How to Fish in Crimson Desert

Fishing in Crimson Desert is a great way to not only get cooking ingredients, but you can also earn quite a bit of money. To get started, you will need a fishing rod and to find a watery location to fish in.

1. How to Get a Fishing Rod in Crimson Desert

There are actually several different locations you can pick up a fishing rod. There is a side quest you can earn one with, and there are also several sellers around the starting town that have them as well.

• If you complete Annabelle’s quest in the Hanan Saddler, you can get a fishing rod for free.
• There is a merchant in the Nas River Fishing Dock named Finley that will also sell you one for 15c.
• Rodbell Fishing Dock also has a Fishing merchant after it has been liberated.
• Alden in the Provisioner’s Shop in Hernand, the starting city, also sells a Basic Rod.
• There are several other fishing merchant locations, all near the rivers that run through the map.
• There are some NPCs you can steal a rod from.

The map of where to find a seller for the Basic Fishing Rod.

1.1 Annabelle’s Quest 

To get a Fishing Rod for free in Crimson Desert, you will need to find Annabelle. She is located north of the Freesword Encampment in Hernand. She will ask for fish, and she will offer you a free fishing rod in exchange so you can grab some. If you already have a fishing rod, this quest will not be available.

Annabelle’s quest will give you a free basic fishing rod.

She is asking for a Tench, which is a small freshwater fish that can found in any of the waterways near the town. You can use a fishing rod or pick up these fish with your bare hands to complete the quest. You will be rewarded with:

• An inventory expansion.
• Dried fish.
• The Fishing Rod she gave you at the start.

2. How to Fish

Now that you have a rod, you can finally start fishing. To get started, you just need to follow these steps.

1. Equip the fishing rod by holding Left on the D-pad or F2 or pressing the Weapon Wheel button.
2. Look for the fishing rod, and use the wheel to select it.
3. Walk up to any river or lake.
4. Press the L2/LT/LMB to take out the fishing rod. Then hold it to aim the fishing rod.
5. Wait until the water being to splash around.
6. Press RMB or L2/LT to hook the fish.
7. When the fish is splashing, pull the rod in the direction opposite of where it is trying to swim.
8. When the fish is not splashing, reel it in by rotating the right joystick to the right or the mouse wheel.
9. If you try to reel the fish in while it is splashing, it will break the fishing line.
10. The fish will alternate between splashing and not splashing until the line breaks or you reel it in.

Tutorial for reeling in fish.

2.1 How to Catch Fish Without a Fishing Rod

If you haven’t gotten a fishing rod just yet, and you don’t feel like going out of your way for one, you can also catch some small fish with your bare hands. Just walking through the water will give you the opportunity.

1. Find water that is deep enough to fish in.
2. Wade into the water.
3. Some smaller fish will be available to pick up using the interact button.
4. Not all fish can be caught this way, but it’s a good way to grab a few Small Gudegon or Pond Loaches.

Fish can also be purchased from fish merchants if you don’t feel like catching them by hand or with a rod at all. They can be costly, but it may be worth it to complete a side quest.

2.2 All Fishing Rods in Crimson Desert

It appears that there are currently four fishing rods you can get. Only one of these rods will be able to pick up Legendary Fish easily.

• Basic Fishing Rod – This is the basic fishing rod that can be gotten free from Annabelle or picked up for 15c at a fishing merchant.
• Fine Fishing Rod – Can be purchased at some fishing merchants for 10 silver; speeds up how quickly fish bite.
• Pororin Fishing Rod – Can be unlocked through sending missions to Pororin. The only rod that can catch Legendary Fish with regularity.

• The Claw – Can be purchased from the merchant named Patrigo. He will appear around the Greymane camp after Chapter 3. Automatically reels in fish.

Fishing tutorial you gain by watching the fishermen at the dock.

2.3 Can’t Reel the Fish In

If you are having trouble Reeling the fish in while fishing, you need to wait until the fish isn’t splashing. It’s kind of weird timing to do the first time, so here is a video breaking down how to get a fish with a rod.

3. All Fish in Crimson Desert

To get the most out of your fishing rod, you will want to collect enough fish to make some hearty meals, earn some quick money, and even fulfil quests. There is also a creature log in the Knowledge tab that you can fill out with all of these aquatic friends.

3.1 All Legendary Fish Locations

There are five Legendary fish in Crimson Desert, and each of them spawn in very specific locations. You will most likely need a Pororin Fishing Rod to have a chance of getting these.

3.2 What Do Legendary Fish Do in Crimson Desert?

Don’t eat those Legendary fish you have caught. These fish can be used for other things beyond filling out your collection of Aquatic Creatures or bragging rights.

• Give a Legendary fish to a cat to immediately earn 100 trust.
• Donate the fish to camp to get a ton of provisions.
• Some quests require Legendary Fish.

Pointing your fishing rod in Crimson Desert.

3.3 All Fish 

Other fish can be found by plucking them out of the water by hand or fishing. The deeper the water, the better chance you have at picking up larger fish. Rivers and lakes will have fresh water while oceans will be a source of salt-water fish.

4. How to Get Fish Fillet in Crimson Desert

If you need a fish fillet for cooking or for a quest, you will need to first catch a fish, then clean it. Here is how to do it.

1. Open your inventory and select the fish you want to fillet.
2. Press Space Bar on PC, A on Xbox controllers, X on PlayStation controllers, or whatever the Use button is for your platform.
3. Select Clean from the Use menu.
4. This will give you a fillet.
5. Fillets take up less inventory space.

Cleaning fish means making fillets out of them.

5. All Fish Merchant Locations

There are several NPCs where you can purchase fish from. Most of these will be located by the water, like rivers and oceans. Each one sells different kinds of fish.

5.1 Nas River Fishing Dock

Map location of the Nas River Fishing Dock.

5.2 Rodbel Fishing Dock

Map location of the Rodbel Fishing Dock.

5.3 Vellua

Map location of the Vellua Fishing Dock.

More locations coming soon!

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