🎣 Fishing

When the beds are watered and the animals fed, the water calls. Fishing in Fairhaven is a gentle, forgiving craft — and, pleasingly for a journal-keeper, a wonderfully systematic one. Every fish files itself neatly by location and bait, with none of the fickle luck other islands suffer.

Getting Started

Fishing unlocks with Bruno Soft’s quest Lure One In. Bruno, the island’s fisherman, keeps his shop in the middle of town near the statues. Speak with him and he’ll hand you a rod and three baits to catch your first fish — Fairhaven’s usual generosity at work.

From there: stand at a fishing spot, choose your bait, cast, and play the catch. Keep bait stocked, since each catch uses up one.

Where to Cast

Fairhaven has six kinds of water. The Ocean can be fished from two places, so that makes seven spots in all:

Prefer your charts drawn rather than tabled? The Interactive Island Map marks every one of these waters on the island map — hover a pin and its full roster opens, bait and prices and all.

The deeper spots are progression rewards in themselves — you’ll need the story and your pickaxe to reach the Mine’s pool (Mining & Foraging), and the Gloaming belongs to the witchier half of your life (Island Map).

The Gloaming has a single fish, and it bites on any bait.

Bait, and the Only Two Factors

Three baits exist: worms, crickets, and chub. Only two things decide what you catch:

Bait and location are the only factors; weather, season, and time of day make no difference.

Every fish is determined purely by where you cast and what you cast with. There is no waiting for a rainy winter night to complete your compendium — if you need a specific fish, go to its water, tie on the right bait, and keep casting until it takes.

the A–Z table below lists which of the three baits each fish takes 🎣

A practical corollary: at the River, the Lake, and the Ocean, carry a spread of baits and work each one in turn to flush out the full roster. At the Mountain, the Mine, and the Gloaming, any bait will do.

The Three Baits, Up Close

Each bait deserves its own entry in the journal — where it comes from, what it costs, and what only it can tempt.

Worms

The humble worm: a wiggly little creature and the tackle box’s workhorse. Cheap, always in stock at Bruno’s, and the only bait the Minnow will take. It also draws everyday catches like Sardines and Carp.

Crickets, and a Shift in Perspective

An insect from the Woods, a touch dearer at 6 coins — and the bait behind the Ocean’s two cricket-only prizes, the Dorado (40 coins) and the Sea Urchin (80 coins, the most valuable catch on the island). Fish that bite on crickets also sell for a little more on average than the worm or chub crowd.

The cricket’s own description ends with a hint: “Can’t catch it? Maybe you need to shift your perspective.” That “shift” is a pun on shapeshifting. There are two free ways to keep crickets coming, and both run through Cleocatra:

1. Once Cleocatra becomes your pet, she’ll bring you crickets herself — tribute, cat-style.
2. Come Summer, after unlocking the Animal Shapeshifting Spell (Spells & Rituals), you can take her four-legged form and catch crickets (and fish!) with your own paws.

Either way, once Cleocatra is your pet or you can take her shape, crickets stop costing 6 coins apiece.

the cricket’s “shift your perspective” line is a shapeshifting pun — Cleocatra’s form is the free cricket supply 🐈‍⬛

Chub

The odd one of the family: chub is the only bait that is also a fish. It swims at the Mountain (taking chub or worm bait, fittingly), sells for 3 coins, and is too small for any recipe — its whole purpose is the hook or Bruno’s counter.

Bruno teaches you about chub bait early in Spring, but you can’t catch your own until Summer, once Parker has fixed the bridge to the Mountain — until then, buy them at his stall. Two Ocean catches answer to chub alone: the Scup and the Scallop.

Best Catches, and Where the Money Swims

Because bait and location are the only factors, every rare fish comes down to reaching the right water with the right bait. The surprise is which water: the late-game spots are for completing the compendium, not for getting rich. The Ocean is the money water, home to most of the island’s priciest catches:

A hunting order for the completionist:

The cheapest catches (Sardine and Herring at 3 coins, Shiner, Walleye, and Carp at 5) are the ones to feed the fish fingers pan; keep the pricier fish for Bruno’s counter (Money-Making).

fish the Ocean with crickets for the Sea Urchin (80 coins) and the Dorado (40) 🐟

Recipe Bottles

Now and then a bottle bobs up instead of a fish. Reel it in like any catch (it uses up the bait) and it unlocks a cooking recipe. The wiki lists 22 recipes you can fish up this way, among them Loco Moco and Poke Bowl (two of Kai’s favorites), Jambalaya and Praline Cookie (Eury’s), Pierogi and Rumbledethumps (Angus’s), and Rice Wine (Kim’s). So if a resident’s favorite won’t turn up anywhere else, keep fishing — see Gift Preferences.

What Fish Are For

A Fisher’s Habits

1. Buy or gather bait before it runs out mid-session, since each catch uses up one.
2. Fish the River early; it’s on your own farm and costs no travel time.
3. When a new area opens (Mountain, Gloaming, Mine 20), fish it promptly — new water means new compendium entries.
4. Fishing spends energy like any labor; a snack from the kitchen keeps the afternoon going (Energy, Time & Seasons).

Every Fish, A–Z

All 56 entries in the fishing compendium — where each one bites, the bait it takes, and what Bruno pays. Bold bait means that fish takes nothing else; the Complifish (—) can’t be sold.

Fish	Where	Bait	Coins
Black Crappie	Lake	Cricket / Chub	35
Blind Eel	Mine	Any	35
Blindcat	Mine	Any	35
Bluegill	Lake	Cricket / Chub	20
Bonito	Ocean	Cricket / Chub	35
Brown Trout	Lake	Cricket / Chub	35
Carp	Lake	Worm / Chub	5
Catfish	Lake	Any	20
Char	Lake	Any	35
Chub	Mountain	Worm / Chub	3
Clam	Ocean	Any	35
Complifish	Gloaming	Any	—
Crawfish	River	Any	25
Dab	Ocean	Worm / Chub	35
Dace	Mountain	Any	35
Darter	River	Worm / Chub	35
Dorado	Ocean	Cricket only	40
Eel	River	Cricket / Chub	45
Flounder	Ocean	Cricket / Chub	40
Gar	River	Any	35
Golden Catfish	Mine	Any	20
Grotto Sculpin	Mine	Any	20
Haddock	Ocean	Cricket / Chub	20
Halibut	Ocean	Cricket / Chub	50
Herring	Ocean	Any	3
Loach	Mine	Any	20
Lobster	Ocean	Cricket / Chub	50
Mackerel	Ocean	Any	20
Minnow	River	Worm only	20
Mussel	Ocean	Cricket / Chub	20
Oyster	Ocean	Cricket / Chub	20
Perch	River	Worm / Chub	15
Pike	Mountain	Any	25
Pupfish	River	Worm / Chub	20
Rainbow Trout	Mountain	Any	50
Salmon	Mountain	Any	60
Sardine	Ocean	Worm / Chub	3
Scallop	Ocean	Chub only	20
Scup	Ocean	Chub only	20
Sea Bass	Ocean	Any	25
Sea Urchin	Ocean	Cricket only	80
Shad	River	Any	15
Shiner	River	Worm / Chub	5
Shrimp	Ocean	Any	50
Skate	Ocean	Cricket / Chub	20
Smelt	River	Cricket / Chub	20
Snapper	Ocean	Cricket / Chub	15
Sole	Ocean	Cricket / Chub	20
Squid	Ocean	Any	40
Studfish	River	Any	20
Sturgeon	Ocean	Worm / Chub	20
Sucker	River	Any	20
Sunfish	Mountain	Any	20
Tuna	Ocean	Any	10
Walleye	River	Any	5
Whiting	Ocean	Cricket / Chub	20

sign-off tip: chasing one missing fish? look it up in the A–Z table, then go to that water with that bait 🐟

Last updated October 8, 2026