Fishing

The Fishing skill is good for three things: keeping food on the table, earning money, and relaxing.

Sims with the Angler trait have a head start on other Sims who pick up a rod and reel, but any Sims can take a class to advance the Fishing skill or just plop a bobber in the water and start learning through experience.

Acquire by: Take Fishing Class, Read Fishing Book, Fishing

Development tools: No tools needed

Development Benefits

The Fishing skill begins one of three ways: reading a book, taking a class, or just going out to a body of water and using the Fish interaction.

Once the Fishing skill is underway, the skill increases either by continued reading or continued fishing. Just having a hook under the surface is enough to develop the skill, but this is a slow way to learn.

The skill actually gets a bump when you catch a fish. And the bigger the fish, the bigger the skill bump.

When a fish is hoisted out of the water, the Sim holds it up and the weight of the fish is automatically logged in the Skill Journal. If it’s a new type of fish, that is also noted.

Once the Sim reaches level 3 with the Fishing skill, they can choose the Bait interaction at the water’s edge to use a specific type of bait while fishing. Bait is essential if a Sim hopes to catch more than just the basic fish.

Gaining levels also unlocks the ability to catch certain fish. However, just unlocking a type of fish does not guarantee actually catching it.

Using any bait slightly increases the chance of catching all fish. It also drastically increases the chance of catching the fish that loves that specific bait type.

Higher quality bait tends to catch bigger fish, but only for fish that specifically like that bait. So use Perfect bait to catch the biggest fish.

You can also use bait to catch fish that are somewhat higher level than your Sim’s Fishing skill. Sims can catch fish up to 3 levels higher than their skill by using the right bait, although it will be harder to catch those fish until the Sim is higher skill.

Each fish has one favorite type of bait, and you should use that bait to catch that fish. Here is a table with the bait that each type of fish prefers:

Fish	Skill Level Required	Commonality	Locations Found	Preferred Bait	Minimum weight	Maximum weight	Value at min weight	Value at max weight	Skill Points for Catching
Minnow	0	Common	Lakes, Ocean/Hatchery	Apple	0.1	0.5	5	11	120
Anchovy	0	Common	Ocean/Hatchery	Tomato	0.1	0.5	5	11	120
Goldfish	1	Common	Lakes	Lettuce	0.1	2	6	16	132
Alley Catfish	1	Uncommon	Lakes, Ocean/Hatchery	Cheese	0.1	5	6	20	132
Jellyfish	2	Common	Ocean/Hatchery	Grapes	0.1	10	8	19	140
Rainbow Trout	2	Common	Lakes	Egg	1	10	9	18	140
Red Herring	3	Common	Lakes, Ocean/Hatchery	Hot Dogs	1	10	5	5	160
Tuna	3	Common	Ocean/Hatchery	Onion	2	40	11	25	160
Piranha	4	Uncommon	Lakes	Watermelon	5	15	14	30	185
Tragic Clownfish	4	Uncommon	Lakes, Ocean/Hatchery	Bell Pepper	5	40	13	32	185
Siamese Catfish	5	Common	Lakes, Ocean/Hatchery	Minnow	3	25	14	41	220
Blowfish	5	Uncommon	Ocean/Hatchery	Potato	5	40	13	47	220
Salmon	6	Common	Ocean/Hatchery	Lime	10	50	14	45	255
Black Goldfish	6	Common	Lakes	Goldfish	5	25	16	49	255
Shark	7	Uncommon	Lakes, Ocean/Hatchery	Red Herring	1	150	7	70	295
Swordfish	7	Common	Ocean/Hatchery	Anchovy	20	60	17	60	295
Angelfish	8	Uncommon	Lakes, Ocean/Hatchery	AlleyCatfish	2	60	21	85	340
Vampire Fish	8	Rare	Graveyard	Garlic	25	80	55	225	1,000
Robot Fish	9	Rare	Science Facility	Piranha	250	1,000	50	275	1,000
Lobster	9	Common	Lakes, Ocean/Hatchery	Tuna	5	50	25	120	400
Deathfish	10	Rare	Graveyard	Angelfish	20	80	200	1,000	1,500

Skill Challenges

Amateur Ichthyologist: Amateur Ichthyologists have caught at least one of every fish type. Their deep understanding of marine life helps them catch the bigger fish.

Commercial Fisherman: Commercial Fisherman have caught at least 350 fish. They catch more fish in less time than normal Sims.