What's with the fish where the fish moves erratically on the slider, faster than you can possibly move?

[258789553873]

I'm sick of seeing this. Sometimes, I hook a fish that zips all around the slider erratically. Its impossible to predict which way its going to move, it never stops, and it moves faster than the green bar can in either direction! How on earth am I supposed to catch something like that?

Worse yet, at the rate I'm going, I'm starting to suspect those are the sturgeons I need to complete the bundle. I've checked the wiki, and the fish should be there, but I never catch a single one no matter how many times I try. I literally burned through over 50 bait trying to find this thing, and now I have to go into the mines to get more bait (either that, or just buy some from Lewis, but this being winter money's a bit tight since I can't grow crops other than 'winter forage' to sell).

Why does this happen and how are you supposed to beat it? How do you beat something that's completely unpredictable and moves far faster than you can? And no, I'm not talking about the legendary fish, the ones with the crown on them. This is an ordinary fish that keeps giving me this in that mountain lake, and I'm sick of it. I have fishing level 9 too btw, so its obviously not going to get much easier. And no, I can't cook that 'dish of the sea', because I have no potatoes. They were already out of season by the time I got the recipe, so I had no clue I would need them. I only started saving my crops in fall, because it just took me that long to get a kitchen.

Why does this keep happening, and what can I do about it?

[Snafu]

Originally posted by IXBlackWolfXI:

I'm sick of seeing this. Sometimes, I hook a fish that zips all around the slider erratically. Its impossible to predict which way its going to move, it never stops, and it moves faster than the green bar can in either direction! How on earth am I supposed to catch something like that?

Worse yet, at the rate I'm going, I'm starting to suspect those are the sturgeons I need to complete the bundle. I've checked the wiki, and the fish should be there, but I never catch a single one no matter how many times I try. I literally burned through over 50 bait trying to find this thing, and now I have to go into the mines to get more bait (either that, or just buy some from Lewis, but this being winter money's a bit tight since I can't grow crops other than 'winter forage' to sell).

Why does this happen and how are you supposed to beat it? How do you beat something that's completely unpredictable and moves far faster than you can? And no, I'm not talking about the legendary fish, the ones with the crown on them. This is an ordinary fish that keeps giving me this in that mountain lake, and I'm sick of it. I have fishing level 9 too btw, so its obviously not going to get much easier. And no, I can't cook that 'dish of the sea', because I have no potatoes. They were already out of season by the time I got the recipe, so I had no clue I would need them. I only started saving my crops in fall, because it just took me that long to get a kitchen.

Why does this keep happening, and what can I do about it?

where exactly are you fishing and what season is it?

[Queen Droxxanna]

its probably a legendary fish, they are very hard to catch, but when you get your skills up, it gets easier.
There are foods that increase your cooking skill, and luck helps too.

[airgid-sionnach]

Are you using the C key instead of mouse? I find that helps. I honestly got the sturgeon from the traveling trader, then bred more in a fish pond. Good for money and needed later anyway.

[lizardmang]

OP clarified in their post that they're fishing in the mountain lake during winter, that it's not a legendary fish, and that they're aware of foods with fishing buffs but don't currently have the means to make any. It can be incredibly frustrating to ask for help and receive unhelpful responses because people simply didn't read the post carefully.

Also, while there is a random element to fishing difficulty, the Luck stat has no effect on it.

Fish Tacos and Hashbrowns are sometimes sold at the saloon, so you may be able to get lucky with that. Cork or Trap Bobbers can also help a lot (requires an Iridium Rod). If you feel like fishing is difficult to the point of detracting from your fun, you might consider using a mod that makes fishing easier or bypasses the minigame altogether.

[Avilyn]

What type of pole are you using? An iridium pole that lets you attach both bait & a bobber are pretty much required (IMO) for the more difficult fish. If you're a level 9 in fishing, then Willy should be selling the Iridium Poles at his shop. The Trap Bobber helps by slowing down the rate that the slider bar drops when the fish is out of range, and it's the one I've found to be most useful. Willy also sells Trout Soup, which does give a +1 to fishing; while not as good as Fish Tacos etc. it still helps.

If the only reason you're looking to catch a sturgeon is to complete the bundle in the community center, then you can check the travelling merchant (Fridays & Sundays) or, if you've unlocked the Sewers, Krobus stocks a random fish on Wednesdays.

[258789553873]

I've been using an iridium rod, with the basic bait plus the 'trap bobber'. I find the latter to be essential, but that still doesn't solve the issue with some fish being too fast and erratic for me to catch.

As for the sturgeon, I finally managed to catch one. I used it in the bundle immediately.

In the future, I plan to set up fish ponds so I can more easily get the specific fish I need year-round (bream, sunfish, and sardines mainly, don't know of any others yet used in recipes that specifically require them). I think those work year-round, don't they? I've never actually made one yet (I never got far in the game in the past, because I found it mind-numbingly repetitive, and only really took it up seriously recently, I have yet to have a playthrough last an entire year, and I think I've only gotten to winter once, maybe twice).

[lizardmang]

Yeah, fish ponds work year-round.

[airgid-sionnach]

Originally posted by IXBlackWolfXI:

I've been using an iridium rod, with the basic bait plus the 'trap bobber'. I find the latter to be essential, but that still doesn't solve the issue with some fish being too fast and erratic for me to catch.

As for the sturgeon, I finally managed to catch one. I used it in the bundle immediately.

In the future, I plan to set up fish ponds so I can more easily get the specific fish I need year-round (bream, sunfish, and sardines mainly, don't know of any others yet used in recipes that specifically require them). I think those work year-round, don't they? I've never actually made one yet (I never got far in the game in the past, because I found it mind-numbingly repetitive, and only really took it up seriously recently, I have yet to have a playthrough last an entire year, and I think I've only gotten to winter once, maybe twice).

They work year around. You will need one for sturgeon though if you want movies on normal route , and there are major benefits to other fish that make certain things redundant. ;)

[Linkedwulf]

Originally posted by airgid-sionnach:

They work year around. You will need one for sturgeon though if you want movies on normal route , and there are major benefits to other fish that make certain things redundant. ;)

Technically there are 6 things you can get to unlock that, from which you need 5, so you can skip the sturgeon. Having one does make it easier though.

[Potatotatata]

Usually the fish difficulty till 95 are easily manageable with lvl 9 fishing. The ones darting like the one you're experiencing are higher than 100. It's not a sturgeon. Sturgeon's difficulty is 78. It's easy to catch. You might wanna check up on the fishing guide ONLY IF YOU WANT TO, to find out what you're catching :)

[esturias]

At the end of the day it's the same approach as always:
1. Try, practice and get better.
2. Try to find things that make the task easier.

[lizardmang]

Originally posted by Potatotatata:

Usually the fish difficulty till 95 are easily manageable with lvl 9 fishing. The ones darting like the one you're experiencing are higher than 100. It's not a sturgeon. Sturgeon's difficulty is 78. It's easy to catch. You might wanna check up on the fishing guide ONLY IF YOU WANT TO, to find out what you're catching :)

The only fish with difficulty of 95+ are octopus and a handful of legendary fish. Plenty of people find the fishing minigame difficult even outside of those few exceptionally rare ones. And the only fish found at the mountain lake during winter that has a higher difficulty than sturgeon is lingcod, which has a difficulty of 85.

[258789553873]

Honestly, the Sturgeon haven't proven to be much of a problem for me, they just took DAYS to come up for some reason. Now though I'm hunting for Lingcod, which seem to be even rarer and even when they do come up I'm not guaranteed to get them anyway. At this rate I don't even know if I can complete this quest, given that I've burned through my entire copper supply building trap bobbers that don't even last a day.

[Castlegate]

Early in the game, I typically buy my trap bobbers from Willy so that I can use the copper bars to craft other stuff, like kegs. They cost 500g.

[airgid-sionnach]

Originally posted by Linkedwulf:

Originally posted by airgid-sionnach:

They work year around. You will need one for sturgeon though if you want movies on normal route , and there are major benefits to other fish that make certain things redundant. ;)

Technically there are 6 things you can get to unlock that, from which you need 5, so you can skip the sturgeon. Having one does make it easier though.

I forgot there was other things you can use. I normally just use them because it is good early game money until you get better fish.