Stardew Valley Fishing: Rods, Bait, Levels, and the Catches Worth Your Time

Crops are the obvious cash flow in Stardew Valley, but the river, ocean, and lava pools hide a second income stream most beginners ignore. Fishing pays well once you understand the mechanic, and it scales beautifully with your skill level. This guide walks through the gear, the catching mini-game, the perks per level, and which fish are actually worth chasing.

How Fishing Actually Works

The only hard requirement is a fishing rod. Bait is optional, but it speeds up bites considerably. With your rod equipped, walk to any body of water and hold the Tool button (left mouse by default on PC) to charge the cast. Release when the casting meter looks right. Better timing means a longer cast.

Now you wait. A bite shows up as an exclamation point above your character with an audio cue. Press the Tool button again to start the fight.

A reeling bar opens up. Your job is to keep the green strip aligned with the moving fish icon. Stay locked on and the right-side meter climbs. Slip off and that meter drops. Empty it and the fish is gone. Never lose contact during the entire fight and the game flags it as a Perfect catch, which raises the quality tier of whatever you land.

If you want a visual walkthrough, here is ConcernedApe himself explaining the system:

What Determines Which Fish Bite

Stardew Valley sorts its fish roster by season, weather, body of water, and time of day. A few break the rules entirely. The Night Market at the Beach, for example, hides catches you cannot find at any other point in the year.

Bubble Spots

Those patches of bubbles you sometimes see in the water are not decorative. Casting into them gives you two boosts:

• Fish bite roughly 4x faster.
• The green effective zone on the reeling bar grows by one unit.

Only one bubble spot exists per biome at a time, and some appear in places you simply cannot reach, no matter your skill level or rod. That is part of the charm. Or the cruelty.

The Four Fishing Rods

All rods come from Willy's Fish Shop. Pick based on budget and current level:

• Training Rod: 25g. Forgiving for total beginners.
• Bamboo Pole: 500g. Willy also mails this one to you on Spring 2 after his intro letter.
• Fiberglass Rod: 1,800g. Requires Fishing Level 2. Accepts bait.
• Iridium Rod: 7,500g. Requires Fishing Level 6. Accepts bait and tackle.

Leveling Up Fishing

Fishing, like every other skill in the game, goes from Level 0 to 10. The XP formula is:

XP = ((Fish Quality + 1) * 3) + (Fish Difficulty / 3)

Quality ranges from 0 to 4. Difficulty ranges from 5 to 110. To make that concrete: a plain sardine at difficulty 40 awards 13 XP. A gold-quality Crimsonfish paired with a treasure chest at difficulty 95 nets you a ridiculous 970 XP in one fight.

Here is the XP wall you need to climb for each level:

• Level 1: 100 XP
• Level 2: 380 XP
• Level 3: 770 XP
• Level 4: 1,300 XP
• Level 5: 2,150 XP
• Level 6: 3,300 XP
• Level 7: 4,800 XP
• Level 8: 6,900 XP
• Level 9: 10,000 XP
• Level 10: 15,000 XP

Perks Unlocked at Each Level

• Level 1: +1 casting distance.
• Level 2: Bait crafting recipe. Bait and the Fiberglass Rod appear at Willy's.
• Level 3: Crab Pot and Dish O' The Sea recipes. Willy starts selling Crab Pots.
• Level 4: Recycling Machine recipe. +1 casting distance.
• Level 5: Choose between Fisher and Trapper professions.
• Level 6: Spinner and Trap Bobber recipes. Willy stocks the Lead Bobber, Trap Bobber, Spinner, and Iridium Rod.
• Level 7: Cork Bobber and Treasure Hunter recipes. Both also become buyable.
• Level 8: Worm Bin, Barbed Hook, and Dressed Spinner recipes. Barbed Hook and Dressed Spinner go on sale. +1 casting distance.
• Level 9: Seafoam Pudding cooking recipe and Magnet crafting recipe. The Magnet becomes buyable.
• Level 10: If you took Fisher at 5, choose between Angler and Pirate. If you took Trapper, choose between Mariner and Luremaster.

Food That Buffs Fishing

Some cooked dishes give you a temporary fishing boost. The full list:

• Maple Bar: Farming +1, Fishing +1, Mining +1
• Chowder: Fishing +1
• Trout Soup: Fishing +1
• Shrimp Cocktail: Fishing +1, Luck +1
• Escargot: Fishing +2
• Fish Taco: Fishing +2
• Dish O' The Sea: Fishing +3
• Fish Stew: Fishing +3
• Lobster Bisque: Fishing +3, Max Energy +50
• Seafoam Pudding: Fishing +4

Tip: Apply Qi Seasoning to any cooked dish to stack on top of the base buff.

Treasure Chests Mid-Fight

Once in a while a small chest icon appears inside the reeling window. Swing the green strip onto it briefly during the fight and a separate gauge starts filling. Fill it and the chest contents are yours.

The catch is obvious: every second you spend on the chest is a second you are not on the fish. Lose focus too long and the catch escapes. Decide whether the chest is worth the risk.

Treasure rolls can pull from a huge pool, from common stones to a Prismatic Shard:

• Amethyst Ring
• Amethyst
• Amphibian Fossil
• Anchor
• Ancient Doll
• Ancient Seed
• Ancient Sword
• Aquamarine Ring
• Aquamarine
• Bait
• Bone Flute
• Broken Trident
• Chewing Stick
• Chicken Statue
• Coal
• Combat Boots
• Copper Ore
• Dark Boots
• Diamond
• Dinosaur Egg
• Dressed Spinner
• Dried Starfish
• Earth Crystal
• Elvish Jewelry
• Emerald Ring
• Emerald
• Fire Quartz
• Firewalker Boots
• Frozen Geode
• Frozen Tear
• Genie Shoes
• Geode
• Glass Shards
• Glow Ring
• Gold Ore
• Golden Egg
• Iridium Band
• Iridium Ore
• Iron Ore
• Jade Ring
• Jade
• Leather Boots
• Lost Book
• Magma Geode
• Magnet Ring
• Mixed Seeds
• Nautilus Fossil
• Neptune's Glaive
• Ornamental Fan
• Prehistoric Tool
• Prismatic Shard
• Qi Bean
• Rare Disc
• Rice Shoot
• Rubber Boots
• Ruby Ring
• Ruby
• Rusty Cog
• Rusty Spoon
• Rusty Spur
• Skeletal Tail
• Small Glow Ring
• Small Magnet Ring
• Sneakers
• Stone
• Strange Doll green
• Strange Doll yellow
• Thermal Boots
• Topaz Ring
• Topaz
• Treasure Chest
• Tundra Boots
• Wild Bait

Gift Boxes

Added in version 1.5, gift boxes occasionally appear while fishing and contain a different pool of items than chests:

• 'Boat'
• Decorative Trash Can
• Foliage Print
• Frog Hat
• Gourmand Statue
• Iridium Krobus
• Lifesaver
• 'Physics 101'
• Pyramid Decal
• Squirrel Figurine
• 'Vista'
• Wall Basket

The Fish Worth Your Time

Not every fish in Stardew Valley justifies the effort. Focus on the catches below if you are fishing for profit instead of completion.

Ice Pip

Lives in the Mines on Floor 60. Use a Curiosity Lure to bump its appearance rate. The selling price is solid, though other entries on this list pay more. Its main appeal is accessibility, since you do not need rare timing or special weather to catch it.

Selling Price

• Regular: 500g
• Silver: 625g
• Gold: 750g
• Iridium: 1,000g

Note: Fisher adds 25% to selling prices. Angler adds 50%.

Spook Fish

A Night Market exclusive, available only at The Beach during Winter 15 to 17. Take the submarine to the underwater fishing area and cast any lure. Spook Fish spawn more reliably than the Ice Pip, so during the event you can fill your inventory fast even if individual values are lower.

Selling Price

• Regular: 220g
• Silver: 275g
• Gold: 330g
• Iridium: 440g

Note: Fisher adds 25%. Angler adds 50%.

Lava Eel

Found on the Volcano's 100th Floor on Ginger Island. Cast into a lava pool and prepare for resistance. The Lava Eel has the highest base price of any non-legendary fish in the game, which makes the difficulty worth it. There are also no seasonal restrictions, so you can grind it whenever you have time on the island.

Selling Price

• Regular: 700g
• Silver: 875g
• Gold: 1,050g
• Iridium: 1,400g

Note: Fisher adds 25%. Angler adds 50%.

Crimsonfish

Only at The Beach, only in Summer, and only once per save file. It is a legendary fish, which means a single catch closes the door forever. The payout, however, is generous.

Selling Price

• Regular: 1,500g
• Silver: 1,875g
• Gold: 2,250g
• Iridium: 3,000g

Note: Fisher adds 25%. Angler adds 50%.

Legend

The headliner of the five legendary fish. Like the rest, it can only be caught once per save. Requirements:

• Fishing Level 10
• Bobber at least five tiles from shore
• Spring season and raining weather

Land it and the payout is the biggest of the group.

Selling Price

• Regular: 5,000g
• Silver: 6,250g
• Gold: 7,500g
• Iridium: 10,000g

Note: Fisher adds 25%. Angler adds 50%.