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How to fish in Sea of Thieves

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From where to find fish in Sea of Thieves, to how to equip the rod and more

Sea of Thieves how to fish
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Want to know how to fish in Sea of Thieves? Catching fish and fishing might not seem like your first priority when you begin to set sail, but fishing is a major side activity in Sea of Thieves and a great way to get effective healing on you in a pinch - or just a chance to collect all sorts of aquatic food from across the ocean. If you want to be a master angler and baiter, here's how to fish in Sea of Thieves, and where to catch different kinds of fish.

How to catch fish in Sea of Thieves

To catch fish in Sea of Thieves, you need to do the following:

  1. Equip the Fishing Rod from the radial menu
  2. If you have any kind of bait, open the radial menu while the rod is equipped and select "Bait", then the kind you want
  3. Press R2/RT while facing the ocean to cast the rod into the water
  4. Wait for a fish to show up. This may take some time.
  5. When it bites the rod, press R2/RT again.
  6. You now need to tire it out. Use the analogue stick to move the rod in the opposite direction to the fish.
  7. When the fish is tired, it'll stop moving. Hold R2/RT to reel it in towards you. If it starts struggling, let go or the line will snap.
  8. Repeat the previous two steps until it is finally reeled in.

Once you've caught a fish, the best thing to do is to take it to the frying pan and cook it until it turns brown. Cooked fish restore huge amounts of health when eaten, so if you're about to go into a tough combat encounter, it's a good idea to stock up on fried fish in advance.

All Sea of Thieves fish species, locations and bait

There are 10 species of fish in Sea of Thieves, with 50 unique variations in total. Each species of fish requires a different approach to be caught, such as fishing in a particular area or attaching specific bait to your line.

On top of this, each fish species also has at least one variant that needs to be caught at night. These include: Seafoam Splashtail, Amethyst Islehopper, Starshine Ancientscale, Watery Plentifin, Coral Wildsplash, Moonsky Pondie, Firelight Devilfish, Bittersweet Battlegill, Moon Wrecker, Twilight Stormfish.

We’ve outlined how to catch each of them below: 

  • Splashtails – Splashtails are the most common type of fish. They spawn anywhere on the map and require no bait to catch. 
  • Islehoppers – Islehoppers spawn in the shallows surrounding islands and can be caught without bait.
  • Pondies – Pondies can be caught anywhere in fresh water (though we recommend fishing at Hidden Spring Keep, as no enemy skeletons will spawn there, if the fort is inactive). Again, no bait is necessary to catch them.
  • Wreckers – Wreckers are located near shipwrecks, which appear below a flock of birds, and need worms as bait.
  • Plentifins – Plentifins are local to the Shores of Plenty (the north west region of the map). They require worms in order to be caught.
  • Wildsplashes – Wildsplashes are native to the Wilds to the north east of the map. They also require worms.
  • Ancientscales – Ancientscales spawn in the Ancient Isles (the southern region of the map). You’ll need leeches to tempt them onto your line. 
  • Stormfishes – Unsurprisingly, Stormfishes occur inside of storms. But you’ll also need to attach leeches in order to goad them over to your line. It’s best to attempt to catch them when you have another player at hand who can repair damage caused by the storm. 
  • Devilfishes – Devilfishes are another tough species to catch. They spawn in the Devil’s Roar region of the map to the south east, and require grubs as bait.
  • Battlegills – Battlegills spawn around active forts and in battles against skeleton crews, and demand grubs for bait. We recommend taking the fort method, because you can pretty easily avoid aggroing the skeletons on an active skull fort (the cannons will still fire at you on approach though) if you avoid stepping on the island or use a rowboat.

Learn to identify each fish from their pictures in the reputation menu. This way you can avoid wasting bait on Splashtails when you want to catch another rarer fish type. Simply press the cast button when the fish comes into view to retract your line before it can bite.

It’s also worth noting that there are trophy variants for each fish type. These are much larger fish that put up a bit more of a fight.

© GamesRadar+. Not to be reproduced without permission

Jack Yarwood
Freelance writer

Jack Yarwood is an experienced freelance writer and investigative journalist, with bylines on a variety of publications which include GamesRadar+, PC Gamer, Polygon, IGN, Fanbyte, and more. Jack specializes in reporting around the tech, arts, and entertainment sectors. 

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