Stardew Valley Fishing Guide – GameSpot

Estimated read time 6 min read


Fishing is one of the five main skills in Stardew Valley and an excellent way to make some money. However, the fishing minigame involves a bit of skill and the type of fish you can catch changes each season. Combine that with a few different fishing locations, bait, and tackle, and the fishing can become a bit overwhelming. Here’s everything you need to know about fishing.

How to fish

To successfully catch a fish, you need to keep the green bar on it.
To successfully catch a fish, you need to keep the green bar on it.

Using a fishing rod, you can cast it into a body of water by holding the action button to determine cast strength. Once the bobber is in the water, you need to hit the action button again when an exclamation point appears, which will hook your catch. If it was a fish biting your line, this will start the fishing minigame.

The fishing minigame puts a fish icon on a large bar, moving sporadically up and down the bar. You need to keep your green bar on the fish to reel it in, feathering the action button to keep it in the same place. The best technique is to hold the button to move the green bar and to let go to let its momentum hold it in place. When the fish isn’t in your green bar, the catch meter goes down and the fish escapes if it bottoms out. The rarer the fish, the more frantically it moves during the minigame.

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While your first fishing rod can’t have any attachments, at fishing level 2 and 6, new rods are for sale in Willy’s Fish Shop, which can hold bait and tackle.

Bait makes fish bite faster, so you can catch more fish in a single day. Bait is made from bug meat or from a bait spawner, which will produce bait every day. There are a few specialty types of bait, like targeted bait, which helps you catch specific fish.

Tackles on the other hand impact the fishing minigame or the type of fish being caught in different ways. Below is a table of every tackle type, what it does, and how to obtain it.

Tackle Boost How to obtain
Spinner Reduces maximum delay before a fish can bite by 3.75 seconds.

Fishing level 6

Craft with 2 iron bar or purchase for 500G

Dressed Spinner

Reduces maximum delay before a fish can bite by 7.5 seconds.

Fishing level 8

Craft with 2 iron bar and 1 cloth or purchase for 1,000G

Trap Bobber Progress depletes 33% slower when the fish is outside the green bar.

Fishing level 6

Craft with 1 copper bar and 10 sap or purchase for 500G

Cork Bobber Increases the size of the green bar.

Fishing level 7

Craft with 10 wood, 5 hardwood, and 10 slime or purchase for 750G

Lead Bobber Adds weight to the bar so it doesn’t bounce if dropped to the bottom.

Fishing level 6

Purchase for 200G

Treasure Hunter Increases the chances of finding a treasure chest and prevents the progress bar from depleting when on the treasure but not the fish.

Fishing level 7

Craft with 2 gold bars or purchase for 750G

Barbed Hook “Hooks” the fish, causing the green bar to stick with it whenever it moves.

Fishing level 8

Craft with 1 copper bar, 1 silver bar, and 1 gold bar or purchase for 1,000G

Curiosity Lure Increases the chances of catching a rare fish. Random drop in the Quarry Mines, Skull Cavern, and Volcano Dungeon
Quality Bobber Increases the quality level of the fish being caught by one tier. Unlock the recipe from Willy for completing the town board quest “Juicy Bugs Wanted!” crafted using 1 copper bar, 10 sap, 5 solar essence
Sonar Bobber Reveals what fish in on the line whenever you hook a fish.

Fishing level 6

Crafted using 1 iron bar and 2 refined quartz or purchase for 500G

Ocean fish

There are three primary places to catch fish: the ocean, river, and mountain lake. Depending on which location you cast your line at, different fish will be available to catch. The Ocean can be found to the south of town.

Fish Availability (time) Weather Availability (season)
Pufferfish 12pm to 4pm Sunny Summer
Anchovy Anytime Any Spring/Fall
Tuna 6am to 7pm Any Summer/Winter
Sardine 6am to 7pm Any Spring/Fall/Winter
Red Mullet 6am to 7pm Any Summer/Winter
Herring Anytime Any Spring/Winter
Eel 4pm to 2am Rain Spring/Fall
Octopus 6am to 1pm Any Summer
Red Snapper 6am to 7pm Rain Summer/Fall/Winter
Squid 6pm to 2am Any Winter
Sea Cucumber 6am to 7pm Any Fall/Winter
Super Cucumber 6pm to 2am Any Summer/Fall
Flounder 6am to 8pm Any Spring/Summer
Tilapia 6am to 2pm Any Fall
Albacore 6am to 11pm and 6pm to 2am Any Fall/Winter
Halibut 6am to 11am and 7pm to 2am Any Spring/Summer/Winter
Crimsonfish Any (East Pier on The Beach, requires fishing level 5) Any Summer

River fish

The river is the water running through town and through the Cindersap Forest. The “lake” in Cindersap Forest counts as river fishing. If you choose the fishing farm layout, the water on the farm counts as a river as well. There is also a lot of crossovers between river fish and lake fish, so some of these fish will appear on both lists.

Fish Availability (time) Weather Availability (season)
Bream 6pm to 2am Any All
Smallmouth Bass Any Any Spring/Fall
Rainbow Trout 6am to 7pm Sun Summer
Salmon 6am to 7pm Any Fall
Walleye 12pm to 2am Rain Fall/Winter
Perch Any Any All
Catfish 6am to 12am Rain Fall (Spring and Summer in Secret Woods Pond)
Pike Any Sun/Wind Spring/Summer
Sunfish 6am to 7pm Sun/Wind Spring/Summer
Midnight Carp 10pm to 2am Any Fall/Winter (Cindersap Forest pond)
Tiger Trout 6am to 7pm Any Fall/Winter
Chub Any Any All
Dorado 6am to 7pm Any Summer (Cindersap Forest)
Shad 9am to 2am Rain Spring/Summer/Fall
Lingcod Any Winter Any
Angler Any (North of Joja Mart on the wooden plank bridge, fishing level 3) Fall Any

Mountain Lake fish

Mountain Lake fish can only be caught in the water outside the mines.
Mountain Lake fish can only be caught in the water outside the mines.

The Mountain Lake refers exclusively to the lake outside the mine in the northeast section of Stardew Valley.

Fish Availability (time) Weather Availability (season)
Largemouth Bass 6am to 7pm Any All
Rainbow Trout 6am to 7pm Sun Summer
Walleye 12pm to 2am Rain Fall/Winter
Perch Any Any Winter
Carp Any Any All
Midnight Carp 10pm to 2am Any Fall/Winter
Sturgeon 6am to 7pm Any Summer/Winter
Bullhead Any Any All
Chub Any Any All
Lingcod Any Any Winter
Legend Any (Mountain Lake near the log, fishing level 10 required) Rain Spring

Special fishing locations

There are a few special fishing locations in Stardew Valley. Each of these is typically only home to one type of fish that can only be found there. This includes small ponds inside the mines, the pond in the desert, and other special locations

Fish Availability (time) Weather Availability (season) Location
Ghostfish Any Any All Mines floors 20 and 60
Stonefish Any Any All Mines floor 20
Ice Pip Any Any All Mines floor 60
Lava Eel Any Any All Mines floor 100 and Volcano Caldera
Sandfish 6am to 8pm Any All Calico Desert pond
Scorpion Carp 6am to 8pm (requires fishing level 4) Any All Calico Desert pond
Woodskip Any Any All Secret Woods pond and Forest Farm
Void Salmon Any Any All Witch’s Swamp
Slimejack Any Any All Mutant Bug Lair
Stingray Any Any All Pirate Cove on Ginger Island
Lionfish Any Any All Ginger Island ocean
Blue Discus Any Any All Ginger Island pond and rivers
Glacierfish Any (requires fishing level 6) Any Winter South end of Arrowhead Island in Cindersap Forest
Mutant Carp Any Any All The Sewers

Crab Pot

There are also a handful of fish that can be caught by Crab Pots overnight. These fish can be caught year-round and are only split by being either in the ocean or in freshwater (rivers and mountain lake.) Crab Pots can be crafted at fishing level 3 using 40 wood and 3 iron bars. Bait must be placed into the Crab Pot for it to catch anything.

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



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