Most minigames and activities in Stardew Valley are fun and relaxing. However, fishing is probably the most hated activity in the whole game.
Fishing at level 1, with the basic rod, is one of the hardest things you will do in your life. Dark Souls has got nothing on fishing in Stardew Valley.
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Luckily, after a bit of practice and getting used to the mechanics, you should be able to catch most fish in the game.
So, in this guide, we will try to explain how to catch fish in Stardew Valley and beat the minigame every time.
Table of Contents
- How to Catch Fish in Stardew Valley
- How to Win the Fishing Minigame in Stardew Valley
- How to Get Treasure While Fishing in Stardew Valley
How to Catch Fish in Stardew Valley
To start fishing in Stardew Valley, you will just have to approach any body of water and use your rod to throw the hook.
Just press and hold the left mouse button (or the “use tool” button) your farmer will start a throwing animation. This will decide how far you will throw the hook.
If you successfully charge the bar to the maximum, you won’t get any real advantages. You will just manage to throw the hook to the furthest point possible.
The only reason why this matters is that deeper water has better fish. However, if you go to the edge of the dock at the beach, for example, you will always get the same rare fish, no matter how far you throw the hook.
You can also change the direction the hook will go by pressing the movement keys (or controller joystick). Players can use this method to reach locations that would otherwise be unreachable.
Once the hook has fallen in the water, you will have to wait for an exclamation mark (!) to appear above the farmer’s head. You will also hear a weird sound twice.
Press the left mouse button to start pulling on the fish. A minigame will now start where you will have to keep the fish inside the green area.
How to Win the Fishing Minigame in Stardew Valley
You will control the green area’s movement by holding and releasing the left mouse button. When you press it, the green area will rise. When you release the button, the area will fall.
The best way to control the green space is to tap the action button rather than hold it down. If you hold it down, it will start going to the top, and then it will be very hard to control when it falls.
It is much easier to make the green area rise rather than fall. This is why you should try to keep the fish in the upper part of the green space.
This way, it will keep going higher and higher to escape. Just lightly tap the mouse button on and on and follow the fish through the bar.
You also have a time limit during this minigame, which you can see on the right side. The bar to the right will go down every time you don’t keep the fish inside the green area. Depending on the rarity of the fish, the bar will go down slower or faster.
Players can tell they are catching a high-rarity fish if the bar to the right falls really quickly, and the fish moves chaotically up and down to get away from you.
If you have patience and don’t try to force anything, you should be able to catch any fish in Stardew Valley. In the worst-case scenario, you can just grind to get level 3 Fishing and unlock the crab pot.
This tool will allow you to catch fish without having to do any effort and will also increase your Fishing skill in time. If you have a higher Fishing skill, the green bar will also increase in size, making the minigame much easier.
How to Catch Fish Faster
Some Stardew Valley players might get annoyed with how long it can take for a fish to catch the bait before the minigame can start. Luckily, there are a few ways to lower the wait time.
Usually, it will take around 1 to 30 seconds for a fish to bite your hook. However, you can lower this time by using bait, which becomes available at level 2 Fishing.
Normal bait will lower both the minimum and maximum time by 50%. This means that it will take a maximum of 15 seconds to start the fishing minigame if you just get enough bait.
To actually equip the bait, just select it, hold it over your fishing rod, and press the right mouse button (or the “do action” button).
Also, a fisherman should pay attention to their surroundings. There will be random spots in the water where bubbles can be seen. If you hit their locations with your fishing hook, you can catch fish 4 times faster.
How to Get Treasure While Fishing in Stardew Valley
You will also find treasure sometimes while fishing. When the minigame starts, or while you are already catching the fish, a treasure chest will appear on the bar.
To actually catch it, you will need to keep the treasure in the green area until a little progress bar next to it fills up. However, if you don’t catch the fish, you will lose the treasure, so make sure to keep an eye on it.
If you catch the fish before managing to get the treasure, you will also lose that treasure. Usually, the treasure will be worth more than the fish, but your Fishing level will matter a lot.
In general, you will have a 15% chance that a treasure will spawn while fishing. You can increase this chance by getting the Magnet bait, which increases the chance by 15%. However, you will need to level 9 Fishing to unlock this amazing item.
If you also use the Treasure Hunter hook (+5%) and get the Pirate perk at level 10, you can get the treasure chance up to 50%, which will only change a bit based on your daily luck.
When you catch treasure with more loot and your inventory is full, a menu will open where you can select if you want to keep the fish and the treasure items. Luckily, you can quickly sell fish for some space if you are at the beach.
That’s everything you need to know about how to catch fish in Stardew Valley!
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