To fish in Crimson Desert, equip a Fishing Rod in the slot your bow normally uses, aim at water until the cast marker turns blue, and release to cast. When a fish bites, hook it, steer against its pull until the splashing stops, and only then reel it in by rotating the right stick.
That last step is where most catches go wrong, so below we cover where to buy a rod, every stage of the reeling mini-game, the fixes for fish that will not reel in and lines that keep snapping, and what your catch is actually good for. Mechanics are verified against official patch notes up to version 2.03.02, and details that come from community guides are labeled.
How to Get a Fishing Rod
You do not need to progress far. Community guides agree on two early sellers of the basic Fishing Rod, both in the Hernand region where the game starts:
- Finley at the Hernand Fishing Shop on the Nas River Fishing Dock, southeast of Hernand. Walkthroughs list the rod at 15 copper.
- Alden at the Provisioner’s Shop in Hernand.
Walkthroughs also mention a fishing merchant at the Rodbel Fishing Dock once that area is liberated, and an early Hernand side request that rewards a rod.
The basic rod catches ordinary fish. Community guides describe three upgrades: a Fine Fishing Rod that makes fish bite faster, a Pororin Fishing Rod unlocked through research at Pororin that they recommend for legendary fish, and a rod called The Claw, tied to a wandering merchant named Patrigo who turns up around the Greymane camp. The Claw is reported to replace stick-spinning with a held button.
How to Equip the Rod
The rod shares a slot with your bow, which confuses a lot of new players. Open the equipment wheel (walkthroughs say to hold left on the D-pad on a controller), highlight the bow slot and switch it to the Fishing Rod. From then on, the button you normally use to aim the bow controls the rod.
How the Fishing Mini-Game Works
Community guides agree on the controller inputs, and the official patch notes confirm the right-stick reel:
- Aim. Hold L2 on PS5 or LT on Xbox and point at the water. A blue circle means you can cast there. Red means you cannot fish that spot, so move along the bank. Patch 1.12.02 fixed stretches of ocean that were wrongly marked as No Fishing Zones.
- Cast. Release the button. While the line is out you can nudge the lure toward fish shadows you can see.
- Hook. Wait for the splashing that signals a bite, then press R2 or RT when the prompt appears. Patch 1.06.00 added an on-screen guide while you wait.
- Fight. The fish swims left and right. Push the left stick in the opposite direction to tire it out.
- Reel. When the splashing calms, rotate the right stick to reel. On PC, community guides say the mouse wheel reels. Stop the moment the fish starts thrashing again, fight it, then reel again.
- Land it. Once it reaches Kliff, you choose whether to keep or release it.
Why a Fish Won’t Reel In (and Why the Line Keeps Snapping)
You are reeling while it thrashes. This is the big one. Walkthroughs agree that reeling while the fish is still splashing breaks the line. Watch the water, not the fish’s distance. Calm water is your window, and violent water means stop.
Your controller is not registering the right stick on PC. Patch 1.04.00 fixed a bug where right-stick rotation, which reeling uses, did not work with an Xbox controller while “Enable Steam Input” was on. If your game is up to date and reeling still does nothing, check that Steam Input setting for the game.
The fish is stuck. Pearl Abyss’s Known Issues list, last updated September 21, 2026, includes “fish being caught while fishing in certain areas are unable to move.” If a hooked fish freezes in place, try another spot on the water.
Nothing bites at all. Patch 1.06.00 fixed fish not biting when the hook landed in certain areas. On an older build, update first. On the current one, move somewhere the cast marker shows blue.
Where to Fish
Any water that gives you a blue cast marker is fair game: rivers, lakes and the sea. Community guides note that rivers and lakes hold freshwater species while the ocean holds saltwater ones, and deeper water tends to produce bigger fish. Fishing docks are the easy starting points because they come with a vendor.
You can also skip the rod. Several walkthroughs confirm that small fish can be grabbed by hand when you wade through shallow water, which is handy for early quests. Fish traps are another option: patch 1.08.00 improved them so they actually catch fish, although patch 1.12.00 stopped extra large fish such as the Striped Marlin from turning up in them. Once you have a few docks unlocked, our fast travel guide explains how to hop between them.
What to Do With Your Catch
- Cook it. Fish feed healing meals, and patch 1.08.00 split griddle-cooked and pan-fried dishes into fish, meat and vegetable versions.
- Sell it. Patch 1.06.00 raised the selling price of fish.
- Clean it. The Clean interaction turns a fish into fillets. Community guides warn that most recipes want the whole fish, so only clean what a recipe or quest asks for.
- Stock your pond. Patch 1.08.00 added a pond at the Greymane camp, built through a pond construction mission. Release fish into it, and several of one species will slowly multiply, although fish can die if you exceed its capacity.
- Keep your legendary fish. Since patch 1.08.00, legendary fish cannot be sold, used or discarded. One can live in your pond permanently.
The Charting the Unknown expansion will add diving for underwater treasure when it arrives. For everything else, see every Crimson Desert guide we have published.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do you need bait to fish in Crimson Desert? Community guides agree that normal fishing needs no bait. An early quest asks you to use a beetle while fishing, which makes bait look like a system, but walkthroughs treat it as a one-off quest step.
Why does the fishing line keep snapping? You are almost certainly reeling while the fish is still thrashing. Counter its pull with the left stick until the splashing stops, then reel, and stop again as soon as it fights back.
Can you catch fish without a rod? Yes. Walkthroughs confirm you can grab fish by hand in shallow water, and fish traps catch fish as well. Hand-catching mostly turns up smaller, common species, so keep a rod for anything big.
Can you sell legendary fish? No. Patch 1.08.00 made legendary fish impossible to sell, use or discard, and returned any that players had already sold. Put one in your camp pond instead.