Fishing is a separate activity from the four jobs in the Job Centre. Your catch is an item to collect and sell; completing a cast does not automatically pay you.
Prepare your equipment
Obtain a fishing rod and suitable bait from the available shop catalogue. Rods are purchased rather than made through the current crafting recipes. Check prices before buying, bring food and water, and leave room for fish.
Hold the rod and use the available bait interaction with bait you carry. A rod sitting in your backpack is not ready to cast. Approach suitable water and check the cast prompt; the game validates the target rather than accepting every surface as water.
Cast, hook and reel
- Hold the rod and follow the cast control. The default cast input is the left mouse button, or the controller's right trigger.
- Wait for a bite and respond to the hook prompt. On the default keyboard setup, the hook action uses F.
- Follow the reeling display, adjusting your input to its moving target and progress. The default reel input is held F, or the controller's left trigger.
- After landing the fish, use the action to take it off the hook. Landing and collecting are separate steps.
- Confirm the fish is in your inventory before putting the rod away or starting another cast.
Your current key bindings and on-screen prompts take priority. Use the cancellation action if you need to stop; putting away the rod can end the fishing session.
Collect and sell the catch
Keep inventory space available. If it is full, a collected catch may be placed beside you instead; check the ground, free space and pick it up before leaving. A fish still on the hook is not an ordinary loose item for another player to collect.
Take collected fish to a fish buyer, inspect the current offer and choose the intended sale. Check carefully before using a sell-all option. Wait for confirmation and verify the payment using Banking and Payments.
When something goes wrong
- Cannot cast: check that the rod is held, the target is suitable water and the previous session has finished.
- Cannot apply bait: check the bait item, held rod and current hook state.
- Fish landed but not collected: use the unhook action and inspect inventory capacity.
- Catch received with an XP warning: the catch and the progression result are separate. Keep the fish and report the warning if it persists; do not assume another catch or XP award is owed automatically.