In Stardew Valley, fishing is one of the best ways to make a lot of money and jumpstart the economy of your dilapidated farm.
Luckily, fishing is more than just that annoying minigame where you have to move a green bar up and down to catch something to sell. You can also use a Crab Pot to passively catch fish and make money.
Recommended Read: How to Dye Clothes in Stardew Valley
The Crab Pot is the cheat that all players that hate fishing should use, as it allows them to level up their Fishing skill while also getting some of those much-needed Bundle ingredients.
To use the Crab Pot in Stardew Valley, you just need to approach a body of water, such as the ocean, lake, or river, and place the item down in it. Then, hold Bait in your hands and interact with the floating Crab Pot to fill it up. Check on it the next day and find either items, trash, or fish inside.
Table of Contents
- What Is the Crab Pot and How to Craft It (Recipe)
- How to Use the Crab Pot in Stardew Valley
- Best Crab Pot Locations
- Why Is the Crab Pot Not Working/Giving Only Trash?
What Is the Crab Pot and How to Craft It (Recipe)
The Crab Pot is a special fishing item in Stardew Valley that passively catches marine wildlife as you go about your day. In many ways, it works like a trap that catches something every day.
The items you can get from the Crab Pot range from trash to Lobsters. Since there is a high chance that you will only get bad items from the Pot, many players usually consider the Crab Pot relatively useless.
However, many of the fish you can catch using a Crab Pot are unique only to the Pot, and you can’t catch them using a fishing pole.
There is also a Bundle in the Community Center that uses only fish caught with the Crab Pot, so you will need to learn how to use it.
To get the recipe for the Crab Pot and start crafting it in Stardew Valley, you will need to reach Fishing level 3. Once you do, you will need Wood x40 and Iron Bar x3 to craft it in the Crafting menu.
If you get the Trapper profession, which is great if you want to use a lot of Crab Pots in the future, you can start crafting them for Wood x25 and Copper Bar x2.
How to Use the Crab Pot in Stardew Valley
Luckily, it is very easy to use a Crab Pot. To use a Crab Pot in Stardew Valley, you just need to follow these simple steps:
- Hold the Crab Pot in your hands, approach a body of water, and press the Use Tool button (left click, X on Xbox, square on PS, and Y on Switch) when the highlighted Crab Pot is green.
- Hold Bait in your hands and press the Do Action button (right click, A on Xbox and Switch, and X on PS) while standing next to the Crab Pot to put it inside. You can also press the Use Tool button while hovering over the Crab Pot.
- Wait until the next day and interact with the Crab Pot to get your reward.
Depending on the location you are fishing, there are a couple of types of fish and items you can get.
Saltwater and freshwater yield different rewards, so make sure to have some Crab Pots at both the ocean and river/lake to get all the possible fish.
Saltwater Crab Pot Rewards
Here are all the fish you can catch in saltwater (the Beach, Beach Farm, and Ginger Island) using the Crab Pot in Stardew Valley:
- Lobster – Price: 120g, Chance to Catch: 14%
- Clam – Price: 50g, Chance to Catch: 14%
- Crab – Price: 100g, Chance to Catch: 14%
- Cockle – Price: 50g, Chance to Catch: 14%
- Mussel – Price: 30g, Chance to Catch: 14%
- Shrimp – Price: 60g, Chance to Catch: 14%
- Oyster – Price: 40g, Chance to Catch: 14%
Freshwater Crab Pot Rewards
Here are all the fish you can catch in freshwater (Cindersap Forest, Farm ponds, Mountain lake, Pelican Town river) using the Crab Pot in Stardew Valley:
- Crayfish – Price: 75g, Chance to Catch: 33%
- Snail – Price: 65g, Chance to Catch: 33%
- Periwinkle – Price: 20g, Chance to Catch: 33%
Best Crab Pot Locations
Since you get different types of fish in saltwater and freshwater, there are better places to use the Crab Pot.
If you care about money, then the ocean/beach is the best location to use the Crab Pot in Stardew Valley since the overall value of the fish is better.
However, this doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t use Crab Pots in other places since you will need to do so to get all the fishing-related rewards.
So, the best strategy is to set up 75% of your Crab Pots in the ocean at the Beach and 25% in the closest freshwater to your farm that you usually pass.
Most farms have ponds on them, so set up a few in those since you get the same rewards even if you place them in the farm ponds, Cindersap Forest river, or Mountain lake.
If you live on the Beach farm, then set them up at the Mountain lake since you can check them out when you go to the Mines.
Why Is the Crab Pot Not Working/Giving Only Trash?
Unfortunately, there is a 38% chance every time you loot a Crab Pot in Stardew Valley to get trash items.
You can only fix this by getting the Mariner profession at level 10 Fishing after picking the Trapper profession at level 5.
This is why you will often just get trash in exchange for your Bait. Luckily, since you can craft a lot of Crab Pots and Bait, you can repeat the process every day and hope for something better.
If the Crab Pot doesn’t seem to be working, then you likely haven’t followed the steps from above properly. Make sure there is Bait inside the Crab Pot otherwise you won’t get anything.
The animation for the Crab Pot is different when there is Bait inside it, so make sure to look at it a bit and even try putting Bait inside again, just to check it’s set up.
That’s everything you need to know about how to use the Crab Pot in Stardew Valley!
Have any input or suggestions for this guide? Let us know in the comment section below.
