How the F*** does fishing work?

[PenderBloodfart]

I have 170 stamina and i can't move a fish a meter without depleting it completely and losing it... I'm using fishing rod and normal bait. I just don't get what i'm supposed to do and this fishing looks pretty much identical to a dozen other games i played

[seven]

My strategy for fishing: Find fish close to shore, or your boat. Cast as far as you can past them and then reel in the line until the bobber is a few meters away. You only gain fishing skill while reeling, even with no fish. It's double when a fish is on the line. When a fish bites, set the hook. Only reel when the fish isn't struggling. Edit: oh, and maybe a stam potion to give you a boost if you hook a nice one.

[Aurumworks]

Don't cast your line far out. Build a pier instead or stand on your boat. Aim for starter fish that use normal bait. Keep the line close to you and when a fish bites eventually, you do not need to haul it in far. This will allow you to train fishing up which reduces the amount of stamina you need for reeling.
You can also pick up a fish by pointing the mouse on it and pressing 'e' (pick up default hotkey). This is particularly useful when you got a higher tier fish and would run out of stamina before finishing the reel.

But, tbh, I haven't felt the need to go past trollfish yet. Training up the fishing skill takes too much time, imho.

[OctoberSky]

Reel them in to about half your stamina. Just walk backward and drag them onto shore (preferably flat) and then walk forward without letting them flop back into the water and pick them up. I'll usually pick up between 6-8 this way and go home to make fish wraps.

[PenderBloodfart]

Ok so all 3 comments are basically "don't fish like you're supposed to". Got it

[Faceplant]

Originally posted by Pender:

Ok so all 3 comments are basically "don't fish like you're supposed to". Got it

It is really bad, and don't forget to empty your inventory before you go fishing because each type and class of fish takes an inventory slot (even though they all end up as raw fish after processing), and you're sure to fill them all up just before you reel in "The Big One"!

[Bored Peon]

Fishing skill reduces stamina drain,
Every fish has like a skill requirement applied by having a stamina drain rate.
Higher quality fish increase stamina drain even more.
Quality levels are 1 to 5, and higher quality is bigger fish.
Fishing follows the zones Meadows, Forest, swamp, etc in difficulty.
When you catch fish you can catch ores.
Fish can be thrown back and caught again.
Fish require certain baits.
Fish are physically represented, if you see no fish, you probably aint going to catch one.
Fishing hat requires 10 of each type (+20 swimming and fishing skill)
Getting 10 of each type was kinda rough at low skill. I think Mistlands and Ashlands fish were like no more than 5 m before they drained all stamina.

About a year ago I tried putting together a "level list" to give a general idea of what skill for for fish. The problem is quality levels kept throwing the data off.

I think the system is kinda cool regarding the big fish.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2980280360
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2980276164
Fish can be mounted.

[Distance Of Shadows]

I normally fish from a boat and cast quite close. I also make sure my character has eaten three good stamina food and when reeling you can grab the fish from the line before it automatically goes into your inventory. Fishing is kinda grindy and there is a progression system in order to make certain bait and for fishing skill level. But fishing is relaxing once you've got the hang of it :D

Although there are other methods of getting fish. Like you can building roofs in a rectangle sloping down inwards at the waterline where the high tide covers it and the low tide, there's hardly any water on the roofs except for maybe slightly in the middle. So, fish can swim into it during high waves or jump onto it and get trapped, then your able to pick them up with your hands. Or swimming into a fish can briefly push that fish on top of your character out of the water and let you pick it up. Or just building a base on the coast with part of it close to water level and storms can cause the fish to become beached or trapped on foundations.

I'd recommend starting to try and catch meadows fish and aim for the smaller ones (lower stars).

[Bored Peon]

Originally posted by Distance Of Shadows:

Although there are other methods of getting fish.

I know this probably does not need to be said to most, but you be surprised.

Catching a fish any other way than a pole and reeling it all the way in is not going to give skill ups or use the special loot table for "catching" it.

There was quite a few people in the past that were reeling them in onto shore and then just grabbing them rather than reeling in all the way.

[John Destiny]

all these comments basically making me never want to even attempt fishing lol. sounds way to jank

[Jbones]

not a whole lot of reason to fish anyway until you get to the angler fish - they make a special food item. but you can do pretty well with foods you get on land. Plus if you walk the shore a lot when exploring new areas you can usually find some that have been pushed on land.

[Bored Peon]

Originally posted by Jbones:

not a whole lot of reason to fish anyway....

Fish wrap one of the good foods.
Coral Cod (Deep Ocean), Onion Seeds (early way to get onions.)
Giant Herring (Swamp Coast), iron ore
Angler (Mistlands Coast), Soft Tissue

Keep in mind you could throw the fish back into a pond and catch them again and again. Each time getting that chance loot above.

[Jbones]

like i said not a whole lot of reason - fish wraps - slightly better at the time you get barley than some other foods. Iron ore? you can clear out a whole crypt by the time you get a few from fishing. Maybe the onion seeds.

[AC2K]

You can also "troll" for fish. Sail out, stand up and equip the fishing rod and cast out to port (left side) of the boat about 5 to 8 meters. Sit down and start rowing. Don't raise the sail or you will break the line. When the fish hits the bait its instantly hooked but you have to row backwards to stop forward motion before reeling it in or you will lose most if not all of your stamina.

[Bored Peon]

Originally posted by Jbones:

like i said not a whole lot of reason - fish wraps - slightly better at the time you get barley than some other foods. Iron ore? you can clear out a whole crypt by the time you get a few from fishing. Maybe the onion seeds.

Crypts are not guaranteed every game. A player can EASILY end up on the "bad swamp islands" and there is no end to iron demand.

[AshanNefzhen]

It's actually pretty straightforward, but it took me a while to get. Notwithstanding all the bait rules, it's basically:
- Reel when they're not moving
- Don't reel when they are (uses massive stamina)

Until I realised this, I lost the catch every time. Now I'm 100% success rate.

Here's a video I did to show them moving vs not... I catch a size 1 & 2 fish with it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RJP1WPlm9Bs

Just note, the bigger the fish *do* drain more stamina, and it can be handy to carry stamina meads if you're reeling in a size 4 fish.

Increasing the skill also reduces stamina drain (up to 80% reduction in stamina drain, and up to 200% reeling speed), so again one of those "do it more and it gets easier" things... but until that happens.

More about it in the Fishing wiki page, and the Skills page

https://valheim.fandom.com/wiki/Fishing
https://valheim.fandom.com/wiki/Skills