The Most Complete Fishing Guide

With this guide I try to cover all interesting topics about fishing to help you getting more efficient while fishing.

If something is missing or unclear, ask.

How does fishing work?

Fishing in Core Keeper is rather simple. You need just a fishing rod (which can be crafted at the copper workbench and the better ones) and a liquid. Every liquid has a requirement for minimum fishing power. If you have less fishing power you can catch nothing in it.

Cast the fishing rod into the water and wait until a little speech bubble with an exclamation mark appears voer your characters head. This means something hat bitten. Now use the fishing rod again to reel it in. Voila. You catched something.

You can get catches from two categories: Fish and non-fish items. They have seperate loot tables.
Sometimes you can see fishes circling around in the water. If you cast your fishing rod there, you will get only fish and the bite time is much lower. But after a limited number of catches the fishing spot vanishes (max. 5).

In the settings you can also activate a minigame, so you won't catch fish instantly (not for non-fish items). But since this makes fishing less efficient I didn't cover this in my guide.

Dynamite Fishing

You can also fish with grenades. Simply throw it into the water and you will catch fish. It does not matter if you throw it in the same place or different ones as it does not matter how big your pond is. Throwing it directly into a fishing spot gives you one extra fish (up to 5 per spot).
You cannot catch non-fish items this way.
Fishing this way is only affected by the following stats:

• fish/non-fish ratio
  
  • no fish: 50%
    
  • one fish: 50% - (chance to get a fish on the hook * 0.5)
    
  • two fish: chance to get a fish on the hook * 0.5
• chance to get double fish
  
• chance to catch higher rarity fish

It is not affected by

• faster bite time
  
• fishing power
  
• explosion radius (since this seems very counter intuitive, I will test it again)

So it is good to bring your fishing equipment. And yes even baits affect this, but are not consumed!

Throwing grenades count as range attack, so boosting your range attack speed will make the dynamite fishing faster.

The best grenades for this is imo the charm grenade, because it has very little damage and is very cheap to craft (with renewable items).

The Fishing Skill

Like most activities, fishing gives experience to level a skill. Every Level gives you a bonus of 1 fishing power. You get 1 XP for every catch no matter what it is. So if you want to level up fishing as fast as possible, you need the smallest bite time possible.

There are the following skills:

Skill	Tier	Description
Improved bait	1	+5-25% faster bite times
Fisherman's luck	2	+4-20% chance to catch fish
Angler's advantage	2	+5-25% chance for higher rarity fish to bite
Chewy bait	3	+5-25% chance bait will not be consumed
Studied patterns	3	+2-10% dodge chance
Steady feet	3	+10-50% reduced impact of slippery movement
Well-trained aim	4	+6-30% of fishing power added as range damage
Power of Omega-3!	4	+3-15% damage against bosses after eating fish or cooked food made out of fish

Since the last four do not affect fishing I will ignore them in this guide.

What Affects Fishing?

There are 7 parameters and 6* outputs for fishing:

	Fishing Power	faster bite time	chance to get a fish	chance for higher rarity fish	chance to get non-fish items	chance bait will not be consumed	chance to get double fish
bite time	X	X
chance to get fish			X		X
chance to get a non-fish item			X		X
chance to get higher rarity fish				X
chance to get higher rarity non-fish items*
chance to consume bait						X
chance to get double fish							X

* sadly the loot table of non-fish items is not affected by anything

Equipment & Food

Name	Type	Effects	Source
Adventurer's Hat	Helm	+10-66 Fishing Power	Digging Spot (Dirt)
Diving Helm	Helm	+40-59 Fishing Power +7-9% chance for higher rarity fish Set-Bonus (5 Set): +29% chance to get double fish	Fishing in Sea Water or Normal Water (Sunken Sea)
Kelp Mantle	Chest	+11-20% chance bait will not be consumed Set-Bonus (5 Set): +29% chance to get double fish	Fishing in Mold Water
Scuba Fins	Pants	+8-22% chance for fish Set-Bonus (5 Set): +29% chance to get double fish	Fishing in Normal Water (Undergrounds)
Neptune Necklace	Necklace	+53-126 Fishing Power Set-Bonus (5 Set): +29% chance to get double fish	Fishing in Acid Water or Normal Water (Clay Caves) Fishing Merchant
Polished Coral Amulet	Necklace	+12-16% chance for higher rarity fish	Proficient Jewelry Workbench with Jewelry Crafter Talent
Goldfish Ring	Ring	+13-24% faster bite time Set-Bonus (5 Set): +29% chance to get double fish	Fishing in Normal Water (Forgotten Ruins)
Sea Foam Ring	Ring	+51-107 Fishing Power	Fishing in Normal Water (Azeos Wilderness) Fishing Merchant
Lucky Ring	Ring	+7-9% chance for non-fish items	Vending Machine (from Forlorn Metropolis)
Glowing Bait	Bait (Off-Hand)	+10% chance for non-fish items	Bait Workbench
Spicy Bait	Bait (Off-Hand)	+9% faster bite time	Bait Workbench
Sticky Bait	Bait (Off-Hand)	+11% chance to get double fish	Bait Workbench
Sweet Bait	Bait (Off-Hand)	+10% chance for fish	Bait Workbench
Green Bait	Bait (Off-Hand)	+7% faster bite time +7% chance for fish	Fishing Merchant
Red Bait	Bait (Off-Hand)	+8% faster bite time +8% chance to get double fish	Fishing Merchant
Purple Bait	Bait (Off-Hand)	+21% chance for higher rarity fish	Fishing Merchant
Kelp Dumpling	Food	+15% chance to get double fish for 10 min	Kelple (feed with Kelp)
Astral Jelly (Cooked)	Food	+63 Fishing Power for 10 min +79 when rare, +94 when epic	Fishing in Normal Water (Azeos Wilderness)

Everything About Fishing Power & Bite Time

If you wondered what I mean with Fishing Power: In the game it is called simply fishing, but since could possibly lead to confusion I decided to use Fishing Power for it.
Fishing Power affects only if you can fish in a certain liquid and the time for things to bite (maybe the minigame too, but I didn't test this).

Fishing Power Requirements

Liquids	Min. Fishing Power required
normal Water (Undergrounds)	20*
Acid Water normal Water (Clay Caves)	60
normal Water (Forgotten Ruins)	100
normal Water (Azeos Wilderness)	140
Mold Water	160
Sea Water normal Water (Sunken Sea)	180
normal Water (Desert of the Beginnings)	220
Lava	240**
Shimmering Water***	260
Grimy Water***	280

* Since the worst fishing rod provides 21 Fishing Power you can always fish there.
** Only with Galaxite Fishing Rod or better.
*** You cannot fish in normal water in these biomes.

Bite Time

The Bite Time is affected by the fishing power and additional reduction.
The Bite Time is evenly distributed between the Minimum and the Maximum. The ratio between Minimum and Maximum is around 1:2.

The effect of Fishing Power on Bite Time

If your Fishing Power exactly matches the requirement for the liquid you're fishing in (with no reduction), the minimum bite time is 8 seconds and the maximum is 17 seconds. If your Fishing Power is at least double the required amount (again, with no reduction), the minimum bite time is approximately 4.2 seconds and the maximum is 9 seconds. For Fishing Power values between these extremes, the bite times scale linearly.
Thats why there is no need to have more than 560 Fishing Power (max is 797).

Further Bite Time Reduction

Bite Time can be further reduced by the skill 'Improved Bait', the Goldfish Rings and bait up to 82% faster bite time.
This perfect Bite Time can currently not be achieved for Shimmering and Grimy Water since you cannot get twice the required Fishing Power and the 82% faster bite time.

Should I use Goldfish Rings or Sea Foam Rings?

It depends on the Liquid and your Fishing Power without the rings.
If your Fishing Power is without the rings already higher than twice the liquids requirement you should of course use the Goldfish Rings.
If your Fishing Power is with the Seafoam Ring(s) less than twice the liquids requirement use them.
In liquids with higher requirement it is best to use one of each if you do not exceed twice the requirement.

Chance For Catching Fish/Non-Fish Items

The normal distribution of fish:non-fish items is 2:3 (or 40:60).
The chance to get a fish and the chance to get a non-fish item simply adds to/substracts from this numbers.

Since the chances cancel each other out you should only use items, skills, etc. with one of them.

Example

+10% chance to get a fish -> 50:50
+10% chance to get a non-fish item -> 30:70
+10% chance to get a fish & +10& chance to get a non-fish item -> 40:60

Max

Fish	96%	Fisherman's luck (5x), Scuba Fins (max), Sweet Bait
Non-Fish Items	88%	2x Lucky Ring (17+), Glowing Bait	not Fisherman's Luck

Chance For Higher Rarity Fish To Bite

This does not work like one would expect. This chance lowers the chance (by multiplying) for common fish by it's value and rises the chance for non-common fish by this value. Since Lava, Shimmering Water and Grimy Water contain no common fish, this chance does nothing when fishing in these liquids.
Standard is 0%.

You can calculate the chances (P ... Probability) like this:
P(common_new) = P(common_old) * (1 - P(higher rarity fish biting)
P(non-common_new) = P(non-common_old) + P(any_common_fish_old) * P(higher rarity fish biting) * ( P(non-common_old) / P(any_non-common_fish_old) )

Example

+ 20% chance for higher rarity fish to bite

Fishs Rarity	original chance	new chance
common	40%	32%
common	30%	24%
not common	20%	29.3%
not common	10%	14.7%

Max

72%

Angler's advantage (5x), Diving Helm (17+), Polished Coral Amulet (max), Purple Bait

Chance To Get Double Fish

Well, you have a chance to get the fish you catched twice.
Standard is 0%.

Max

55%

Diving Helm, Kelp Mantle, Scuba Fins, Neptune Necklace, 2x Goldfish Ring, Sticky Bait, Kelp Dumpling

Chance To Not Consume Bait

This explains explains itself pretty well. You have a chance to not consume bait, when catching something.
Standard is 0%.

Max

48%

Chewy bait (5x), Kelp Mantle (max)

Which Equipment Should I Use To ...

Dynamite Fishing is way faster, but costs more ressources. Look for the equipment in the next section.
Improved Bait should always be skilled, since it does not affect anything negatively.
The percentage of improvement is compared to no special equipment or buffs, but the same fishing power and Improved Bait skilled.

... fish as fast as possible?

This could be interesting, if you just want to level fast. If you don't care about the loot just fish in normal water (dirt biome), because you'll reach minimum bite time there really fast.

• Adventurer's Hat
  
• Neptune Necklace
  
• 2x Goldfish Ring
  
• Spicy Bait
  
• ADVICED Chewy Bait, Kelp Mantle
  
• OPTIONAL Angler's Advantage, Kelp Dumpling, Fishermans Luck

341% more fish and non-fish items without fishermans luck
562% more fish and 194% more non-fish items with fishermans luck

... get as many non-fish items as possible?

Use the fast setup, but you do not want to skill Fishermans Luck.
341% more non-fish items
only 47% more with a non-fish item setup (Lucky Rings + Glowing Bait)

... get as many (common) fish as possible?

• Fisherman's Luck
  
• Diving Helm
  
• Kelp Mantle
  
• Scuba Fins
  
• Neptunes Necklace
  
• 2x Goldfish Rings
  
• Spicy Bait
  
• Kelp Dumplings
  
• ADVICED Rare Astral Jelly Food (if fishing in Shimmering or Grimy Water)

1250% more fish

... get as many rare fish as possible?

• Fisherman's Luck
  
• Anglers Advantage
  
• Diving Helm
  
• Kelp Mantle
  
• Scuba Fins
  
• Neptunes Necklace
  
• 2x Goldfish Rings
  
• Spicy Bait
  
• Kelp Dumplings
  
• ADVICED rare Astral Jelly Food (if fishing in Shimmering or Grimy Water)

1490% - 2190% more non-common fish depending on the Biome

Which Equipment... (Dynamite Edition)

Dynamite Fishing is much faster for catching fish, but costs some ressources.
Skills:

• Fishermans Luck (Fishing)
  
• Power in Numbers (Summoning); optional Longing for this world (Summoning)
  You need to have minions summoned for this to be active.
  
• Phantom Bombs (Explosive)
  
• Auto Salvage (Explosive)
  
• Composite Armor (Explosive)

If you don't use charm grenades the explosion skills are not adviced as you will get damage from the bigger explosion radius.
If you want to get as many fish with as less grenades/ressources as possible, use the normal fishing equipment, but change the second Goldfish Ring to a Skull Ring and the Spicy Bait to the respective Bait listed below.

The following sets of equipment focus on fast fishing not ressource efficiency!
The percentage of improvement is compared to no special equipment, but the same fishing power and the same talents.

... fish as fast as possible?

This could be interesting, if you just want to level fast.

• Atlantean Worm Helmet
  
• Gemstone Garment
  
• Gemstone Harem Pants
  
• Polished Octarine Necklace
  
• 2x Skull Ring
  
• Octarine Shield
  
• Rainbow Kelp
  
• Epic Brown Smoothie
  
• OPTIONAL Kelp Dumpling, Angler's Advantage

123% more catches

... get as many non-fish items as possible?

You cannot fish them with grenades.

... get as many (common) fish as possible?

• Atlantean Worm Helmet
  
• Gemstone Garment
  
• Scuba Fins
  
• Polished Octarine Necklace
  
• 2x Skull Ring
  
• 1x Sweet Bait
  
• Rainbow Kelp
  
• Epic Brown Smoothie
  
• Kelp Dumpling

250% more fish

... get as many rare fish as possible?

• Atlantean Worm Helmet
  
• Gemstone Garment
  
• Scuba Fins
  
• Polished Coral Necklace
  
• 2x Skull Ring
  
• 1x Purple Bait
  
• Rainbow Kelp
  
• Epic Brown Smoothie
  
• Kelp Dumpling

252% - 317% more non-common fish depending on the biome.

[Kiste]

Fishing Ponds can created outside their Biome. Look at the table for the fishing power requirements. Every Row is a different 'fishing pond'. If there are two options in a row you can choose one of them. But normal water has always to be in the respective biome.

Normal water has no alternative water source for the dirt, stone, wilderness and desert biomes (with the same loot table). So you can create a fishing area with the rest in one of these biomes. If you put it on the border of e.g. dirt and stone, you can fit even one more.

[PinkWitch]

thank you so much, very useful! Do you know if it's possible to create fishing ponds outside their biome? If not, I think I will make some portals in a line going towards to the edge... Have fun playing <3

[Halliwax]

This is by far the best fishing resource for this game and the loadout recommendation at the end is especially helpful. Thank you!