Fishing & Rare Finds

Fishing is the shore-side twin of diving: instead of descending, you cast from the deck and haul the catch up. It's one of the easiest skills to keep running in your action queue — a steady stream of fish for the kitchen, XP for the level, and, once in a while, something the sea wasn't supposed to give up.

The fishing ladder

Each catch is its own action on the Fishing page. They climb in level, in time-per-cast, and in what they're worth:

Catch	Level	Per cast	Needs
Sardines	1	2.6s	—
Mackerel	12	3.4s	—
Tai	28	4.4s	a Bronze rod
Tuna	40	5.2s	an Iron rod
Fugu	65	6.0s	a Steel rod

The early catches ask nothing but a level. From Tai up, the bigger fish need a sturdier fishing rod in your kit — the same grip-and-metal tool line the Smith forges: a Bronze rod for Tai, an Iron rod for Tuna, a Steel rod for Fugu. Owning the rod is enough to clear the gate — it can sit unequipped in your bag; the Dōgubako is only for the speed bonus, never a requirement. A higher rod covers every lower gate, so you only ever keep your best. See Equipment for the full tool ladder.

Faster casts

Fishing speed is set by two things you can stack:

• A boat. Your boat slot doubles as a fishing bonus — the Coastal Boat (+6%), the Deep-Sea Boat, and the Ryūgū Boat (+10%) each cast faster than the last. Boats come off the Carpentry ladder (Equipment).
• A food or drink buff. A matching provision shortens every cast while it lasts (Provisions).

Neither changes what you catch — only how fast the line comes back.

Rare finds — when the line brings up a wonder

Now and then a cast pulls up more than a fish. These extra finds are rare — often a once-in-thousands surprise — and they never replace your normal catch; they ride along on top of it. There are two kinds:

• Treasures. A Message in a Bottle, a Sunken Chest, or — from the deepest, most dangerous waters — a Ryūgū Orb. Treasures have no use at the bench: they're keepsakes and coin, worth a tidy sum at the trader or on the market.
• Prized materials. The odd Pearl, Red Coral, Ray Skin, Nacre, or Glow Jellyfish — signature craft goods that normally take a proper gathering run to collect. A lucky cast is a welcome shortcut, never a substitute.

Each fishing action lists exactly what it can turn up, and how likely, under "Rarely yields" on the Fishing page — and every one of those finds shows its "Rare find from" sources on its own item page. The odds are deliberately long: think of them as a bonus the tide grants, not a plan you can farm.

There's no trick to it — no bait to buy, no window to hit. You cannot see a rare one coming, and nothing you equip changes the odds. Just keep the line wet: the more you cast, the more often the sea decides to be generous.

Ornamental catches

A handful of the sea's rarest gifts aren't fish for the pan at all but collection goods — ornamental prizes like the Koi and the Kogane Tai. Those two don't come from the rod, though: they're bred, not caught. See the aquaculture breeding pairs in Farming & Aquaculture.

See also: Skills & XP and Getting Started.