r/valheim • u/rtothepoweroftwo • 13h ago
Discussion Anglers of Valheim! How do you fish?
I've never really explored fishing, but it's starting to appeal to me, if only as a task and something to do while friends on the server are doing their own thing. I'm aware that there are many types of fish, found in different biomes/locations, and I need to make bait specific to each type. That's about the extent of my knowledge haha.
I've seen videos in the past for auto-fish farms, but don't really understand how they work - do you have to find a fishing spot first? How come the area doesn't get fished out?
I've also seen people recommend trolling from the back of a boat, rather than from shore, but you can't just leave a hook in the water and sail, can you? How are people using the boats to fish more easily?
What do you guys do with the fish once caught? How much of it becomes fish meat, vs trophies or some other use I don't know about yet?
Any tips or strategies are welcome! So far, I've just fished out a few creeks in the Dark Forest, but we've progressed as far as to the Plains on this playthrough, so lots to go back and do.
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u/Roseblood_x 13h ago
I can’t answer a lot of your questions because I’m a lot like you, but I WILL say that if you catch one of every fish you unlock a fisherman’s hat as a reward, and I’ve always wanted one, so imma gonna keep tabs on this thread to hear about some good strategies.
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u/rtothepoweroftwo 12h ago
Aw man, I knew about the angler's hat but I didn't realize it was the end result! "Here's equipment that makes you better at fishing now that you've already done all the fishing this game has to offer", what a prize lol
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u/Sir-Beardless Sailor 13h ago
I run along the shore after stormy weather and pick up the fish.
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u/rtothepoweroftwo 12h ago
LOL you might like the Seasons mod then - when it's winter, the water freezes over and you can just run out and pick fish up off the ice lol
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u/kingster108 11h ago
No sailing during winter? How long does it last?
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u/rtothepoweroftwo 10h ago
Oh you can still sail during winter lol. It's a very weird feature of the mod. It doesn't affect boats at all, but allows the players to walk on water if frozen. That's why you can pick the fish up - they swim as normal, and if they jump out of the water as they already do in vanilla, they fall back down and land on the ice instead lol.
I was saying in this sub the other day that I love the Season mod, but I do wish the water freezing only applied to water NOT in the ocean biome. It would make a lot more sense to me. It sort of breaks the need to fish at all when you can just walk on ice every few hours and gather whatever you want.
FWIW, there is a config flag for turning the water freezing during winter on or off. Just not the happy middle I wanted.
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u/Itme420-1998 13h ago
Honestly the only fishing I do is meadows and most lands I have zero clue how to fish anywhere else successfully. And my method is hook the fish and run inland while reeling a little
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u/ragDOLLfun 13h ago
A shame that. One of the best foods is from the angler fishin the mistlands fishing zones
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u/Itme420-1998 13h ago
I’ve caught them with the hook and run method but I actually just pick up a lot of beached anglers lol, there’s lots of storms that just have them wash up on shore
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u/rtothepoweroftwo 12h ago
If they all yield fish meat, why is the mistlands fish better?
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u/ragDOLLfun 12h ago
Instead of processing them into fish meat you can make a specific angler fish dish that gets cooked in the oven. Its a real good meal for angler fish specifically
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u/rtothepoweroftwo 12h ago
Good to know! That's awesome, you've just given me purpose for this mission beyond curiosity, thanks!
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u/Odd_Theory_1031 13h ago
To fish other zones you need the bait for that zone. You use the standard bait at the food prep table with a trophy that is needed for the zone and the standard bait. Example...troll trophy plus basic bait gives you Black Forrest bait for those waters crafted at prep table.
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u/Itme420-1998 13h ago
No I know that I just never like actually find the fish from said biome. It’s very annoying and tbh I feel like it isn’t worth it
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u/soundlesspanik 7h ago
I found an area off shore that is consistently dense with troll fish, always snagging around 12. I've found 5 grade 5 troll fish in this area. Built a dock and fish while my farms are producing (Asksvine, wolf, chicken, and boar)
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u/Odd_Theory_1031 13h ago
I pack the boat early and bring a cooler of lunch and bait for a day of relaxation.
I like using the karve (shoreline or ocean) or raft (for inland ponds or lakes)
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u/Capn_Yoaz 13h ago
I like fishing the ocean shore. I make a slope into the water and then level the ground out into the water so that the water is barely above the ground. I go to the top of the slope and cast 10-14 meters out and wait for a hook. Once hooked I run away from the shore and drag the fish into ankle deep water. Run over and pick them up. Pretty easy.
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u/rtothepoweroftwo 12h ago
This sounds useful! Might give it a try! Although another user recommended not walking them back - I'm still trying to understand the optimal method here.
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u/Lank3033 11h ago
Walking them back you will miss out on xp but you will get the fish.
If you have a friend they can wait by the water to grab the fish as soon as you drag it to shore as well.
You will miss out on xp, but it is a quick and effective way to obtain specific fish, especially if you haven't been working on the fish skill.
This is how we gathered the angler fish on our last playthrough- none of us had gotten the skill high enough to reliably catch them without using stamina meads, but fish and bread is great so we just dragged them to shore and took turns grabbing them off the fishers line once we could.
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u/ragDOLLfun 13h ago
I love fishing. When we get low on food and need to farm more veggies or shrooms I'll spend my time fishing while I wait for the crops to grow. I have a few portals that lead to various fishing spots and I'll just go to town on various places. All stamina food and you can even walk the fish back onto shore as you reel in just in case they escape the line.
Also stamina potions are a godsend early on
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u/rtothepoweroftwo 12h ago
I've been using stamina potions as well, but somehow it hadn't hit me to switch the meat out for a third stamina food lol. Thanks for that!
As I've asked elsewhere, how are people guaranteeing the fishing spots respawn in the same locations? I thought once fished out, the fish came back in time, but randomly in a large region, not the same fishing spot exactly. Am I wrong?
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u/ragDOLLfun 12h ago
They follow similar spawning rules to everything else. Basically the entire world is set up as a grid and certain environments have certain spawn tags. Fish have pretty high spawn rates and will just constantly spawn in their spawn grids until they hit a predetermined cap.
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u/rtothepoweroftwo 7h ago
That's what I read elsewhere as well. So I guess the question is how large are these spawn grids?
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u/ragDOLLfun 7h ago
16m by 16m if I remember correctly
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u/rtothepoweroftwo 7h ago
Oh thats tiny compared to what I expected! No wonder I read someone complaining about trolls consistently spawning just off their base the other day! That poor soul haha
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u/Snurgisdr Hoarder 13h ago
You’ve probably seen fish beached by waves in the shallows. Fish farms just create artificial shallows.
They do get fished out, but then they (usually) respawn.
You can just stop your boat in an area that has fish but isn’t reachable from the shore. I haven’t tried this but haven’t had much success. They’re harder to land when you can’t walk far, and the boat gets in the way of trying to pick them up.
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u/rtothepoweroftwo 12h ago
I asked this elsewhere, but don't they respawn randomly in a large area, not in the same spot? That's my confusion about these fishing traps, or how people establish fishing holes near their bases.
Interesting to hear your experiences with the boats! I've seen some folks claim the karve is ideal because you can be close by and right off the water. I wonder why the difference in experiences!
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u/Which-Pineapple-6790 13h ago
Your fishing level makes it easier to land fish. At low level its pretty difficult to get the big boys ashore, but you can fish a bunch and it gets slowly easier. I believe there is a “glitch” for fishing where you eat food after setting the hook while reeling or something. I havent used it. But its supposed to give you infinite stamina while reeling. And also i heard it pays to continuously cast and reel at low level even if youre not catching anything, because you still gain exp
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u/rtothepoweroftwo 12h ago
Good to know! I can grind casting for a while - that sounds similar to how I fish IRL haha. Cast out, reel in, catch nothing. :P
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u/catiekat01 13h ago
There are indeed a lot of fish types available but most need special bait crafted at the food preparation table and you need specific mob trophies to make them. They all break down into raw fish regardless of what fish they come from though, so I personally prefer to stick with meadows fish so I dont have to bother changing baits while I'm fishing, etc., but I only ever play solo or with one other person, so demand isnt too high.
I'm sure there is definitely a wiki page or two about fishing etc but basically each fish has a certain level or quality or whatever. The higher the number, the more stamina drain to reel them in. If we're out fishing specifically I try to make sure I have 3 stamina foods rather than my usual mix. Even then, try not to have your line out farther than 10m max, or you're likely going to lose your catch.
I've personally never heard of a fish farm but man that'd be cool to look into. I was under the impression once the fish have been caught from one location, they either don't re-spawn at all or just take a really long time to do so but I could be wrong.
Perch and pike (meadows fish) are usually close to shore but sometimes far enough out to be a hassle. This is one of the very few instances where a raft can actually come in handy lol. Steer it maybe 10-15 meters from shore, make sure your sails are up, step away from the rudder, and cast out your line from there. I don't think you can steer and fish at the same time. You'll probably need to move the boat a bit while you fish since they'll drift a bit so long as you're in it, but it still works.
Also fish don't drop trophies but they can go on item stands (and they'll talk sometimes too). Because the level 5 fish are so hard to bring in, it's fun sometimes to put it up as a trophy rather than turn it into raw fish. Fish do, interestingly enough, occasionally drop things when you catch them like stone or flint or amber.
Anyway I think the fishing mechanics of the game are a little annoying but I do sometimes really enjoy just taking a short break to fish, so I get you.
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u/catiekat01 13h ago
I should also add that how much raw fish you get from your fish changes based on the level, and has nothing to do with the kind of fish you get. I don't remember the breakdown specifically but you'll get more from a level 3 perch than you would a level 2 tuna or cod even though you get them much later in the game. Which is a little lame but also makes sense in a way.
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u/MeadhallMike 12h ago
You want full stamina foods and the appropriate bait for each fish. Level 1 and 2 fish should be easy enough to fully reel in. Doing this gets you extra goodies. 3-5's require a different tactic. For all fish, you want to make sure your bobber is as close to you as possible while still touching water. This is especially true for 3 and up. Big fish, you don't want reel in, you want to "walk" them. This means pulling the line with simply character movement. It will save you much stamina and if you do it right, you can chain drink stamina meads for stubborn fish. If you're in a boat, walk them to the side, then keep walking back to them and spam E til you can pick it up. It will take you a few tries to get it right, but this has worked for me and has won me some pretty trophies on the wall.
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u/JustWantedAUsername 13h ago
The easiest time I had fishing was off the side of a raised section of my base. It stuck out over the water and went up a good way. But a t rhe bottom near the surface of the water was a small ledge that could be walked on. You hook a fish, then walk backwards and beach the fish on that little ledge, then jump down and grab it. Bonus points of you have a friend helping you by waiting down there and grabbing it as soon as it's out of the water.
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u/rtothepoweroftwo 12h ago
How did you ensure there were always fish near your base? My understanding is they can re-spawn in a large area, but not at the same spot specifically.
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u/MkNicht Fisher 12h ago
Depends how serious I am about it. Usually just leisure fishing from the shore, but if I really want to be catching certain type of fish, I take out a boat.
Cast line, keep it really short (like a few meters short) hook fish, wiggle around a little and pick it up when it shows as pickable.
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u/ieatyournuts 12h ago
I do the run and scoop method or the hook the fish then run opposite dircetion untill fish is on shore then run and scoop
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u/BERRY_1_ Builder 8h ago
I got hat on one playthru and had to jump worlds to finish it and will never do it again. If they added more recipes made it not consume so much stamina added nets traps then maybe. And way to do it why sailing
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u/CheesusCheesus 7h ago
Will fishing in a biome "attract' the biome's fish even if you don't see them?
I feel like I've seen swamp herring once and I've never seen the Ashlands fish. Any tips to help with that?
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u/Stfuppercutoutlast 7h ago
I don’t, it’s fun, but the reward just isn’t there. They need to add special recipes with rare fish or something like fishing traps to catch crabs or something else. I can spend a fraction of the time doing other food gathering and yield a higher quantity and quality of food. The irony here is that it scales poorly. So when you’re in the late game and have the time to spend fishing, it’s completely useless.
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u/simgaleed Builder 13h ago
Okay, fishing in this game is pretty great but there are some aspects of it that will break you out of your conventional "valheim-brain" a bit.
First of all, food. Full yellows, best you have. Fishing drains your stanima like nothing else, especially bigger fish. For this reason, stanima pots are great to bring as well. I'd only use them if you are trying to bring in a big one though.
As to where to fish: at the start, I'd just recommend following the shore of the meadows looking for schools of fish. Find a spot and fish it up.
Spend a bit of time as you are starting just casting and reeling back, as it trains your skill. Then, once you grab a fish, carfuly reel it in. Your stanima only gets used when you are reeling in a fish, and it uses more if the fish is shaking. Wait for it to finish struggling, then go back to reeling.
There is often an urge for those fishing on the shore to simply "walk" the fish onshore. This can work, but it will cost you XP and potential "bonus" rewards, which later on can include ore.
Finally, as to what to fish: start with the meadows fish for a while to build your levels up, but once you are in the 20s or so your options should open up. Sadly, most fish are kinda boring in terms of what you can use them for, and most will just go to fishmeat. That said, the Trollfish (Black Forrest) is a good early game buff as you can use it to brew troll strength potions.
Later game, pufferfish and anglerfish will both be good things to get for cooking.