In Stardew Valley, the most important thing is money. Though the game is about getting away from the monotonous life in the city, the need for money still exists in Pelican Town. To live a good life here, you will need to become the richest resident.
As you spend your days finding love, fighting monsters, and solving everything that happens in this small town, you will also realize that you will need some passive ways to make money if you want to finance the repair of this decrepit farm your grandfather left you.
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The Fish Pond is a decent source of passive income, as you just have to leave a fish in one and then wait for them to reproduce and give you items for free. Unfortunately, not all fish are equal. To get the most out of the Fish Pond, you will need to use the best fish.
There are a few ways to decide which fish are the most useful. However, the best fish for the Fish Pond in Stardew Valley has to be the Lava Eels.
Table of Contents
- The Best Fish for the Fish Pond in Stardew Valley
- Recommended Fishes for the Fish Pond in Stardew Valley
- The Best Early Game Fish for the Fish Pond in Stardew Valley
The Best Fish for the Fish Pond in Stardew Valley
There are many factors that go into deciding which fish are the best for the Fish Pond. One of the easiest factors is money and experience. This is why, objectively, the Lava Eel is the best fish to use in a Fish Pond in Stardew Valley.
However, you are more likely than not to have more Fish Ponds, so we will go through some of the factors that will allow you to decide which fish you want on your farm.
Here are some of the things that will make some fish unique when it comes to the Fish Pond in Stardew Valley:
- Pond Color
- Money and Experience Generation
- Chance for Rare Loot
- Unique Loot
Multi-Colored Ponds
Some of the fish that you may want to use with your Fish Ponds, which are some of the best in Stardew Valley, are also the ones that will change the color of the pond. Normal ponds have blue water in them.
However, if you place these fish in them, the pond’s color will change:
- Lava Eels – Red
- Slimejacks – Green
- Super Cucumbers – Lilac
- Void Salmons – Purple
Since these ponds are unique and look very good, many players always get one pond with each one of these fish in them. They also have relatively rare and expensive items that they can occasionally spawn.
The color of the pond will change once you have 3 of them in the pond. For the Lava Eel, you only need to complete the first quest for the color to change.
To catch the Lava Eel, you will need to either reach level 100 in the Mines or the Forge in the Volcano Dungeon.
The Slimejack isn’t an easy fish to catch either, as you can only get it in the Mutant Bug Lair. As this location is full of enemies, we would recommend you fish from the entrance into the area to avoid spawning annoying flies.
The Super Cucumber is one of the only fish here you could catch from the start of the game, as you can get them from the Beach in the Summer and Fall between 6 PM and 2 AM. During the Summer and Fall, you also have a chance to find this fish in garbage cans, allowing you to skip the whole fishing process.
To catch the Void Salmon in Stardew Valley, you will need to head to the Witch’s Swamp. If you’ve been to the Mutant Bug Lair, then it means you have also discovered this location.
Money/Experience Fish Ponds
When it comes to money, the Fish Pond isn’t one of the best choices in Stardew Valley. However, if you were to use some of these fishes, you might actually make a profit:
- Lava Eel – 760 g Aged Roe, 25 Fishing XP
- Blobfish – 560 g Aged Roe, 21 Fishing XP
- Ice Pip – 560 g Aged Roe, 21 Fishing XP
- Sturgeon – 500 g Caviar, 18 Fishing XP
Though the Ice Pip has a higher value Roe, it has a really low spawn rate. This is why, if you really wanted to only make money and experience from the Fish Ponds, you should only get the Lava Eel, Blobfish, and Sturgeon.
We’ve listed the Roe for most of them since that is the item that will spawn most often. However, the Blobfish also spawns Pearls, and the Lava Eel can get you Gold Ores, Magma Geodes, and Spicy Eel.
Rare Loot Fish Ponds
There are many items in Stardew Valley that require a lot of effort to get. Luckily, some of these Fish Ponds can give you these items for free, if you are lucky.
Here is a list of the fishes in Stardew Valley that can give you rare and useful items and the daily chance to get them if you have a full 10 Fish Pond:
| Fish | Rare Item | Daily Spawn Chance |
|---|---|---|
| Ice Pip | Frozen Geode | 15% (chance to get 1 or 5) |
| Lava Eel | Magma Geode | 5% (chance to get 5 or 10) |
| Midnight Squid | Squid Ink | 92% (chance to get 1 or 2) |
| Octopus | Omni Geode | 16% (chance to get 1, 3, or 10) |
| Rainbow Trout | Prismatic Shard | 0.09% |
| Spook Fish | Treasure Chest | 0.3% |
| Stingray | Dragon’s Tooth | 5% |
| Squid | Squid Ink | 95% |
| Stonefish | Geode | 15% (chance to get 1 or 5) |
| Void Salmon | Void Egg | 5% |
The most interesting fish out of these bunch are the Rainbow Trout and the Spook Fish. Though the chance to get their special, rare items is incredibly low, it will be worth it when it happens.
Unique Fish Pond Items
In general, we now know which fish are the best to use in a Fish Pond in Stardew Valley. However, there is an item that players can only get if they place a special fish inside the pond.
Caviar is a unique food item that can only be obtained by placing a Sturgeon inside a Fish Pond. There is no other way to get this item in Stardew Valley. So, if you want to be a true completionist, you will have to make a Sturgeon Fish Pond.
Recommended Fishes for the Fish Pond in Stardew Valley
Now that we know which fishes give special advantages and which ones are the most interesting in Stardew Valley, it’s time to decide which ones you will actually use.
The best fishes you can use for your Fish Ponds in Stardew Valley are the 4 colored fishes, the Slimejack, Void Salmon, Lava Eel, and Super Cucumber, the Sturgeon, and the Rainbow Trout.
These fishes will give you a perfect balance between money, fun, and aesthetics. So, 6 Fish Ponds should be more than enough to fulfill your fisherman dreams and still retain a lot of space on your farm.
However, if you only had to choose one fish as the best for the Fish Pond in Stardew Valley, the Lava Eel is in the lead by far.
The Best Early Game Fish for the Fish Pond in Stardew Valley
Unfortunately, most of the better fishes in Stardew Valley aren’t available in the first few seasons if you aren’t a speedrunner. However, there are still some good choices for players that want to get a Fish Pond started and can’t catch Lava Eels yet.
The best early game fishes you can catch and use for your Fish Pond in Stardew Valley are the Octopus and the Super Cucumber. Both of them are available during the Summer, and you can catch the Octopus in the morning and the Super Cucumber at night.
Though they are relatively hard to catch, the whole Spring should be more than enough to increase your Fishing skill and allow you to get one of these bad boys.
The Octopus will be an amazing source of Omni Geodes, and the Super Cucumber is already of the best fishes for the Fish Pond in the game, so you can start collecting the recommended fishes early.
That’s everything you need to know about the best fish for the Fish Pond in Stardew Valley!
Have any input or suggestions for this guide? Let us know in the comment section below.
