Stardew Valley fish guide

We've pulled together this Stardew Valley fish guide to teach you everything you need to know about the profession and the different creatures you can catch. We've gone into detail about every fish, how to get a Stardew Valley fish pond, all of the Stardew Valley fish bundles to help fix the fish tank in the Community Center, and whether you should pick the Fisher or Trapper path.

If you find this guide useful, we have plenty more Stardew Valley content, including a Stardew Valley Lewis guide if you need to find the mayor, and a list of the best games like Stardew Valley.

How do I fish in Stardew Valley?

In Stardew Valley, you fish in a somewhat controversial mini-game. It's controversial because while some players are fine with it, some (like me) find it irritating, especially on Switch with the small joysticks. It is admittedly easier on a PC with a mouse… and mods to smooth the experience.

When you're near water, cast your line, and then wait until you hook a fish. A meter appears with a fish icon that moves up and down - you must control a green bar and keep it over the fish icon. When the bar is over the fish, the catch meter fills up, and when the fish leaves the bar, the catch meter empties. If the catch meter fills to the top, your catch will be successful, but if it drops all the way to the bottom, the fish will get away. If you manage to keep the fish within the green bar throughout the entirety of the minigame, you will secure a perfect catch, which raises the quality of the fish up one tier.

There are four types of fishing rods to use: training rods, bamboo poles, fiberglass rods, and iridium rods. Training rods are easier to use but can only catch common fish; fiberglass rods can use bait, and iridium rods can use both bait and tackle. If you have an iridium rod and are over level six, you can purchase and equip a lead bobber, which will stop the fish from bobbing in the minigame and make it a lot easier to catch them.

It is impossible to tell the exact species until the fish is caught. Certain behaviors and conditions, such as the time of day or the season, can help you guess what you might have hooked. Also, a legendary fish will always show up with a little crown on the icon, so you know you've snagged a worthy catch!

Fish have different behavior patterns - there are five in total:

• Mixed - they move in a basic pattern
• Smooth - they move with a steady, slower pattern
• Sinker - they move with a faster downward acceleration
• Floater - they move with a faster upward acceleration
• Dart - they move with a random pattern and are more difficult to predict and catch

Every Stardew Valley fish

Here is our handy table showing every single fish in the game, how much it sells for, and where to find it.  Fish come in multiple tiers, classified as different levels of 'quality'. These tiers are normal, silver, gold, and iridium. Each tier has a different sell price, with normal being the lowest and iridium being the highest.

If you have the fisher profession, you gain an additional 25% cash for each catch, and if you have the angler profession, it goes up to 50% - our guide does not take this into account and lists the base prices.

Ocean fish

Here are all the ocean fish you can catch during each season, and how much they sell for.

River fish

Here are all the fish you can catch in the town's river during each season, and how much they sell for.

Ginger Island fish

Here are all the fish found on Ginger Island - you can see their locations, selling prices, and spawn times.

Mountain Lake fish

Here are all the mountain fish you can catch during each season, and how much they sell for.

Mine fish

Here are all the fish you can find in the mines - plus locations, selling prices, and spawn times.

Miscellaneous fish

These fish appear in the Sewer, Witch's Swamp, at events, in the Secret Woods, or other odd areas.

Legendary Fish

Legendary fish are tough catches that can only be found in specific places. They are distinguished by the little crown that appears on the fish icon in the fishing mini-game, and once they have been caught, they will not appear in the same save file again. Due to their intense difficulty, don't be surprised if they take quite a few attempts to snag.

Legendary Fish II

Legendary Fish II can be caught during Mr. Qi's 'Extended Family' quest. They are the younger generation of the original legendary fish, but can only be caught while this quest is active.

Crab pot fish

Some critters can be caught by a crab pot or foraged on the beach - and all of these can be used in the crab pot bundle. While fish foraged on the beach can be normal, silver, gold, or iridium quality, those caught in a crab pot will always be of normal quality.

Other catchable items

There are also a few items you can catch while fishing that don't count as junk but aren't quite fish either! You will get some EXP for each of these and can use them in certain recipes, so don't be too sad if you reel one of them in.

What is the fish pond?

The fish pond is a farm building that you can buy from Robin at the Carpenter's shop in the mountains. It costs 5,000g, 200 stone, five seaweeds, and five green algae, takes two days to make, and will take up a 5×5 square. The fish pond can raise most fish - even those from the Night Market and crab pots (except clams), though legendary fish aren't allowed.

Each pond can only hold one type of fish at a time, and the standard capacity to start with is three fish. Certain rare fish, like blobfish, ghostfish, and woodskip, are limited to one per pond, whereas tiger trout, sea urchins, and coral have an initial capacity of ten. Fish kept in the fish pond produce roe and random items, and can produce up to their maximum limit (except tiger trout, which can't reproduce).

You can harvest the fish from your pond by casting your fishing pole. They will always be of regular quality, even if you throw in a higher quality initially, so keep that in mind! Energy is consumed when casting your line, but fish are caught instantly from the pond without the need for a minigame; no bait is consumed, and your tackle isn't affected.

What are the fish bundles in the Community Center?

If you're hoping to complete the Community Center bundles, you need to gather the fish bundles. The fish tank in the Community Center requires six fish bundles to be completed, after which the glittering boulder to the left of the mine entrance will be removed. This will lead Willy to give you a copper pan that can be used to collect ore and other items from water whenever glittering patches appear.

We've listed all the bundles below, and you can look at the chart above to see when and where you can snag these fishy friends.

Remember, you can look at your bundles and how many items you've submitted at any point from the inventory page. Also, items in your inventory that are needed for bundles will pulse gently, so keep an eye out for that before selling them all off.

Fishing professions

As with all professions in Stardew Valley, leveling them up allows you to access certain proficiencies. For fishing, you can either become a fisher or a trapper, which decides what perks you get access to later down the line. At level ten, you will have a choice between two perks. Here's what you get for each one.

Fisher

Trapper

Most perks won't make a massive difference by late game, but can offer a nice boost in the early stages. The fisher/angler path is always a good choice, as raking in that extra cash is always welcome. Going with Fisher's Pirate perk can also really help your museum collections.

However, if you're a big fan of just walking to the shore and harvesting all your crab pot spoils, the trapper/mariner path has its bonuses. Though luremaster is a little pointless, as bait is super cheap, and can be made from bug meat, which is plentiful in the early levels of the mines.