New World Fishing Guide

Introduction

Fishing in New World is a fun and fruitful way to spend your time in Aeterum! For everything you need to know, continue reading our New World Fishing Guide!

Getting Started

Fishing is a gathering Trade Skill in New World that allows players to gather fish from Fishing nodes that will be used in crafting trade skill, Cooking.

When first starting out you will need a wooden fishing pole to start gathering nodes. This requires engineering level 0 along with 1fiber and 1 green wood to craft it. Fiber will need a flint sickle and a hemp plant. Once all are obtained a tier 1 camp fire or workshop is required to craft the wooden fishing pole. Once crafted you will need to equip it and you can start gathering.

Higher character levels are able to use better tiers of Fishing Fishing Poles:

• Tier 1 Wooden Fishing Pole Level Range [1]
  • Max Cast Distance 12 meters
• Tier 2 Treated Wood Fishing Pole Level Range [3-19]
  • Max Cast Distance 14 meters
• Tier 3 Aged Wood Fishing Pole Level Range [16-39]
  • Max Cast Distance 16 meters
• Tier 4 Wyrdwood Fishing Pole Level Range [32-59]
  • Max Cast Distance 18 meters
• Tier 5 Ironwood Fishing Pole Level Range [51-60]
  • Max Cast Distance 20 meters

It is advised to use the highest gear score possible to increase your casting distance. 

Different Types of Fishing Locations and Bait

Fishing locations are broken down into two categories Standard Locations and Hotspots. As you fish in these locations you will get fish appropriate to their real life locations. So for example Trout will come from freshwater and not from saltwater, or squids would be saltwater not freshwater.

Standard Fishing Locations and Bait

• Freshwater – Rivers and Lakes (Can loot buckets of water from it)
  • Bread Bait – small boost to chance to catch rare fish in freshwater
    • Found in provision containers
  • Meat Bait –  small boost to chance to catch bigger fish in freshwater
    • Crafted with cooking
  • Woodlouse Bait – medium boost to chance to catch rare fish in freshwater
    • Obtained by harvesting bushes
  • Clam Bait – medium boost to chance to catch bigger fish in freshwater
    • Obtained by salvaging clams
  • Firefly Bait – large boost to chance to catch rare fish in freshwater
    • Obtained by harvesting bulrush
  • Oyster Bait – large boost to chance to catch bigger fish in freshwater
    • Obtained by salvaging oysters
• Saltwater – Oceans and Swamps
  • Cheese Bait – small boost to chance to catch rare fish in saltwater
    • Found in provision containers
  • Fish Bait – small boost to chance to catch larger fish in saltwater
    • Crafted with cooking
  • Nightcrawler Bait – medium boost to chance to catch rare fish in saltwater
    • Obtained by picking up flints during the day
  • Snail Bait – medium boost to chance to catch larger fish in saltwater
    • Obtained by salvaging aquatic snails
  • Glowworm Bait – large boost to chance to catch rare fish in saltwater
    • Obtained by picking up flints at night
  • Electric Eel Bait – large boost to chance to catch larger fish in saltwater
    • Obtained by salvaging electric eels

Hotspots

• Broad Hotspots 30 fish, 20-30 minute respawn
  • Common Fish 45% chance
  • Uncommon Fish 40% chance
  • Rare Fish 10% chance
  • Legendary Fish less than 5% chance
• Rare Hotspots  20 fish, 30-45 minute respawn
  • Common Fish 0% chance
  • Uncommon Fish 65% chance
  • Rare Fish 30% chance
  • Legendary Fish about 5% chance
• Secret Hotspots 10 fish, 45-90 minute respawn
  • Common Fish  0% chance
  • Uncommon Fish  20% chance
  • Rare Fish 70% chance
  • Legendary Fish about 10% chance

TIP: There are over 75+ hotspot pools and each one has fixed locations in the designated hotspots. Hotspots are tracked with higher levels of fishing and are confined to the shaded areas on the map. You must meet the required Fishing Level to discover each hot spot. You can locate all fishing hotspots by using our interactive map.

In those designated areas you will find circles of fish in which you will need to land your line in to get the hotspot bonus. If successful you will get a “Landed in Hotspot!” text on the screen indicating you are getting said bonuses.

How to level Fishing

The information contained in this section will assist you in leveling your Fishing Trade Skill. We will cover the basics first and then some suggestions.

In order to reach level 200 you will need a total of 134,566 experience. Starting out after either crafting your T1 Pole or doing the first quest in “Fishing with Shields” you will need to gather or buy some bait. In conjunction with doing the fishing quest line we are looking to use bait that will increase the rarity of our fish. 

Let’s break down the basic action of fishing into parts to better understand the best way to gain experience. 

Fishing Action

• Equipping Bait
• Casting
• Hooking
• Reeling In

Equipping Bait

To equip the bait, hit F3 to pull out your fishing pole then hit R to bring up the bait menu. 

Now you will want to select the type of bait for the type of water we are fishing in as well as if we want bigger or rarer fish. Refer to the Standard Fishing Locations and Bait section of this guide for more information.

Casting

After you equip your bait it’s time to cast your line. To cast, hold left click and this will start the casting mini-game. A gauge will pop up on screen. 

Here we are trying to get to max so when the diamond gets to the top let go of left click. If you manage to stop at the top you will see it say MAX and a chime will sound. 

Note: The further you cast, the easier it will be to reel in the fish during the reel-in mini-game. 

Hooking

This is where we hold our breath for the bite mini-game. The factor to the time delay between casting and fish biting is depth of the water. 

Time Delay

• Freshwater
  • Deep Water 5-15 seconds
  • Shallow Water 10-25 seconds
  • Very Shallow Water 20-30 seconds
• Saltwater
  • Deep Water 5-15 seconds
  • Shallow Water 10-20 seconds
  • Very Shallow Water 15-25 seconds

Fishing in deeper water and getting a longer cast will cut down on the fishing time and help you level up faster. 

After your line is in the water we are waiting for the bite mini-game. The bobber will start shaking and it will say “Get ready!” don’t let this throw you off. 

Wait for the icon of a fish and hook with a timer. This is when you should click to hook your fish. If you don’t click before the timer runs out you will miss your fish and have to recast your line.

Reeling In

Next up is the tension mini-game. Let’s also break this up into smaller bits. First is understanding the icon(s).

This icon shows the tension meter in the center and is color-coded. 

• Green – Low Tension
• Orange – Medium Tension
• Red – High Tension (About to break)

The outer circle indicates how close the fish is to being reeled in. The more complete the circle is, the closer the fish is.

when the fish bites you want to hold left click to reel in the fish, as you do so the tension will go up. If the fish is fighting back the tension will go up faster. As the tension gets to the orange level you will want to stop holding left click to stop reeling in and let the tension drop back down to a lower level. 

Once the tension has dropped back down you can left-click again to start reeling in again. If the tension gets into the red and touches the two curved lines the line will break and you will lose the fish. 

The level of your fishing, size, and rarity of the fish as well as your cast distance will all determine how difficult it will be to reel in the fish.

Experience

Experience is gained off two factors one being fish size and the other fish rarity.   

Rarity

• Common Fish 100-120 experience
• Uncommon Fish 150-163 experience
• Rare Fish 175-200 experience
• Legendary Fish 550 experience

Note: The range for each quality is influenced by the size of the fish.

Now that we know how to fish, where do we actually fish? The short answer is any hotspot with the two star Rare Hotspots while using the appropriate bait based upon the fresh/salt water location.  To maximize your experience gain when fishing you will want to be using bait that increases the rarity chance and fish in a hotspot as often as possible. Specifically the pools of jumping fish. You will want to have perks for your preferred fishing spot such as the Lucky Waters perk to boost the chance of catching rare fish or Freshwater Colossus for catching bigger fish in freshwater if that is where you are fishing. We will break down the perks in the Perks section of this guide.

TIP: Use the interactive map to find your perfect hotspot!

Focus at 250 points is ideal while leveling. Having 250 points will give you 20% fishing line tension, a 10% weight reduction to fish, and 10% increase to caught fish size. The 100 point bonus doesn’t help leveling directly but can get you some extra bait from the salvaged fish, while the 300 point bonus can be helpful if you are fishing in the same area as your set Inn.

Types of Fish and Where to Find Them

There are several different types of fish you can catch in Aeternum. They are separated by rarity, common, uncommon, Rare, and Legendary.

Common Fish

• Bass (Freshwater) – Cutlass Keys, First Light, Monarch’s Bluff, Windsward
• Bluefish (Saltwater) – Ebonscale Reach, Everfall, First Light, Monarch’s Bluff, Mourningdale, Reekwater, Restless Shore, Weaver’s Fen
• Flounder (Saltwater) – Cutlass Keys, Ebonscale Reach, Everfall, First Light, Mourningdale, Reekwater, Restless Shore, Weaver’s Fen, Windsward
• Hake (Saltwater) – Mourningdale, Restless Shore, Windsward
• Mackerel (Saltwater) – Cutlass Keys, Monarch’s Bluffs, Windsward
• Pike (Freshwater) – Found all over Aeternum
• Salmon (Freshwater and Saltwater) – Found all over Aeternum
• Snapper (Saltwater) – Cutlass Keys, Ebonscale Reach, Everfall, First Light, Monarch’s Bluffs, Reekwater, Weaver’s Fen
• Sunfish (Freshwater) – Edengrove, Great Cleave, Mourningdale, Restless Shore, Shattered Mountain
• Trout (Freshwater) – Brightwood, Ebonscale Reach, Edengrove, Everfall, Great Cleave, Mourningdale, Reekwater, Restless Shore, Shattered Mountain, Weaver’s Fen

Uncommon Fish

• Aquatic Snail (Freshwater) – Found in Brightwood, Edengrove, Everfall, First Light, Monarch’s Bluffs, Restless Shore
• Catfish (Freshwater) – Found in Cutlass Keys, Ebonscale Reach, Edengrove, Reekwater, Restless Shore, Shattered Mountain, Windsward
• Clam (Saltwater) – Found in Ebonscale Reach, First Light, Monarch’s Bluff, Mourningdale, Weaver’s Fen
• Cod (Saltwater) – Found in Cutlass Keys, Ebonscale Reach, Mourningdale, Weaver’s Fen, Windsward
• Halibut (Saltwater) – Found in First Light, Reekwater, Restless Shore, Windsward
• Squid (Saltwater) – Found in Cutlass Keys, Reekwater, Restless Shore, Monarch’s Bluffs
• Sturgeon (Freshwater) – Found in Brightwood, First Light, Great Cleave, Monarch’s Bluffs, Mourningdale, Reekwater
• Tadpole (Freshwater) – Found in Cutlass Keys, Ebonscale Reach, Everfall, Great Cleave, Mourningdale, Shattered Mountain, Weaver’s Fen, Windsward

Rare Fish

• Dragon Fish (Freshwater and Saltwater) – Found in Edengrove, Everfall, Shattered Mountain, Weaver’s Fen, Windsward
• Electric Eel (Freshwater) – Found in Brightwood, Everfall, First Light, Restless Shore, Shattered Mountain
• Frogfish (Freshwater and Saltwater) – Found in Brightwood, First Light, Great Cleave, Mourningdale, Reekwater
• Madtom (Freshwater) – Found in Ebonscale Reach, Edengrove, Monarch’s Bluffs, Weaver’s Fen
• Oyster (Saltwater) – Found in First Light, Reekwater, Restless Shore
• Paddlefish (Freshwater) – Found in Cutlass Keys, Ebonscale Reach, Great Cleave, Monarch’s Bluffs, Restless Shore
• Piranha (Freshwater) – Found in Edengrove, Great Cleave, Reekwater, Restless shore, Windsward
• Sculpin (Saltwater) – Found in Ebonscale Reach, Reekwater, Restless shore, Windsward
• Speartooth Shark (Freshwater) – Found in Cutlass Keys, Ebonscale Reach, Mourningdale, Reekwater, Shattered Mountain
• Starfish (Saltwater) – Found in Ebonscale Reach, Monarch’s Bluffs, Restless Shore, Weaver’s Fen
• Stingray (Saltwater) – Found in Cutlass Keys, Ebonscale Reach, Monarch’s Bluffs, Mourningdale
• Swordfish (Saltwater) – Found in Cutlass Keys, Mourningdale, Weaver’s Fen

Legendary Fish

• Abaia Serpe – Found in Windsward
• Albenaja – Found in First Light
• Aquanaja – Found in Mourningdale
• Blue-blooded Barb – Found in Reekwater
• Blue-Winged Serpe – Found in Reekwater
• Daemonaja – Found in Ebonscale Reach
• Egede Serpe – Found in Brightwood
• Glowing Gnufish – Found in Cutlass Keys
• Glowing Guardfish – Found in Restless Shore
• Horned-Tooth Mandje – Found in Edengrove
• Lava Barb – Found in Shattered Mountain
• Mandje Mandje – Found in Everfall
• Ray-Finned Barb – Found in Monarch’s Bluffs
• Varanus Mandje – Found in Weaver’s Fan

Fishing Quest Chain

There is a 15 quest chain for fishing that starts with talking to Michael Shields just west of Windsward. The quests will give you fishing experience and the final quest gives you a Legendary Pole Reward Box which will reward you with one of the four unique Fishing Poles; Ancient Fishing Pole, Angry Earth Fishing Pole, Corrupted Fishing Pole, or Lost Fishing Pole.

Below is the quest in order:

• Fishing With Shields
• Fishing Basics
• Baited
• Hotspot Hunt
• Practice Makes Perfect
• The Giant Ones
• Fish Reagents
• Reel Life
• Weapons of the Sea
• Treasures of the Deep
• Soulwarden Rations
• Azoth-Tinged Fish
• Corruption-Tinged Fish
• Ecological Report
• To Be a Grand Master

Enhancing your Fishing

Buffs and perks are the 2 main ways to enhance your Fishing.

Fishing Perks are unique and can only be applied to Fishing Poles as we can’t craft fishing gear. The rarity of the pole determines how many perks it can have just like any other tool. Fishing Poles are special as well as they are the only Trade Skill Tool that can be legendary. 

Buffs can stack if they come from different sources. For example, I can stack yield increase buff from a Proficiency potion and territory control. If you attempt to stack buffs from the same source it will just refresh your buff timer. 

There is a Fisherman’s armor set that is ideal for players to use while Fishing as it should always come with Fishing Perks. These are obtained from the fishing quest line and from the T5 Supply Chests in the high level Elite zones. 

Each Perk has a related Crafting Mod that can be used in crafting to guarantee the perk in crafting and has been listed within the Perks section in the chance that you may want a crafted Fishing Pole with the given perk. 

New World Fishing World Perks

Brawn

• Freshwater Brawn I 10% Line Strength in freshwater
• Freshwater Brawn II 15% Line Strength in freshwater
• Freshwater Brawn III 20% Line Strength in freshwater
• Saltwater Brawn I 10% Line Strength in saltwater
• Saltwater Brawn II 15% Line Strength in saltwater
• Saltwater Brawn III 20% Line Strength in saltwater

Colossus

• Daytime Colossus I Small boost to chance of catching larger fish during daytime
• Daytime Colossus II Medium boost to chance of catching larger fish during daytime
• Daytime Colossus III Large boost to chance of catching larger fish during daytime
• Freshwater Colossus I Small boost to chance of catching larger fish in freshwater
• Freshwater Colossus II Medium boost to chance of catching larger fish in freshwater
• Freshwater Colossus III Large boost to chance of catching larger fish in freshwater
• Nighttime Colossus I Small boost to chance of catching larger fish during nighttime
• Nighttime Colossus II Medium boost to chance of catching larger fish during nighttime
• Nighttime Colossus III Large boost to chance of catching larger fish during nighttime
• Saltwater Colossus I Small boost to chance of catching larger fish in saltwater
• Saltwater Colossus II Medium boost to chance of catching larger fish in saltwater
• Saltwater Colossus III Large boost to chance of catching larger fish in saltwater

Lucky

• Lucky Day I Small boost to chance of catching better fish during daytime
• Lucky Day II Medium boost to chance of catching better fish during daytime
• Lucky Day III Large boost to chance of catching better fish during daytime
• Lucky Night I Small boost to chance of catching better fish during nighttime
• Lucky Night II Medium boost to chance of catching better fish during nighttime
• Lucky Night III Large boost to chance of catching better fish during nighttime
• Lucky Waters I Small boost to chance of catching bigger fish
• Lucky Waters II Medium boost to chance of catching bigger fish
• Lucky Waters III Large boost to chance of catching bigger fish

Reach

• Moons Reach I 5% Cast Distance during nighttime
• Moons Reach II 15% Cast Distance during nighttime
• Moons Reach III 20% Cast Distance during nighttime
• Suns Reach I 5% Cast Distance during daytime
• Suns Reach II 10% Cast Distance during daytime
• Suns Reach III 15% Cast Distance during daytime

Sturdy

• Sturdy I 10% Durability
• Sturdy II 20% Durability
• Sturdy III 50% Durability

Trophies

• Minor Fishing Gathering Trophy Increase Fishing Luck by 2500 points
• Basic Fishing Gathering Trophy Increase Fishing Luck by 5000 points
• Major Fishing Gathering Trophy Increase Fishing Luck by 9000 points

Focus Bonus

• 50 Points +10% fishing line tension
• 100 Points +10% yield increase when salvaging
• 150 Points -10% decrease in weight of fish
• 200 Points +10% fishing line tension
• 250 Points +10% increase to caught fish size
• 300 Points -10% cooldown reduction for Inn fast travel

Music Buffs

You can check our Music guide for a full breakdown of the music trade skill.

• Decidedly Dexterous: Gathering speed increases by 75% for 30-90min.
• Fortune’s Favor: Gathering yield increases by 3%-10% for 30-90min.
• Luck’s Labor: Gathering luck increases by 2% – 5% for 30-90min.

Fishing Experience Table

A basic breakdown of the Fishing Experience table. Aptitude experience values can be found in this guide.

Level	Exp	Exp (total)	Character Exp
1	50	50	25
2	60	110	28
3	70	180	30
4	80	260	33
5	90	350	35
6	100	450	38
7	110	560	40
8	120	680	43
9	130	810	45
10	140	950	48
11	150	1,100	50
12	160	1,260	53
13	170	1,430	55
14	180	1,610	58
15	190	1,800	60
16	200	2,000	65
17	210	2,210	70
18	220	2,430	75
19	230	2,660	80
20	240	2,900	85
21	250	3,150	90
22	260	3,410	95
23	270	3,680	100
24	280	3,960	105
25	290	4,250	110
26	300	4,550	115
27	510	5,060	120
28	511	5,571	125
29	512	6,083	130
30	513	6,596	135
31	514	7,110	140
32	515	7,625	145
33	516	8,141	150
34	517	8,658	155
35	518	9,176	160
36	519	9,695	165
37	520	10,215	170
38	521	10,736	175
39	522	11,258	180
40	523	11,781	185
41	524	12,305	193
42	525	12,830	200
43	526	13,356	208
44	527	13,883	215
45	528	14,411	223
46	529	14,940	230
47	530	15,470	238
48	531	16,001	245
49	532	16,533	253
50	533	17,066	260
51	534	17,600	270
52	536	18,136	280
53	537	18,673	290
54	539	19,212	300
55	540	19,752	310
56	542	20,294	320
57	543	20,837	330
58	545	21,382	340
59	546	21,928	350
60	548	22,476	360
61	549	23,025	370
62	551	23,576	380
63	552	24,128	390
64	554	24,682	400
65	555	25,237	410
66	557	25,794	420
67	558	26,352	430
68	560	26,912	440
69	561	27,473	450
70	563	28,036	460
71	564	28,600	470
72	566	29,166	480
73	567	29,733	490
74	569	30,302	500
75	570	30,872	510
76	572	31,444	523
77	574	32,018	535
78	576	32,594	548
79	578	33,172	560
80	580	33,752	573
81	582	34,334	585
82	584	34,918	598
83	586	35,504	610
84	588	36,092	623
85	590	36,682	635
86	592	37,274	648
87	594	37,868	660
88	596	38,464	673
89	598	39,062	685
90	600	39,662	698
91	602	40,264	710
92	604	40,868	723
93	606	41,474	735
94	608	42,082	748
95	610	42,692	760
96	612	43,304	773
97	614	43,918	785
98	616	44,534	798
99	618	45,152	810
100	620	45,772	823
101	624	46,396	838
102	627	47,023	853
103	631	47,654	868
104	634	48,288	883
105	638	48,926	898
106	641	49,567	913
107	645	50,212	928
108	648	50,860	943
109	652	51,512	958
110	655	52,167	973
111	659	52,826	988
112	662	53,488	1,003
113	666	54,154	1,018
114	669	54,823	1,033
115	673	55,496	1,048
116	676	56,172	1,063
117	680	56,852	1,078
118	683	57,535	1,093
119	687	58,222	1,108
120	690	58,912	1,123
121	694	59,606	1,138
122	697	60,303	1,153
123	701	61,004	1,168
124	704	61,708	1,183
125	708	62,416	1,198
126	713	63,129	1,215
127	718	63,847	1,233
128	723	64,570	1,250
129	728	65,298	1,268
130	733	66,031	1,285
131	738	66,769	1,303
132	743	67,512	1,320
133	748	68,260	1,338
134	753	69,013	1,355
135	758	69,771	1,373
136	763	70,534	1,390
137	768	71,302	1,408
138	773	72,075	1,425
139	778	72,853	1,443
140	783	73,636	1,460
141	788	74,424	1,478
142	793	75,217	1,495
143	798	76,015	1,513
144	803	76,818	1,530
145	808	77,626	1,548
146	813	78,439	1,565
147	818	79,257	1,583
148	823	80,080	1,600
149	828	80,908	1,618
150	833	81,741	1,635
151	840	82,581	1,653
152	848	83,429	1,670
153	855	84,284	1,688
154	863	85,147	1,705
155	870	86,017	1,723
156	878	86,895	1,740
157	885	87,780	1,758
158	893	88,673	1,775
159	900	89,573	1,793
160	908	90,481	1,810
161	915	91,396	1,830
162	923	92,319	1,850
163	930	93,249	1,870
164	938	94,187	1,890
165	945	95,132	1,910
166	953	96,085	1,930
167	960	97,045	1,950
168	968	98,013	1,970
169	975	98,988	1,990
170	983	99,971	2,010
171	990	100,961	2,030
172	998	101,959	2,050
173	1,005	102,964	2,070
174	1,013	103,977	2,090
175	1,020	104,997	2,110
176	1,033	106,030	2,133
177	1,045	107,075	2,155
178	1,058	108,133	2,178
179	1,070	109,203	2,200
180	1,083	110,286	2,223
181	1,095	111,381	2,245
182	1,108	112,489	2,268
183	1,120	113,609	2,290
184	1,133	114,742	2,313
185	1,145	115,887	2,335
186	1,158	117,045	2,358
187	1,170	118,215	2,380
188	1,183	119,398	2,403
189	1,195	120,593	2,425
190	1,208	121,801	2,448
191	1,220	123,021	2,473
192	1,233	124,254	2,498
193	1,245	125,499	2,523
194	1,258	126,757	2,548
195	1,270	128,027	2,573
196	1,283	129,310	2,598
197	1,295	130,605	2,623
198	1,308	131,913	2,648
199	1,320	133,233	2,673
200	1,333	134,566	2,698

New World Fishing Guide Conclusion

This completes our New World Fishing Guide! For a detailed map of all the hotspot locations, check out our interactive map!