Fishing is a survivalist skill, and an activity that allows characters to use a fishing rod combined with bait to catch various types of fish. Increasing the fishing level increases the quality of fish, chance to catch something, and reduces the chance to break the line, lose bait, and lose baited fish.
This ability is a great way to feed a player living near a body of water, as a single fish could satiate the player for a whole day. Fishing is a useful skill to choose in West Point or Riverside, as West Point and Riverside are much closer to a body of water than Muldraugh.
Usage
To begin fishing, a fishing rod and some bait are required in the main inventory (i.e., not bags). Right-click on a body of water and select the Fishing contextual option. While fishing, the rod will occupy the primary hand, and the bait will occupy the secondary. Therefore, it may be ideal to leave any bags back at home (if not equipped on the back). It is also suggested to ensure the fishing area is free from zombies.
The animation and accompanying splash generates noise that can attract zombies within a 20 tile radius. Therefore, for long-term fishing, it's suggested to construct a large enclosure around the fishing spot, ensuring it's large enough, so zombies cannot hear. Otherwise, they will thump on any walls in their path.
Significant experience is only gained when something is caught. The experience gained is based on the weight of the prize – 7 for big, 5 for medium, 3 for small, affected by XP modifiers such as the fishing skill books. On a failed fishing attempt, or if a trash item such as shoes or socks is fished up, the player will be granted 1 XP.
While fishing, the rate of fishing attempts will be generated based on the fishing equipment. A Crafted Spear is the fastest, making an attempt once every 5-10 in-game minutes. Live bait on a fishing rod makes an attempt roughly every 8-11 in-game minutes (500-800 seconds). Fishing tackle makes an attempt roughly every 12-15 in-game minutes (700-1000 seconds). These times are reduced by 5 in-game seconds per fishing level, so a player with level 10 fishing will typically catch fish just shy of one minute faster than a player with level 0 fishing skill.
The default chance of catching fish on normal abundance is 20% for fishing with a rod and live bait (Little Bait Fish, Worm, Cricket, Grasshopper, Cockroach, Maggots), and increases by 1.5% per fishing level. This is 10% and 2.5% respectively for fishing rods with Fishing Tackle (disambiguation), and 10% and 1.5% for fishing with a Crafted Spear.
The success rate of catching fish at dawn and dusk (04:00-06:59 and 18:00-20:59) is increased by 10%.
Seasonal Changes
The last month of Autumn and all of Winter, so from November to February, the success rate of catching fish is reduced by 20%. Verified as of version 41.78.16
Example 1: Fishing with a Crafted Spear in November to February during times that are NOT dawn or dusk will have a 0% success rate through fishing levels 0-6, and have a 0.5% chance to succeed at Fishing level 7.
Example 2: Fishing with a Fishing Rod during dusk (18:00-20:00), with live bait, during March-October, at skill level 10, will have a 45% chance to succeed.
Fishing Chance Modifiers
Additionally, the Nature's Abundance settings increase/reduce fishing chance by modifying the above ratios by differing percentages. Very Abundant gives a 66% increase, Abundant gives a 25% increase, Poor gives a 16% decrease, and Very Poor gives a 28.5% decrease. so in the Above Example 1 Very Abundant does not increase the chance of success for Fishing Levels 0-6. While Very Abundant would give Example 2 a 75% Chance to succeed, and Very Poor would give a 32% chance to succeed.
Upon a successful fishing attempt, there is a chance of catching a trash item instead of a fish, such as Shoes and Socks. At Fishing level 0, the chance is 40%. At Fishing level 10, the chance is 15.86%. The trash rate goes down in a non-linear fashion, i.e., Fishing 1 reduces the trash rate by 7.5%, and Fishing 2 reduces the trash rate by 5.25%.
Live bait is always lost when something is caught. Plastic fishing tackle is only lost when the fishing line breaks, which only occurs on successful fishing attempts. When the spear or fishing line breaks, the fish will be lost. The base chance for losing a fishing line is based on the size of the catch: Small (8%), Medium (12%), Large (22%). Each level of fishing skill reduces this chance by 1%. fishing line, as opposed to twine, has a 2% reduced chance to break the line. A Fishing Rod (crafted) has a 3% increased chance to break. A crafted spear has a 5% increased chance to break.
Example 1: Catching a Medium Trout (12%) with a Fishing Rod, using Fishing Line (-2%) and a fishing level of 10 (-10%). There is a 0% chance for the line to break and lose the fish.
Example 2: Catching a Small Trout (8%) with a Crafted Fishing Rod (+3%), using Fishing Line (-2%) and a fishing level of 4 (-4%). There is a 5% chance for the line to break and to lose the fish.
Example 3: Catching a Large Pike (22%) with a Crafted Spear (+5%) and a fishing level of 7 (-7%). There is a 20% chance for the spear to break and lose the fish.
Spearfishing
Level | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Catch Chance Modifier | +10% | +11.5% | +13% | +14.5% | +16% | +17.5% | +19% | +20.5% | +22% | +23.5% | +25% |
Break Chance Modifier | +5% | +4% | +3% | +2% | +1% | +0% | -1% | -2% | -3% | -4% | -5% |
Fishing Rod
Level | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Catch Chance Modifier w/ Bait | +20% | +21.5% | +23% | +24.5% | +26% | +27.5% | +29% | +30.5% | +32% | +33.5% | +35% |
Catch Chance modifier w/ Lure | +10% | +12.5% | +15% | +17.5% | +20% | +22.5% | +25% | +27.5% | +30% | +32.5% | +35% |
Break Chance Modifier | -2% | -3% | -4% | -5% | -6% | -7% | -8% | -9% | -10% | -11% | -12% |
Break Chance Modifier w/ Twine | -0% | -1% | -2% | -3% | -4% | -5% | -6% | -7% | -8% | -9% | -10% |
Crafted Fishing Rod
Level | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Catch Chance Modifier w/ Bait | +20% | +21.5% | +23% | +24.5% | +26% | +27.5% | +29% | +30.5% | +32% | +33.5% | +35% |
Catch Chance Modifier w/ Lure | +10% | +12.5% | +15% | +17.5% | +20% | +22.5% | +25% | +27.5% | +30% | +32.5% | +35% |
Break Chance Modifier | +1% | +0% | -1% | -2% | -3% | -4% | -5% | -6% | -7% | -8% | -9% |
Break Chance Modifier w/ Twine | +3% | +2% | +1% | +0% | -1% | -2% | -3% | -4% | -5% | -6% | -7% |
Repairs
Quite often, a rod will lose its line while fishing. Relining a rod requires an item from each of the following categories:
- Nail or Paperclip
- Twine or Fishing Line
When used in the repair, a Nail or Paperclip is consumed, while the Twine or Fishing line consumes some of its contents (units). A fishing rod doesn't lose durability when used for fishing.
Occupations & Traits
Occupations
Name | Starting Points | Major Skills | Description |
---|---|---|---|
Fisherman | -2 | +3 Fishing +1 Foraging |
N/A |
Traits
Name | Cost | Description | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
Angler | -4 | +1 Fishing | Can be taken with Fisherman occupation. |
Items
Rods
The main tool in fishing, along with Bait. If the player is in a pinch, they can also craft makeshift fishing rods or a crafted spear to spearfish.
Item | Description | Encumbrance | break the line | Classname |
---|---|---|---|---|
Fishing Rod |
0.4 | Base.FishingRod | ||
Fishing Rod with Twine Line |
0.4 | Base.FishingRodTwineLine | ||
Fishing Rod (crafted) |
0.4 | Base.CraftedFishingRod | ||
Crafted Fishing Rod with Twine Line |
0.4 | Base.CraftedFishingRodTwineLine | ||
Crafted Spear |
Use to spearfish. | 0.4 | - | Base.WoodenLance |
Fishing Net
A net used to catch fishes, and catches bait fish instead.
Item | Description | Encumbrance | Classname |
---|---|---|---|
Fishing Net Trap |
0.5 | Base.FishingNet | |
Broken Fishing Net Trap |
0.4 | Base.BrokenFishingNet |
Materials
The various materials used to craft with fishing.
Item | Description | Encumbrance | Classname |
---|---|---|---|
Fishing Line |
Used to repair and used to craft a crafted fishing rod. | 0.1 | Base.FishingLine |
Fishing Rod without Line |
0.4 | Base.FishingRodBreak | |
Nails |
Used to repair and used to craft a crafted fishing rod. | 0.01 | Base.Nails |
Paperclip |
Used to repair and used to craft a crafted fishing rod. | 0.01 | Base.Paperclip |
Sturdy Stick |
Used to craft a crafted fishing rod. | 0.1 | Base.WoodenStick |
Tree Branch |
Used to craft a crafted spear. | 0.2 | Base.Treebranch |
Twine |
Used to repair and used to craft a fishing net trap. | 0.1 | Base.Twine |
Bait
There are three types of bait that can be used for fishing: Insect (disambiguation), Fishing Tackle (disambiguation), and Little Bait Fish. Insects include worm, cockroach, cricket, and grasshopper.
Worms are the most common bait to find. They can be found uncommonly while scavenging around the town, or frequently while digging with a Trowel or removing grass. So long as it's the selected bait, a worm will be consumed every time the player fishes, even if they catch trash items like socks.
Fishing Tackle is found while scavenging, and has a higher chance of catching fish instead of trash. They have a durability, unlike both insects and bait fish, therefore they can be used more than once, reducing the encumbrance for the bait that needs to be carried. It is recommended to conserve any available fishing tackle, unless the player's fishing skill level is mid range or higher.
Bait fish are fish that have a chance of being obtained while fishing or using a fishing net trap. Bait fish can only catch pike, have a 50% chance to catch more junk, and are consumed when used as bait.
Item | Description | Encumbrance | Classname |
---|---|---|---|
Little Bait Fish |
- | 0.1 | Base.BaitFish |
Fishing Tackle (disambiguation) |
- | 0.1 | Base.FishingTackle |
Worm |
- | 0.1 | Base.Worm |
Cricket |
- | 0.1 | Base.Cricket |
Grasshopper |
- | 0.1 | Base.Grasshopper |
Cockroach |
- | 0.1 | Base.Cockroach |
Fish
There are 3 types of size per fish: little, medium and big. Each type of fish has a minimum size and a maximum size. A number is chosen at random between the minimum size and the maximum size to get the fish size. Each fish has a weight modifier, for example trout has 60, meaning a trout of 30cm / weight modifier (60) = 0.5 kg. Then the hunger reduction is based on the weight of the fish: weight * 10 (ex: 2kg * 10 = 20 hunger reduction).[1]
With live bait, the distribution of sizes is: 50% small, 30% medium, 20% big. This is 60% small, 25% medium, 15% big for Fishing Tackle.
The various types of fish that can be caught from common Bass, to large Pike.
NOTE: Numbers in green are weight modifiers.
Item | Description | Little | Medium | Big | Base weight | Bait | Classname |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Bass |
- | 25cm - 35cm 30 |
35cm - 55cm 40 |
55cm - 75cm 30 |
1.1 | Base.Bass | |
Catfish |
- | 15cm - 25cm 50 |
25cm - 35cm 40 |
35cm - 55cm 30 |
0.4 | Base.Catfish | |
Crappie |
- | 15cm - 20cm 50 |
20cm - 25cm 40 |
25cm - 35cm 30 |
0.4 | Base.Crappie | |
Perch |
- | 20cm - 30cm 20 |
30cm - 40cm 16 |
40cm - 60cm 12 |
0.4 | Base.Perch | |
Pike |
- | 50cm - 65cm 23 |
65cm - 90cm 18 |
90cm - 120cm 8 |
0.4 | Base.Pike | |
Sunfish |
- | 15cm - 20cm 40 |
20cm - 25cm 35 |
25cm - 35cm 30 |
0.4 | Base.Panfish | |
Trout |
- | 30cm - 40cm 60 |
40cm - 50cm 45 |
50cm - 70cm 30 |
0.4 | Base.Trout |
Trash
Occasionally, the player can catch trash items.
Item | Description | Encumbrance | Bait | Classname |
---|---|---|---|---|
Socks |
- | 0.01 | Base.Socks | |
Shoes (disambiguation) |
- | 1 | Base.Shoes |
Recipes
Product | Ingredients | Tools | Requirements | Workstation | XP |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Fishing Rod |
One of: Hunting Knife ×1 Kitchen Knife ×1 Machete ×1 Meat Cleaver ×1 Stone Knife ×1 Each of: Sturdy Stick ×1 |
none | Angler USA Magazine Vol. 1 |
none | none |
Fishing Rod |
One of: Hunting Knife ×1 Kitchen Knife ×1 Machete ×1 Meat Cleaver ×1 Stone Knife ×1 One of: Fishing Line ×1 Twine ×2 unit(s) One of: Nails ×1 Paperclip ×1 Each of: Sturdy Stick ×1 |
none | Angler USA Magazine Vol. 1 |
none | none |
Fishing Net Trap |
Twine ×10 unit(s) Wire ×5 unit(s) |
none | Angler USA Magazine Vol. 2 |
none | none |
Wire |
Broken Fishing Net Trap ×1 | none | Angler USA Magazine Vol. 2 |
none | none |
Crafted Spear |
One of: Tree Branch ×1 Plank ×1 One of: Kitchen Knife ×1 Machete ×1 Meat Cleaver ×1 Stone Knife ×1 |
none | none | none | 1.25 Carpentry |
Fish Fillet ×2 |
One of: Kitchen Knife ×1 Hunting Knife ×1 Meat Cleaver ×1 Stone Knife ×1 Machete ×1 Sunfish ×1 Trout ×1 |
none | none | none | 10 Cooking |
References
- ↑ Reference developer comment in file "projectzomboid\media\lua\shared\Fishing\fishing_properties.lua"