You need to have a fishing rod before you can begin fishing in the game. You can get one for free by visiting Zack’s house on Mineral Beach. On your first visit to his house, Zack will give you a fishing rod.

Fishing Rod Upgrades

You can upgrade the fishing rod to catch different fish and other useful items. A better fishing rod allows you to catch more rare kinds of fish. Just like any other tool, you can visit Saibara with an appropriate ore to upgrade the fishing rod.

Fishing Rod Level	Requirements	Effect
Normal Fishing Rod	None	Only catches small fish.
Copper Fishing Rod	1000G + Copper Ore	Catches small and medium fish
Silver Fishing Rod	2000G + Silver Ore	Catches small and medium fish
Gold Fishing Rod	3000G + Gold Ore	Can catch medium and large fish
Mystrile Fishing Rod	5000G + Mystrile Ore	Can catch large fish, recipes, and Power Berry
Cursed Fishing Rod	Found on Floor 29 of the Winter Mine	Can catch large fish, ancient fossils, pirate treasures, and the King Fish
Blessed Fishing Rod	Use the cursed fishing rod 255 times	Can catch large fish, ancient fossils, pirate treasures, and the King Fish
Mythic Fishing Rod	50000G + Mythic Stone	Increases the chances of catching the King Fish as well as pirate treasures and ancient fossils.

Fishing Spots

You can fish on five key areas in the game:

• Goddess Pond / Waterfall
• Upstream
• Downstream
• Lake
• Ocean

Goddess Pond / Waterfall

You can fish on the Goddess’s Pond and on the waterfall itself. It is located south of your farm, near the hot spring.

Upstream

The upstream area is located on Mother’s Hill. Head south of your farm, turn left and follow the path north until you see a bridge.

Downstream

The downstream area is the river that flows through your farm. It also runs through the southern part of the town, near the Poultry Farm and Yodel Farm.

Lake

The lake is located on the base of Mother’s Hill. There is less chance of getting trash here, which makes it the best fishing spot in the game.

Ocean

The ocean is located at Mineral Beach. You can fish along the beach or on the edge of the pier.

Fish Information

Fish come in three different sizes and they sell for different amounts of gold. You can sell small fish for 50G each, medium fish for 120G each, and large fish for 200G each. You cannot sell the King Fish, as your character will release them back into the water after examining it.

All the fish that you catch will have a record in your memo. The type of fish, its maximum size, and how many times you’ve caught it are all recorded. You can check them by pressing the Start button and navigating to the “Fishing” tab.

Fish List

Fish Name	Fishing Rod Level	Fish Size	Season	Location
Bighead	Mystrile	Large	All seasons	Downstream
Bitterling	Normal	Small	All seasons	Downstream
Black Bass	Gold	Medium, Large	All seasons	All except the ocean
Blowfish	Gold	Medium, Large	Winter	Ocean
Bluegill	Normal	Small, Medium	All seasons	All except the ocean
Bonito	Mystrile	Large	Summer, Fall	Ocean
Brown Hakeling	Normal	Small, Medium	All seasons except fall	Downstream
Cherry Salmon	Normal	Small, Medium	Summer, Fall	Lake, Upstream
Cod	Gold	Medium, Large	Winter	Ocean
Crucian Carp	Gold	Medium, Large	All seasons	Lake, Pond
Dorado	Mystrile	Large	All seasons except winter	Ocean
Eel	Mystrile	Large	All seasons except spring	Downstream
Fat Minnow	Normal	Small	Winter	Upstream
Filefish	Copper	Small, Medium	Winter	Ocean
Flounder	Mystrile	Large	All seasons	Ocean
Fluke	Gold	Medium, Large	Fall, Winter	Ocean
Golden Carp	Normal	Small	All seasons	Downstream, Pond
Greenling	Silver	Small, Medium	Spring	Ocean
Herring	Normal	Small, Medium	All seasons except fall	Ocean
Kelp Bass	Gold	Large	Fall, Winter	Ocean
L. Salmon	Copper	Small, Medium	All seasons except summer	Upstream
Lake Smelt	Normal	Small, Large	Winter	Downstream, Pond
Lionfish	Copper	Small, Medium	All seasons	Ocean
Mackerel	Gold	Medium, Large	Fall, Winter	Ocean
Mountain Trout	Gold	All sizes	All seasons except winter	Upstream
Needlefish	Silver	Small, Medium	Spring	Ocean
Ocean Sunfish	Mystrile	Large	All seasons except winter	Ocean
Pigfish	Silver	Small, Medium	All seasons except fall	Ocean
Rainbow Trout	Mystrile	Large	All seasons	Lake, Upstream
Red Snapper	Mystrile	Large	All seasons	Ocean
Roach	Normal	Small	Spring, Fall	Downstream
Rock Trout	Silver	Small, Medium	Spring, Winter	Ocean
Rockfish	Copper	Small, Medium	Spring, Fall	Ocean
Salmon	Gold	Medium, Large	Summer, Fall	Downstream
Sandfish	Normal	Small	Winter	Ocean
Sardine	Normal	Small, Medium	All seasons	Ocean
Saury Pike	Silver	Small, Medium	Fall	Ocean
Scad	Silver	Small, Medium	All seasons	Ocean
Silver Carp	Copper	Small, Medium	All seasons	Downstream, Pond
Snakehead	Mystrile	Medium, Large	Summer, Fall	Downstream, Pond
Sp. Mackerel	Mystrile	Large	Spring, Winter	Ocean
Tuna	Mystrile	Large	All seasons	Ocean
Whitefish	Copper	Small, Medium	All seasons	Downstream, Pond
Yellowtail	Mystrile	Large	Summer, Winter	Ocean

For the King Fish, check the detailed guide on how to find them here: How to Catch the King Fish in Harvest Moon: Friends of Mineral Town

Items

Aside from fish, you can also catch some items while fishing. You can throw these items into your shipping bin and sell them for gold. You can also get trash, which you should throw in the garbage bin located in Rose Square.

You can find all of the following items by fishing in the ocean:

Item	Required Rod Level	Season	Sell Price
Ancient Fossil	Cursed Fishing Rod or better	Fall	5,000G
Recipe for Ketchup	Mystrile or better	Spring	N/A
Pirate Treasure	Cursed Fishing Rod or better	Summer	10,000G
Power Berry	Mystrile or better	Winter	N/A

Note: You can only catch one Power Berry.