Sea of Thieves Fishing Guide

Fishing in Sea of Thieves it’s an important way to earn gold, build your reputation with The Hunter’s Call trading company, and enhance your survival at sea. This Sea of Thieves fishing guide will teach you everything you need to know to start reeling in profits and a few hidden treasures too.

How to Start Fishing

Fishing in Sea of Thieves begins with one simple tool: your Fishing Rod, which every player has automatically from the start. t’s easy to set up, but mastering the basics will make your fishing much smoother and more successful.

Setting Up to Fish

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Basic Fishing Combat

First, you need to hook the fish but that’s the easy part. The real challenge is bending and working your line without snapping it.

1. Watch the Direction the Fish Pulls
   If the fish swims left, pull your rod to the right.
   If the fish swims right, pull your rod to the left.
   If it swims straight away, pull the rod straight back toward you.
   Purpose: Keeping tension against the fish weakens it and prevents the line from snapping.
2. Reeling Timing
   Don’t reel while the fish is splashing wildly — you’ll risk breaking the line.
   Instead, only reel (hold Right Trigger / Mouse Button) when the fish calms down and the line visibly goes slack.
3. Repeat the Process
   Fight the fish (holding the rod in the right direction).
   Reel it in while it's tired.
   Stop reeling if it starts struggling again.
   After a few cycles, you’ll successfully pull the fish out of the water!

Visual, Sound, and Vibration Cues

Sea of Thieves gives you multiple ways to "feel" how the fight is going:

• Sight:
  Splashing = fish fighting.
  Slack line = fish tired, time to reel.
• Sound:
  Splashing noises get louder when the fish struggles, listen carefully even in stormy seas.
• Controller Vibration (if enabled):
  Rumble = fish pulling hard.
  No rumble = either fish is tired or you’re pulling perfectly against its movements.

(Highly recommended to use haptics if available, it makes fishing feel more natural and responsive.)

Baits Explained: When and Why to Use Them

In Sea of Thieves, using bait improving your chances and it’s often required if you want to catch rare and valuable fish.

Types of Bait:

Bait Type	Where to Find It	Used For Catching
Earthworms	Found by digging in grassy areas.	Needed for Wildsplashes, Plentifins, Wreckers
Leeches	Dug up near the shoreline (by the water).	Needed for Ancientscales, Stormfish
Grubs	Dug up in sandy areas (like beaches).	Needed for Devilfish, Battlegills

How to Get Bait:

• Dig with your Shovel on land target dirt patches.
• Loot Resource Barrels sometimes bait spawns randomly inside.
• Purchase a Bait Crate:
  • From Merchant Alliance at outposts.
  • From Shipwrights on captained ships (cheaper option).

How Much Bait You Can Carry:

• You can hold up to 10 pieces of bait in your inventory.
• Plus one extra attached directly to your fishing rod.

(That’s 11 total if managed correctly.)

Using bait makes a huge difference when fishing in Sea of Thieves. Without bait, you’ll mostly catch common fish like Splashtails, Pondies, and Islehoppers, which have lower value. However, when you use the correct bait, you unlock the chance to catch rare and high-value species that are much more profitable. Rare fish can be sold for significantly more gold at the Hunter’s Call trading company, and they also help boost your reputation faster, making every piece of bait you use an important step toward better rewards.

Complete Fish Types List

In Sea of Thieves, there are 10 main types of fish, and each type has 5 color variants, some of which are rarer or only appear at night. Catching the right fish depends a lot on where you are and whether you’re using bait. Here’s a clear breakdown:

Fish Type	Location	Bait Needed?	Notes
Splashtails	Open seas	No	Common everywhere, easy to catch without bait.
Pondies	Ponds	No	Watch out for line breaks in small ponds.
Islehoppers	Near islands	No	Variant depends on the island you're fishing at.
Plentifins	Shores of Plenty	Earthworms	Regional fish, needs bait to catch.
Wildsplashes	The Wilds	Earthworms	Regional catch, needs bait.
Ancientscales	Ancient Isles	Leeches	Found only in Ancient Isles region, needs bait.
Devilfish	The Devil’s Roar	Grubs	Regional catch, watch for volcanic hazards.
Battlegills	Near Skeleton Forts or Ships	Grubs	Dangerous areas but valuable catches.
Wreckers	Around shipwrecks	Earthworms	Fish near sunken ships for best results.
Stormfish	During storms	Leeches	Requires stormy weather and careful timing.

Each of these fish types also comes with Trophy versions, which are larger and sell for more gold. Some variants glow at night: known as luminescent fish, but they otherwise behave the same as normal catches. Knowing where and how to catch each type is a huge help when trying to fill your collection or earn the most gold.

Tips for Catching Rare Fish

Going after rare fish in Sea of Thieves it’s also how you climb the Hunter’s Call ranks, knock out commendations, and chase achievements. But if you’re just throwing your line in and crossing your fingers, you’ll end up with the usual junk. Here’s how to actually fish smart and land the rare ones:

1. Use the Right Bait for Each Species

• Earthworms → Plentifins, Wildsplashes, Wreckers.
• Leeches → Ancientscales, Stormfish.
• Grubs → Devilfish, Battlegills.

Even if a fish type can be caught without bait, you’ll drastically increase your rare catch rate by using the correct one. No bait = mostly Splashtails and missed chances.

2. Fish at Night for Luminescent Variants

Each of the 10 fish families has a glowing “Night Variant”, the fifth one in the Hunter’s Call UI list. These only appear after sunset (game time), and some of the most valuable fish fall into this group:

• Twilight Stormfish
• Moonsky Pondie
• Starshine Ancientscale

Fish just before midnight (in-game) and after moonrise for the best glow chances.

3. Storm Conditions Unlock Rare Catches

Stormfish require being inside a full-blown storm and using leeches.
Blackcloud Wreckers demand two things: fishing in a storm and next to a shipwreck.

Use your storm tracker (look at the sky and weather patterns) and sail into the chaos if you’re targeting these premium catches. Have food ready — sharks love storm anglers.

4. Change Location Often

If you're constantly pulling up the same color Splashtail — move. Fish variety is region-specific, and even island-specific in the case of Islehoppers. Cycle between:

• The Wilds
• Ancient Isles
• Shores of Plenty
• Devil’s Roar

This increases your odds of encountering the rarer variants of that zone’s unique fish type.

5. Target Shipwrecks for High-Value Fish

Wreckers are only found around shipwrecks, and their rarest form Snow Wreckers sell for 1,875 gold raw / 4,690 gold Trophy. They're one of the best gold-per-minute fish, especially if cooked.

Pairing shipwrecks with storms gives you access to the rarest Wrecker type: Blackcloud.

Cooking and Selling Fish for Gold and Reputation

Fishing in Sea of Thieves it’s way to earn gold, boost your rep, and grind commendations. But if you want real value, you’ll need to time your catches, cook them right, and know exactly when (and where) to sell.

Cooking time depends on the fish size:

• Regular fish: take about 40 seconds to cook.
• Trophy fish: need around 90 seconds.

You’ll know the fish is perfectly cooked when:

• Its color changes to a golden brown.
• A thick puff of smoke appears from the pan.

If you wait too long, the fish will turn black and burnt. At that point, it’s worth very little and heals less if eaten.

Selling Fish

You can sell fish to any Hunter’s Call representative, found at Seaposts across the map. These vendors are usually standing near a dock and are easy to spot. Here’s what affects the fish’s value:

• Rarity: Rare types like the Shadow Stormfish are worth the most.
• Cooking status: Cooked fish earns more gold. Raw sells for less, and burnt sells for almost nothing.
• Trophy size: Trophy versions of any fish are significantly more valuable.

A single cooked Trophy rare fish (like a Trophy Shadow Stormfish) can sell for thousands of gold. Selling fish also raises your reputation with the Hunter’s Call, which is useful for unlocking special commendations, fishing-themed cosmetics, and progressing toward Pirate Legend status, since you only need level 50 in any three trading companies, and Hunter’s Call is one of them.

Best Spots to Fish in Sea of Thieves

Here are some locations for relaxing (and profitable) fishing:

• Seaposts: Easy to sell catches immediately after cooking.
• Shipwrecks: Fish Wreckers, find loot, avoid hostile ships.
• Inactive Skeleton Forts: Great for catching Pondies without skeleton harassment.
• Out at Sea: Good for Splashtails and Stormfish if a storm hits.
• Using a Rowboat: Sail to a peaceful spot and fish uninterrupted.

Always watch for skeletons, sharks, or enemy players, especially while you're distracted fishing!

Summary

Between boarding galleons and bailing your ship, the humble act of casting a line slows the sea down just enough to breathe. Beneath its simplicity lies one of the richest, most overlooked systems in the game. So keep a rod close. Because the next time you're drifting under a red sky with no sails in sight, you might just pull up something rarer than gold, a story worth telling.

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Change Log

• 24.05.2025 - Sea of Thieves Fishing Guide published.