Improved Fishing Rod, learned from A Better Line, contributes only when it is the rod making the cast. A spare in your pack does not improve another rod. Its catches can occasionally bring a publication as well as the fish, making it a useful companion to a growing collection of knowledge.
Fishing bonuses¶
Fishing experience, tackle, the active rod and temporary effects can improve different parts of a cast. The table separates help with the fight, the wait and the eligible catch.
Fisherman’s Gift and Bobber’s Luck use the strongest value per dimension rather than multiplying together. Mycena, Fishing skill, carried tackle and the rod used for the cast combine independently.
Eligibility, extra fight time and ordinary meat bonuses add; strength and affinity dimensions multiply. Limits apply, and hard habitat or bait requirements still apply.
The cast captures equipment and skill bonuses when it begins. Expiring effects or equipment changes affect the next cast. Local bonus fog updates during an active cast and ends when you leave or the event ends. Player bonuses do not enhance ordinary trap attempts or Dirty Magnet salvage.
Swamp nighttime mist and light scenes are separate from ordinary bonus fog. They grant no fishing-stat, mining-yield or mining-Gem bonus.
Bobber’s Luck lasts 5 minutes and its cooldown is 60 minutes. Its separate aquatic wake can temporarily grant Virtual Fins and Gill Breathing.
| Fishing skill effect | Increment |
|---|---|
| Reel strength | +1% per Fishing level |
| Sideways strength | +1% per Fishing level |
| Bite time | −0.5% per Fishing level |
| Line-break margin | +0.5% per Fishing level |
| Fish meat | +0.5% per Fishing level |
| Species eligibility | +0.05 points per Fishing level |
| Exhaustion buildup | +1% per Fishing level |
| Bait affinity | +1% per Fishing level |
| Rare-species affinity | +1.5% per Fishing level |
| Tension gain | −0.5% per Fishing level |
| Fight time | +0.5 seconds per Fishing level |
| Source | Activation | Contribution before combined limits |
|---|---|---|
| Fisherman’s Gift | Wear Boonie Hat; hold a rod near river, swamp or ocean water | Eligibility +1 points; Reel +100%; Sideways +100%; Exhaustion +10%; Tension gain −8%; Line margin +4%; Bite wait −10%; Rare affinity +15%; Bait affinity +10%; Fight time +10 s |
| Bobber’s Luck | Use an authored fishing-bobber interaction | Eligibility +2 points; Reel +20%; Sideways +16%; Exhaustion +18%; Tension gain −12%; Line margin +8%; Bite wait −15%; Rare affinity +30%; Bait affinity +20%; Fight time +20 s |
| Mycena Vestigilucens | Its active fishing window | Eligibility +1 points; Reel +75%; Sideways +75%; Exhaustion +8%; Tension gain −4%; Line margin +2%; Bite wait −5%; Rare affinity +10%; Bait affinity +5%; Fight time +5 s |
| Fishing Tackle | Carry it in supported inventory or backpack contents | Eligibility +1 point; reel +15%; sideways +15%; tension gain −10%; line margin +10%; fight time +15 s |
| Improved Fishing Rod | Use this actual rod for the cast | Reel +50%; sideways +50%; bait affinity +50% |
| Active bonus fog | Stay within 15 metres of an ordinary event fog patch | 1.5× fishing dimensions before combined limits; bite wait and tension gain decrease |
Reel and sideways strength help you control the fish. Exhaustion buildup helps wear it down; lower tension gain, a larger line-break margin and extra fight time give different forms of breathing room. A shorter bite wait affects the waiting part of the cast.
Species eligibility can admit catches that need more experienced attention. Bait affinity improves a favorable bait relationship; it does not turn the wrong food into a required key. Rare-species affinity changes interest among eligible candidates. Water, time, special bait and other hard requirements remain requirements.
The ordinary fish-meat bonus applies when gutting the relevant meat output. It does not duplicate the whole fish, bones, fat, swallowed objects or a species' special reward. Read a catch's Gut result as its own combination of food and possibilities.
Fisherman's Gift comes from the boonie-hat-and-active-rod arrangement near suitable water. Bobber's Luck comes from an authored bobber interaction, with a separate cooldown and possible aquatic wake. Mycena Vestigilucens has its own fishing window and other mushroom effects. Use /fx to inspect active effects and their timers. A cast uses the bonuses captured when it began; changing equipment halfway through does not rewrite that fight.
Bonus-granting event fog is the exception. Check /fx for the active benefit: it follows the fog during a cast, so leaving it or waiting past the event's end removes that help. It can improve the fight and ordinary meat yield; it does not choose another fish after one has already taken the line. The swamp's nighttime mist and lights alone grant no fishing bonus.
Bait¶
Food quality and a species' preferred bait family are separate facts. A large stack of weak bait does not become one piece of high-quality bait. A special offering can be valuable because of what it is, even when it does not satisfy another fish's quality requirement.
A larger stack does not raise per-item quality. Specialist bait can be usable through its configured bait rule without gaining a high-quality food rating.
Canned tuna is consumed as bait and returns an empty tuna tin. Empty tins and protected custom fish are not ordinary bait.
Synthetic Bait Mass is usable through its grub base. Fishing Tackle is carried equipment, not a substitute for putting usable bait on the rod.
| Bait | Per-item quality | Recognized bait family |
|---|---|---|
| Anchovy | 2 | small fish |
| Apple | 1 | Ordinary bait |
| Beehive Nucleus | 2 | Ordinary bait |
| Black Berry | 1 | Ordinary bait |
| Black Raspberries | 1 | Ordinary bait |
| Blue Berry | 1 | Ordinary bait |
| Blueberries | 1 | Ordinary bait |
| Brains | Specialist bait | brains, carrion |
| Bread Loaf | 1 | Ordinary bait |
| Bread Loaf | 1 | Ordinary bait |
| Can of Tuna | 10 | food |
| Corn | 1 | Ordinary bait |
| Entrails | 3 | entrails, raw meat, carrion |
| Green Berry | 1 | Ordinary bait |
| Grub | 3.5 | Ordinary bait |
| Herring | 2 | small fish |
| Jar of Honey | 1 | Ordinary bait |
| Lobster Meat | 0.5 | lobster meat, fish meat |
| Potato | 1 | Ordinary bait |
| Pumpkin | 1 | Ordinary bait |
| Raw Bear Meat | 10 | raw meat, bear meat |
| Raw Beef | 10 | Ordinary bait |
| Raw Big Cat Meat | 10 | raw meat, bigcat meat |
| Raw Big Cat Meat | 10 | Ordinary bait |
| Raw Chicken Breast | 5 | raw meat, chicken meat |
| Raw Crocodile Meat | 10 | raw meat, crocodile meat |
| Raw Deer Meat | 5 | raw meat, deer meat |
| Raw Fish | 0.5 | fish meat |
| Raw Horse Meat | 5 | Ordinary bait |
| Raw Human Meat | 3 | raw meat, human meat |
| Raw Pork | 5 | raw meat, boar meat |
| Raw Snake Meat | 10 | raw meat, snake meat |
| Raw Wolf Meat | 10 | raw meat, wolf meat |
| Red Berry | 1 | Ordinary bait |
| Sardine | 2 | small fish |
| Small Trout | 10 | small fish |
| Spoiled Bear Meat | Specialist bait | carrion |
| Spoiled Big Cat Meat | Specialist bait | carrion |
| Spoiled Chicken | Specialist bait | carrion |
| Spoiled Crocodile Meat | Specialist bait | carrion |
| Spoiled Deer Meat | Specialist bait | carrion |
| Spoiled Fish Meat | Specialist bait | carrion |
| Spoiled Horse Meat | Specialist bait | carrion |
| Spoiled Human Meat | Specialist bait | carrion |
| Spoiled Pork Meat | Specialist bait | carrion |
| Spoiled Snake Meat | Specialist bait | carrion |
| Spoiled Wolf Meat | Specialist bait | carrion |
| Synthetic Bait Mass | 3.5 | Uses its grub base; generated consumption effects are separate |
| Wheat | 1 | Ordinary bait |
| White Berry | 1 | Ordinary bait |
| Worm | 2.5 | Ordinary bait |
| Yellow Berry | 1 | Ordinary bait |
| Yellow Perch | 10 | small fish |
The table lists the current usable ordinary and authored specialist baits. Worms, grubs, small fish, raw meat and produce cover familiar approaches; honey, bread, a beehive nucleus, spoiled meat, Brains, Entrails and Lobster Meat widen the experiment. Canned tuna is particularly useful when a high-quality offering is needed, and leaves an empty tin after consumption. A custom fish with its own identity is protected from accidentally becoming bait.
Check the species entry for a required bait and for a mere preference. Lobster Meat can answer a particular eligibility gate; snake meat has a relationship with the jungle pool; Brains interest a fish that ordinary fish meat cannot replace. Such relationships belong to the fish's description and habitat, rather than to a universal “best bait.”
Chumming the water¶
Drop blood, unspoiled raw or cooked meat, or a whole fish into the water yourself. An accepted offering consumes the entire dropped stack. Split off what you intend to spend before throwing it. The message You chum the waters. confirms acceptance; spoiled or burned meat and ordinary junk do not qualify. Live Lobster and Arctic Crab keep their own escape or release behavior.
The feeding patch stays where the offering reached the water. Anglers casting into the same water within about 30 m can share its benefits. More food can strengthen and extend them. Ordinary fish traps and Dirty Magnet salvage keep their own rules.
Blood can improve effective bait quality and relax bait requirements in ocean, river and swamp water. Chumming at Bandit Camp favors Ehrman Trout; at the Jungle Ziggurat it favors Latinum Emperor and Sparkling Koi. Region, depth, time and other habitat requirements still matter. Feeding a quiet stretch of water does not put every species in it.
Leave a route out. Ocean offerings can attract sharks and other sea life, river offerings can bring a bear, and swamp offerings can draw crocodiles. Splashes are a reason to look around before leaning over the bank again.
Swamps and monument pools¶
Swamp catches draw from Copperbelly Carp, Catfish, Mud Devil and Bog Gar. Rods and ordinary traps share that local stock, while rods have the additional nighttime opportunity for Sparkling Koi. Suitable bait still changes what is likely to bite. A nearby river salmon run does not turn the swamp's Catfish into a run catch.
Bandit Camp water adds the rod-only Ehrman Trout, with better chances at night. The Jungle Ziggurat's pool can hold the rare Latinum Emperor. Both accept ordinary fishing bait; the correct water matters more than carrying an impressive spare rod. Gutting a Latinum Emperor inflicts 25 damage and can kill you. Recover before handling it.
Fish traps¶
Ordinary fish traps use the same bait identities and much of the same local ecology, with their own timing and exclusions. They take suitable bait from their inventory and can consume it on an eligible attempt even if the catch fails. A place with no eligible species does not become productive just because the trap is full of food.
Player fishing skills, carried tackle, the Improved Rod and temporary angler bonuses do not enhance ordinary trap attempts. Population-limited fish and several deep, offshore or demanding freshwater catches need a rod. The species guide distinguishes those cases. Dirty Magnet is a rod lure, not trap bait.
Salmon runs and local opportunities¶
Seagulls gathering over fishing hotspots can help choose a cast. They mark a promising place, rather than guaranteeing a particular species or successful landing.
A nearby run announcement, activity on a river segment and repeated splashes identify a temporary opportunity. Eligible local species receive the run's selection influence; the event does not guarantee that every cast becomes the same fish. Managed traps can share the local selection influence while keeping their ordinary neutral angler bonuses and species exclusions.
Bears can arrive on suitable nearby banks. Keep a clear retreat and something useful to discourage the animal, especially when the message tells you it is already close. Salvage nets placed in the river can benefit from the run too.
Magnet fishing¶
A Dirty Magnet gives an ordinary fishing rod a different occupation. Look for one among red freight-crate finds and submerged salvage; unusual catches and inhabitants can have picked one up too. It is a scavenged tool, so recognizing it may be easier than explaining its history.
Put the Dirty Magnet in a fishing rod’s bait slot and cast into water. It is reusable; an ordinary completed cast does not consume it.
Magnet fishing recovers salvage rather than selecting from the ordinary species catalog. Ordinary fish bonuses and trap rules do not turn it into a better species lure.
Expect scraps of metal, with occasional tools, a speargun or spears among the better finds. A Rusty Crowbar is worth keeping if you are planning to inspect stubborn wreckage. Beach detecting and tool-bearing salvage can supply one too; the magnet is another way to look.
Species guide¶
The fish species catalog records habitat, bait and handling for the island's recognizable catches. Required bait and preferred bait have different meanings; good tackle does not put a freshwater fish in the sea. Inspect an unfamiliar catch before gutting or releasing it.
Fishing milestones include catch totals, consecutive catches and a collection of every enabled rod-catchable species. Use /achievements to inspect the conditions and claim earned rewards. Diving and chumming milestones offer other reasons to keep working along the water.
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