Fishing Strategy - Stardew Valley Wiki (2024)

For a list of fish and their locations, see Fish.

For information about the Fishing Skill and Mechanics, see Fishing.

For an index to the completed fish collection, see Collections.

See also: Tackle, Bait

This page provides fishing strategy information for Stardew Valley.

Basics of Strategy

The availability of many types of fish can depend on various factors: the location of the fishing spot, the season, the time of day, and the weather. Match the fishing location to current conditions as necessary to get a chance to catch certain type(s) of fish.

Locations

Fishing spots are commonly broken up into ocean, lake, and river types. However, while most fishing spots in a similar body of water will share catches, the map also plays a role. For instance, the river in Cindersap Forest is not the same as the river in Pelican Town. Ponds usually have a smaller selection of fish, if any, compared to larger bodies of water and the selection is usually specific to the map where the pond is found.

Keep in mind that the less fish there are in a certain location, the more likely it is that trash will be caught there.

The Sewers

The Sewers are an easy and productive fishing location, especially to level up the fishing skill or farm treasure. Carp is the least difficult fish to catch in the game and it is the only fish in the sewers (except for a legendary fish). Therefore, almost every cast of the line results in either an immediate item reward or a quick Carp catch.

Bobber Position

In general, it is optimal to cast the bobber as far from land as possible to maximize the Fishing Zone. Longer casting distances are important, but also casting east/west instead of north/south can improve the fishing zone, as can fishing in wide-open water. In addition to affecting the quality of the fish, Fishing Zone also affects the chances of catching certain fish over other ones. While all non-Legendary fish can be caught in tiles that have a zone of 1, a lot of the more difficult and profitable fish have a higher chance to be caught at higher-zone locations.

Bubbles greatly increase the rate at which fish bite and can also alter the relative chances of each fish type at the location. Careful placement of the bobber on the edge of the bubbles allows the bubble bonus to be used in any of the adjacent tiles, providing some ability to optimize the Fishing Zone.

Fishing Skill

Fishing level is important because each increase in the fishing level increases the fishing bar size by 8 pixels. The longer the fishing bar is, the easier it is to catch fish. The fishing bar will continue to increase by this amount even as the player goes beyond level 10 (with buffs). This means the bar can get much bigger than it naturally would be even at fishing level 10. Using a fishing rod with the Master enchant will also increase the fishing bar by 8 pixels. A Cork Bobber will increase the fishing bar by 24 pixels.

Catching Difficult Fish

This concept of the fishing bar getting bigger is especially useful when trying to catch extremely hard fish such as the Legendary Fish and the Octopus. Reaching fishing level 10, using an iridium rod with a Cork Bobber and with the Master enchant, and eating food (better prepared with Qi Seasoning) that provides a temporary fishing buff (e.g., Seafoam Pudding) will all help make catching these difficult fish much more manageable.

The Trap Bobber is also a great combination with a large fishing bar, as it significantly reduces the speed at which difficult fish escape.

Fishing Zones

The following images show the Fishing Zone based on the location where the bobber lands, color coded as:

Note that these maps are not valid on iOS and Android because of a bug.

The Farm

Location Tables

Note that the 5 legendary fish are not included in the tables below. The following tables are based on the data in Content\Locations.xnb.

Pelican Town

		Time
Spring		6	7	8	9	10	11	12	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	1
Sunfish		Sunny day only
Catfish		Rainy day only
Green Algae
Smallmouth Bass
Shad					Rainy day only
Bream
Summer		6	7	8	9	10	11	12	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	1
Rainbow Trout		Sunny day only
Sunfish		Sunny day only
Green Algae
Pike
Shad					Rainy day only
Bream
Fall		6	7	8	9	10	11	12	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	1
Salmon
Tiger Trout
Catfish		Rainy day only
Green Algae
Smallmouth Bass
Shad					Rainy day only
Walleye								Rainy day only
Bream
Winter		6	7	8	9	10	11	12	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	1
Tiger Trout
Green Algae
Lingcod
Perch
Pike
Bream

The Beach

		Time
Spring		6	7	8	9	10	11	12	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	1
Sardine
Flounder
Anchovy
Herring
Seaweed
Halibut
Eel												Rainy day only
Summer		6	7	8	9	10	11	12	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	1
Octopus
Tilapia
Red Mullet
Red Snapper		Rainy day only
Tuna
Flounder
Seaweed
Halibut
Pufferfish								Sunny day only
Super Cucumber
Fall		6	7	8	9	10	11	12	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	1
Tilapia
Red Snapper		Rainy day only
Sardine
Sea Cucumber
Anchovy
Seaweed
Albacore
Eel												Rainy day only
Super Cucumber
Winter		6	7	8	9	10	11	12	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	1
Red Mullet
Sardine
Sea Cucumber
Tuna
Herring
Red Snapper		Rainy day only
Seaweed
Albacore
Halibut
Squid

Cindersap Forest

Note that there are two fishing spots in the forest, the pond in the middle and the river to the south.

		Time
Spring		6	7	8	9	10	11	12	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	1
Sunfish	River	Sunny day only
Catfish	River	Rainy day only
Chub	River
Green Algae	Both
Smallmouth Bass	Pond
Shad	River				Rainy day only
Bream	River
Summer		6	7	8	9	10	11	12	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	1
Dorado	River
Rainbow Trout	River	Sunny day only
Sunfish	River	Sunny day only
Chub	River
Green Algae	Both
Pike	Both
Shad	River				Rainy day only
Bream	River
Fall		6	7	8	9	10	11	12	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	1
Salmon	River
Tiger Trout	River
Catfish	River	Rainy day only
Chub	River
Midnight Carp	Pond
Green Algae	Both
Smallmouth Bass	Pond
Shad	River				Rainy day only
Walleye	Both							Rainy day only
Bream	River
Winter		6	7	8	9	10	11	12	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	1
Tiger Trout	River
Chub	River
Midnight Carp	Pond
Green Algae	Both
Lingcod	River
Perch	Both
Pike	Both
Bream	River

The Mountain

Note that this refers to the lake outside of The Mines.

		Time
Spring		6	7	8	9	10	11	12	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	1
Largemouth Bass
Bullhead
Carp
Chub
Green Algae
Summer		6	7	8	9	10	11	12	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	1
Largemouth Bass
Rainbow Trout		Sunny day only
Sturgeon
Bullhead
Carp
Chub
Green Algae
Fall		6	7	8	9	10	11	12	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	1
Largemouth Bass
Bullhead
Carp
Chub
Green Algae
Walleye								Rainy day only
Midnight Carp
Winter		6	7	8	9	10	11	12	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	1
Largemouth Bass
Sturgeon
Bullhead
Chub
Green Algae
Lingcod
Perch
Midnight Carp

The Mines

		Time
All		6	7	8	9	10	11	12	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	1
Ghostfish	Floors 20, 60
Stonefish	Floor 20
Green Algae	All
White Algae	All
Ice Pip	Floor 60
Lava Eel	Floor 100

Secret Woods

		Time
All		6	7	8	9	10	11	12	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	1
Carp
Woodskip
Catfish		Rainy day only

The Desert

		Time
All		6	7	8	9	10	11	12	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	1
Sandfish
Scorpion Carp
Green Algae

The Sewers

		Time
All		6	7	8	9	10	11	12	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	1
Carp
Green Algae
White Algae

Mutant Bug Lair

		Time
All		6	7	8	9	10	11	12	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	1
Carp
Slimejack
Green Algae
White Algae

Witch's Swamp

		Time
All		6	7	8	9	10	11	12	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	1
Void Salmon
Catfish		Rainy day only
Green Algae
White Algae

Ginger Island North

		Time
All		6	7	8	9	10	11	12	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	1
Blue Discus
Midnight Carp
Tilapia

Ginger Island South & Southeast

		Time
All		6	7	8	9	10	11	12	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	1
Flounder
Lionfish
Pufferfish								Sunny day only
Super Cucumber
Tuna

Pirate Cove

		Time
All		6	7	8	9	10	11	12	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	1
Flounder
Pufferfish								Sunny day only
Stingray
Super Cucumber
Tuna

Ginger Island West

Note that there are two types of water in Ginger Island West: freshwater and ocean. The southern-most plank bridge in the river is the divider between the two. The ocean is to the west and south; the pond and river north of the southern-most plank bridge are freshwater.

		Time
All		6	7	8	9	10	11	12	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	1
Flounder	Ocean
Lionfish	Ocean
Octopus	Ocean
Pufferfish	Ocean							Sunny day only
Super Cucumber	Ocean
Tuna	Ocean
Blue Discus	Freshwater
Midnight Carp	Freshwater
Tilapia	Freshwater

Fish Infograph

Note that the only difference between the two images is the background.