Fishing

Summary

• Players use the Fishing skill to fish up a variety of items and resources
• Having a bladed weapon in your backpack and double clicking Raw Fish will cut it up into Fish Steaks
• Some items can only be fished in special Fishing Spots, out in the ocean, or in rivers
• Fisherman can use Harpoons, which are player crafted and use the Fishing skill
• Thanks to Grizzly's Ghost for testing and his write-up on fishing
• Does not receive 5x bonus

Fishing Poles Bonuses

When determining chances for catching Special Fish or discovering Special Fishing Nets, players receive a bonus based on the quality and material of the fishing pole used as follows:

Material		Bonus
	Exceptional	+4%
	Mastercrafted	+8%
	Dullwood	+2%
	Shadowwood	+4%
	Copperwood	+6%
	Bronzewood	+8%
	Goldenwood	+10%
	Rosewood	+12%
	Verewood	+14%
	Valewood	+16%
	Avarwood	+18%

Spear Bonus

• When attacking a creature with a spear, add Base Weapon Damage * (25% * (Fishing Skill / 100)) damage per hit.
• When attacking a player with a spear, add Base Weapon Damage * (10% * (Fishing Skill / 100)) damage per hit.

Aquarium Creatures

• When a player catches a Special Fish (Large Fish, Crab, Lobster) they have a 10% chance to instead catch an Aquarium Creature (also referred to as a Unique Fish)
• Players fishing on land can catch Freshwater Aquarium Creatures
• Players fishing on a ship can catch Saltwater Aquarium Creatures
• Players may double click an aquarium creature to see information about the fish (weight, time caught, who caught it) as well as information about the current world record for that Aquarium Creature type
• When a player catches an Aquarium Creature and it is larger than the current world record for that creature type, they will receive a notification informing them of this, and the previous record holder will be notified as well

Freshwater Fish

Crawfish	Goldfish	Juvenile Crawler	Largemouth Bass	Northern Pike	River Carp
River Trout	Smelt	Sturgeon	Sunfish	Tinfish	Walleye

Saltwater Fish

Anemonefish	Angelfish	Batfish	Blue Chromis	Butterflyfish	Cardinalfish
Colossus Seahorse	Coral Tang	Damselfish	Eel	Electric Eel	Golden Idolfish
Juvenile Crab	Juvenile Octopus	Juvenile Seahorse	Juvenile Swordfish	King Crab	Lionfish
Parrotfish	Royal Basslet	Sawfish	Sea Bass	Swordfish	Thornback Ray
Tiger Prawn	Triggerfish	White Shark

Player Crafted Leather Fishing Nets

• Players may craft Leather Fishing Nets (using any leather material type) through Tailoring or purchase Leather Fishing Nets at Fisherman NPCs
• Leather Fishing Nets have a limited number of uses, which is increased based on quality and material type
• Crafted Leather Fishing Nets are used at Fishing Spots and SOS locations to retrieve items

Crafted Leather Fishing Net Bonuses

When determining chances for retrieving items from Fishing Spots and SOS locations, players receive a bonus based on the quality and material of the crafted leather fishing net used as follows:

Material		Bonus
	Exceptional	+4%
	Mastercrafted	+8%
	Dullhide	+2%
	Shadowhide	+4%
	Copperhide	+6%
	Bronzehide	+8%
	Goldenhide	+10%
	Rosehide	+12%
	Verehide	+14%
	Valehide	+16%
	Avarhide	+18%

Special Fishing Nets

• Players have a (0.5% * (Fishing Skill / 100) * (100% + Fishing Pole Bonus) * (100% + Ship Upgrades Bonuses)) chance to find a Special Fishing Net while fishing on land or while on a ship
• Special Fishing Nets are single use items that may be thrown from a ship into the water
• Once thrown, a Special Fishing Net has a 75% chance to generate a Fishing Creature Spawn or a 25% chance for the player to catch a Special Fish
• If a Fishing Creature Spawn occurs, there is a 25% chance that one creature will have a Message in a Bottle on it's corpse
• Special Fishing Nets are stackable by color (colors are randomized)

Fishing Creatures Spawn

Players have the opportunity while fishing at sea to initiate Fishing Creature Spawns. Fishing Creature Spawns can only occur when using Special Fishing Nets, while fishing at Fishing Spots, or when fishing at SOS locations. They will not occur during normal fishing with a fishing pole. Fishing Creature Spawns may result in both water-based creatures or creatures that spawn immediately on the targets ship.

Messages in a Bottle / SOS

• SOSes have no expiration date

  

• Double click a Message in a Bottle to receive an SOS
• Players use crafted Leather Fishing Nets to retrieve items from SOS locations, as long as they have the SOS in their backpack
• Players must be within 12 tiles of a SOS location to attempt to retrieve items from it
• Players may make up to 20 retrieval attempts on a SOS location
• Players have a (50% * (Fishing Skill / 100) * (100% + Fishing Net Bonus) * (100% + Ship Upgrades Bonuses)) chance to have a "successful" retrieval action
• On a successful retrieval action at a Fishing Spot, there is a 90% chance to receive a Special Fish and a 10% chance to initiate a Fishing Creature Spawn (with a 25% chance one of the creatures will have a Message in a Bottle on its corpse)
• Players are guaranteed to have at least 1 Creature Spawn occur per SOS and up to 3 maximum
• One creature per Creature Spawn will have either a Small, Medium, or Large Salvaged Crate on its corpse with a variety of loot items (items vary based on crate size)

Fishing Resource Map

Check the Resource Maps page for more information.

World Records

Taking both skill and luck, catching a World Record fish is no easy feat. Players will be notified when they catch a unique fish as well as if it is a World Record. Double-clicking on the fish will open its stats, allowing you to see who has caught the heaviest of that type of fish. If you are the competitive type, there are also Fishing Record Boards that will list all the types of fish that can be caught, what the current weight record is, as well as when and who landed the fish. You can find Fishing Record Boards at each city's dock near the Dockmaster.

Fishing Spots

Special Fishing Spots can be found while sailing the seas. At these locations, a player can use a Leather Fishing Net (crafted by a Tailor from the various leather types) for a chance to pull up special loot.

Barrel Wreck	Crashed Cargo Ship	Dead Fisherman	Marsh Fishing	Murder Raft	Mushroom Formation
Net Fishery	Submerged Rowboat	Thatched Raft	Vines And Strange Stone	Whalebones

Training

• Stand near water or on a boat and target yourself (smart targeting) after using a fishing pole to fish
• Requires an estimated 80 hours to max the skill at 30 seconds per attempt
  • You can fish much faster, however you will have to find non-depleted spots

Templates

You can find a variety of different Fisherman builds under the Templates section