Fishing

Main / Skills / Nature / Fishing

Description

Fishing is the skill of catching fish. It affects the types of fish caught, their weight, and your overall success rate in catching fish.

Method

In order to catch fish you must "click" the water once your event tab says "You feel something nibble on the line". You are then skillchecked and proceed to reel in the fish or miss the fish.

Lore

To discover what species of Fish you'll be able to fish on a given water tile, activate any fishing tool in your inventory then right-click the tile and select Lore from the menu. The Lore function, as it relates to fishing, is a little like the Prospecting function in Mining, in that you will receive more information about the tile, including the type of tile and its depth in metres, if you have a higher fishing skill. Different fishing tools will reveal different information. Using Lore does not appear to increase fishing skill.

Known data points revealed by the Lore function include:

• The most-common species of fish you're likely to catch on this tile. This info is available at even very low fishing skill.
• The type of tile: pond, lake, lake shallows, sea, or sea shallows. This info requires a higher fishing skill to reveal (works at 88 skill, but more testing is needed to establish the minimum threshold).
• The depth in metres of the tile. This info requires a higher fishing skill to reveal (works at 88 skill, but more testing is needed to establish the minimum threshold).
• What other species of fish may be caught on the tile, if any. This info requires a higher fishing skill to reveal (works at 88 skill, but more testing is needed to establish the minimum threshold).
• Whether your rod is currently baited. This info requires a higher fishing skill to reveal (works at 88 skill, but more testing is needed to establish the minimum threshold).

Rod fishing

1. Right-click on a tile or boat > Start fishing
2. A timer begins for casting. Cast by moving the mouse. When the circle is not red, left-click to cast at that spot.
3. A 2nd timer starts (3 minutes). During this time, the following can happen:

• After a delay, a fish will appear and swim to the hook where it will take a bite (the float bobs up and down as well as the line moves).
• You have a limited time to try to hook the fish (by left-clicking anywhere on the screen).
• If you manage to hook a fish it will try to get away, during this time you may see the fish moving away from or closer to you.
  • If the fish gets too far away, it will escape.
  • If the fish gets close to you, it will be caught.
  • There is a possibility for the rod to break (actually the rod stays with you but you lose the reel and anything in it).
  • There is a possibility for the line to snap (you will lose anything that was on the line as well).
• If you tried and failed to hook the fish, your fishing session is over.
• If you did not try to hook the fish, it will swim away, and after a delay another will turn up.

Spear fishing

1. Right-click on a tile > 'Start fishing
2. A timer will start, waiting for fish to arrive.

• A fish will appear and slowly swim fairly close to you. It will pass just in front of you.
• You can try to spear it by launching your spear or long spear (e.g. left-click) near the fish.
  • If you hit it, you catch a fish.
  • If you miss it, it will swim away. It’s also possible to hit your own foot!
• If you decide to leave the fish alone, it will swim on past. Once out of range after a delay a new fish should turn up.

Net fishing

1. Right-click on a tile > 'Start fishing
2. A timer will start, waiting for fish to arrive.

• The net will sway on screen and no other action is required.
  • Nets will need to be emptied once a item is caught.

Equipment

You will need a fishing pole or rod, equipped with a fishing reel, fishing line, float and hook. You can also catch small fish using a fishing net.

A tackle box can help keep your accessories organized.

Fishing Reels

There are four types of fishing reels, which are used for catching different types of fish:

   Light fishing reel   
   Medium fishing reel
   Deep water fishing reel
   Professional fishing reel

Fishing reels are added to rods so that they can be used for fishing. A fishing reel holds up to 1 line (which in turn may contain other things), and may be placed in a rod. Fishing reels will take damage from use, with rare fishing reels taking less damage.

Rare reels also make it easier to reel the fish in. 

Handles

Different handles are used when making certain reels, they are:

   Handle -  same item as current in-game version.
   Leather wound handle -  same item as current in-game version
   Reinforced handle
   Padded handle

Fishing Line

   Basic fishing line - used on pole, may only contain a (wood or metal) hook
   Light fishing line - used on light fishing reel, used to catch smaller fish
   Medium fishing line - used on medium fishing reel, used to catch medium fish
   Heavy fishing line - used on deep water fishing reel, used to catch large fish
   Braided fishing line - used on professional fishing reel, used to catch ‘special’ fish

Floats

Floats has to be added to lines, to be able to see when a fish can be hooked. There are 4 types of float:

   Feathers - part of butchered loot from rooster, pheasant and hen.
   Twig - found on bush tiles.
   Small moss - taken from moss. Cut a piece of moss with a carving knife.
   Bark - found on overaged birch trees 

Floats will take damage over time when used, and will need replacing from time to time. They will auto-replace from the same float type in the tackle box at the end of a fish action. Rare floats will take less damage.

Hooks

Hooks are added to lines to catch fish. There are 3 types of hook:

   Wooden fishing hook - same as current item, better for fly fishing
   Metal fishing hook - same as current item, better for deep water / sea fishing
   Bone fishing hook - made from goblin skulls

Hooks behave as a container, which may contain bait, and will take damage over time as they are used. They will be auto-replaced using the same hook type from the tackle box at the end of fish action if necessary; if a hook is replaced, the bait will not be auto-replaced. Rare hooks are better at keeping a fish on the hook.

Wood type will affect how fast a fish turns up. The default is a modifier of 1, and each wood type modifier is additive to the default, so creating the right hook can nearly halve the time for a fish to turn up. The lower the modifier % in the chart below, the quicker the interval of time in which the fish turns up, i.e. the more effective the hook. (Example: Lemon/Orange is the preferred wood type for quickest results).

Wood Type	Modifier
Cedar	90%
Fir	85%
Pine	95%
Lemon and Orange	75%
Apple	80%
Oleander	80%

Bait

When used on a hook, baits increase the chance of catching a particular fish. There are 12 types of bait:

   Fly - You catch these using a pottery jar with a bit of honey in it, on animals that require grooming.
   Small piece of cheese - Cheese Broken into smaller pieces.
   Dough ball - a small ball of dough.
   Wurm - Found on dirt and mycelium tiles.
   Sardines - Caught using fishing nets in shallows.
   Roach - Caught in shallow waters.
   Perch - Caught in shallow waters.
   Minnow - Caught in caves.
   Bit of fish - Small fish chopped up.
   Grub - Found in shrivelled trees, prised out using an awl.
   Grain of wheat - from wheat!
   Corn kernel - from corn.

Each time a fish bites on a baited line, the bait will take damage (e.g. the fish eats a bit of it). Bait is not required to catch fish (i.e. you can catch fish without bait), but the chances are a lot lower. Different fish prefer different bait.

General Attributes of Fish Types

All fish now have a set of attributes which determine where and when they are more likely to be caught:

   Preferred water type (lake, sea, etc)
   Minimum and maximum depth.
   Feeding height.
   Rod types.
   Time of day - some fish like to feed in the morning, afternoon, evening or even at night
   Baits - each fish has a favorite bait, some baits it likes, others it is less likely to eat, and some it will never touch.
   Outside or in caves - some fish are only found underground
   Special fish can only be caught on special tiles (which are out at sea). 

Types of Fish Harvestable Through Fishing

For more detailed information see Fish.

Note - Not all marine life in Wurm is catchable with a fishing rod. Marine life falling into this category must be killed in combat or die on its own in order to be harvested from the sea: Octopus, Seal, Blue whale, Shark_(creature), Crab, Dolphin, Sea serpent.

Special Fishing Tiles

In certain locations, far out at sea, one can find what are known as "special fishing tiles". These tiles are special because of their relatively low number Wurm-wide as well as the special types of fish which can be found there.

• Special fishing tiles will move with the seasons and provide different fish. This occurs at the beginning of a season change.
• Non-special fish types may be caught on special tiles, but special fish can only be caught on special tiles, and a lesser chance if close to a center spot.
• These areas can overlap, so its possible to find places where two special fish can be caught.
• Aside from blind searching and perhaps some luck, a Lurker in the deep pendulum can be used to locate these special tiles.
• Special fishing tiles can disappear if the terrain around them is modified.

Rarity in Fishing

• Rare rolls occur at the "Something Bites" event message:
  You have a moment of inspiration...
  Something bites.
  

• At lower skill, you may lose these fish more often than at higher skill levels. These fish are also slightly heavier than a regular fish of the same quality level and species.

• Rare fish can be used in meals, but they will not make the meal rare.

• Butchering rare fish will not give rare fillets.

Notes

• Rods and poles can be stored in a fishing rod rack

• Fish can be stored in water using a Fish keep net to reduce decay

• Catching heavier fish comes with a higher chance of line breakage.

• Some shore fish can also be caught out in ocean waters, usually at a higher quality than they would be found closer to shore.

• Typically, lighter fish are much easier to catch at high quality, with q50+ roach and perch not being uncommon for even a beginning fisher.

• You can get better fish in deeper water. This water depth is the same depth that first triggers the "Out to Sea" achievement.

• Larger fish start giving less than 1 fillet per 0.3 kg, and cap at 50 fillets per fish. This max cap tends to occur at around the 15 kg mark, but is also thought to be possibly related to the butchering skill.

• Willow rods take less damage from catching heavy fish.

• Skill gain only happens on successfully hooking, or when the fish gets reeled in or otherwise catching a fish

• Fishing is close to impossible in small pools (less than 4x4) of water.

• It is possible to fish underground and inside of caves, but the available species of fish found here will be limited.

• Fishing can be done while moving, so long as you do not move too far away (two tiles) from the tile you are currently working on.

• The higher the quality of the fish, the more weight the fish will have. Each species has a weight-to-quality ratio. For example, a high quality roach will likely never outweigh any quality of catfish.

Characteristics trained

See: Characteristics

Titles

• Fisherman/Fisherwoman at 50 skill
• Angler at 70 skill
• Kingfisher at 90 skill
• Hooked on Fishing at 100 skill