How To Fish In Minecraft: The Ultimate Guide

Minecraft offers several activities players can do in-game. From mining blocks, building structures, and adventuring, there’s a lot you can do in-game. But there are times you may feel the need to unwind and do more relaxed activities. One of them is catching fish in Minecraft which can bring you some peace while reeling in some good loot.

Fishing in Minecraft is quite a versatile activity as it can bring you resources that will aid your survival and Enchanted Items that will progress your gameplay. It helps to understand how the game’s fishing mechanic works so you can maximize it in-game.

With that in mind, you’ll get to learn more about how to fish in Minecraft with our guide right here. We’ll be covering the basic information about fishing, crafting a fishing rod, learning how to fish in Minecraft, and more.

What is Minecraft Fishing?

Minecraft fishing is basically using a Fishing Rod to catch a variety of items in bodies of water. Like in real-life fishing, you’ll have to prepare your fishing rod, cast your line out the water, and then watch the bobber attached to it to look for any potential bites on your hook. Afterwards, you’ll be signaled if you can reel in your catch.

People often use Minecraft Fishing as an easier way to get uncommon items such as Enchanted Books, Name Tags, and other similar items. It’s more convenient than exploring Mineshafts, going to Nether Fortresses, or even looking for Ancient Cities to uncover rare items.

You can fish in any type of water source in Minecraft. Whether it’s oceans, rivers, or small ponds, you’ll be able to catch something with your fishing rod. Your chance of catching fish won’t change too if you’re catching fish from a boat, on land nearby, or underwater.

How do you craft a Fishing Rod?

Now that you know about fishing, we can get to crafting a Fishing Rod. Your fishing rod is the only tool you need to catch fish. There are regular rods and Enchanted Fishing Rods which we’ll go into detail later on. To craft a Fishing Rod, here are some of the items you need and the steps to follow:

Step #1: Gather three Sticks and two Strings

First, you must gather the materials you need to make a Fishing Rod.

You’ll need Sticks and Strings for this. Save that in your inventory first.

Step #2: Make a Crafting Table

Next, make a Crafting Table. This is made by placing four Wood Planks in your player character’s crafting interface.

Step #3: Open your Crafting Table

Once you’ve made a Crafting Table, open it. This is done by right-clicking on the Crafting Table when it’s placed on the ground.

Step #4: Place your materials on the crafting grid

With your Crafting Table’s interface open, you can then place your materials on the crafting grid. You can follow this image guide below on how to place your Sticks and Strings.

Alternatively, you can look through the pre-made guides within the Crafting Table interface for the recipe for the Fishing Rod.

Step #5: Craft your Fishing Rod

As you place all your materials, you’ll see the icon for the Fishing Rod appear on the output side of the crafting grid.

Upon clicking the Fishing Rod, you’ll then have it in your inventory.

What are the Enchantments for Minecraft Fishing Rods?

Before fishing, you may also want to consider enchanting your fishing rod to get better results with your catch.

You can get increased lure speeds, better loot, and even increased durability by just adding enchantments. If you’re curious to know more, we’ve listed below all the enchantments you can place on an Enchanted Fishing Rod.

Unbreaking

As the enchantment is named, Unbreaking increases durability of your fishing rod. There are three levels of the Unbreaking enchantment.

Mending

A rare enchantment you can also get is Mending. It uses Experience Orbs to restore the durability of your Fishing Rod.

Lure

For the Lure Enchantment, this cuts down the wait time to catch items when fishing. There are also three levels for this enchantment.

Luck of the Sea

When it comes to the Luck of the Sea Enchantment, there are three levels to this enchantment. How it works is that it increases your chances of catching valuable items in comparison to junk. The Luck of the Sea is very powerful if you plan to farm for treasures through fishing.

Curse of Vanishing

The last is the Curse of Vanishing. While not much of an enchantment, this curse makes your Fishing Rod vanish upon your death. It doesn’t drop as an item.

Overall, having an Enchanted Fishing Rod will greatly increase your chances of catching some good items like Enchanted Books. You can also repair your damaged enchanted fishing rod with an anvil when needed to maintain the enchantments you have.

How do you fish in Minecraft?

Learning how to fish in Minecraft is pretty simple. All it takes is a Fishing Rod and some patience with each throw you make with your line. You can follow along through the steps below to start fishing:

Step #1: Prepare your Fishing Rods

Have your Fishing Rod ready in your inventory. If you plan to fish for days, you can consider packing a couple of Fishing Rods.

Also, have a boat and some food ready since fishing depletes your energy in Minecraft.

Step #2: Look for a water source

After preparing your Fishing Rod and other items you plan to bring, you can look for a water source.

It’s best to fish in open waters such as huge lakes, seas, or oceans.

Step #3: Cast your Fishing Rod’s line

When you’ve arrived at your water source, you can look for a good spot to fish and cast your line. It helps to cast your line far away.

You can do this by aiming upward so that your throw is longer. But it also works to cast a short line.

Step #4: Wait for a bite on your Fishing Rod’s hook

Now, the waiting game begins. You’ll see your fishing bobber coming up and down the water’s surface. That isn’t the sign yet of reeling in your line.

You’ll have to observe the water as there will be a trail of water particles that will travel to your bobber.

That trail will then dunk down your fishing bobber. It takes around 5 to 30 seconds so wait patiently.

Step #5: Reel in your catch

If your bobber is dunked underwater and you hear a splashing noise, immediately right-click to reel in your catch.

This will automatically “throw” to you the item you’ve caught. You’ll also hear a twinkling sound effect that will signal a successful reel.

You can then right-click again to cast your fishing rod and repeat the whole process.

What are the rewards when you catch fish?

The items you reel in from catching fish in Minecraft aren’t as random as they seem. There are three categories of items you can catch from fishing in Minecraft whether it’s in the Java Edition or Bedrock Edition. Moreover, they have their respective percentage chances of catching them.

Fish

Mainly, you catch fish when fishing at an 85% chance. You’ll mainly catch raw fish with your fishing rod. This includes Raw Cod, Raw Salmon, Pufferfish, and Tropical Fish. You won’t be able to catch cooked fish or fish in buckets.

Treasure

Next are treasure items. These are caught with a 5% chance but this can increase if you have an Enchanted Fishing Rod. You can catch any of the following treasure items:

• Enchanted Bow
• Enchanted Books
• Enchanted Fishing Rod
• Name Tag
• Nautilus Shell
• Saddle

Junk

Then we have junk. These are miscellaneous items that you may or may not need. You have a 10% chance of catching these items:

• Bone
• Bow
• Bowl
• Fishing Rod
• Ink Sacs
• Leather
• Leather Boots
• Lily Pads
• Rotten Flesh
• Stick
• String
• Tripwire Hook
• Water Bottle

Do keep in mind that if you fish in the Jungle Biome, you may also catch some Bamboo as part of the Junk item category. Moreover, for the Bedrock Edition, you might also catch Cocoa Beans when fishing.

Strategies to catch fish in Minecraft

To maximize your fishing activities in Minecraft, consider the type of water source you’re fishing in. It’s best to fish in large bodies of water such as oceans, rivers, or lakes. Your chances also increase if you fish in a rainy area. Besides that, make sure there aren’t any blocks directly above your fishing bobber.

Consider also enchanting your Fishing Rod since you can get higher chances of finding treasure items, cutting down the time you need to fish. Moreover, you won’t have to keep repairing your rod if you have the Mending enchantment.

Lastly, keep tabs on your bobber. While you listen closely to the sounds that signal a catch, you have to observe the water. You might miss some good catches if you aren’t paying attention to your bobber.