Fishing Skill
| Fishing | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Class | Skills |
| Type | Skill |
| Skill Group | Survival |
| Max Level | 10 |
| Total XP | 32,775 |
| Skill Books | Fishing Skill Books |
| Best Occupation | Fishing Guide (+3) |
The Fishing Skill governs catching fish. It raises the chance of a catch, improves the quality of what comes out of the water and makes fishing gear less likely to break. It belongs to the Survival group.
Fishing keeps a survivor fed when living near water. Fish are filling and rich in calories, so a good angler can stay fed and even put on weight. Large lakes and rivers are the best fishing grounds, and the Ohio River stands out among them. A higher level brings bigger, heavier and fattier catches and fewer pieces of trash. The Fishing Guide starts with the most Fishing skill. The Angler and Former Scout traits each add one level.
How to Level Fishing
Fishing experience comes mainly from landing a catch. Every catch gives some experience, and heavier fish give much more. Training gets faster as the skill rises, because bigger fish turn up more often.
Fishing nets also give a little experience. Setting a net and checking it both count. Harvesting roe from a fish gives experience as well.
A few habits improve the catch rate. Casting at ripples in the water gives the best chance of a bite. Bait is needed to catch fish at all, since an unbaited line only brings up trash. Fishing at dawn and dusk helps. Rain makes fish bite faster, while fog and wind slow them down.
Casting far from the shore matters. A bobber close to the bank halves the chance of medium and large fish and doubles the wait for a bite. Piers count as open water. A bobber very close to the character also slows bites a great deal.
The Exposure Survival show on Life and Living TV gives Fishing experience. The tapes Better Fishing With Jason Master and two Exposure Survival episodes help too. Watching only pays off in the first three levels, unless experience spills over from a level-up.
The Fast Learner trait raises the experience rate to 130 percent. The Slow Learner trait lowers it to 70 percent.
Each catch is a short fight against line tension. A meter above the character shows how tight the line is. Too much tension wears the line and can snap it. Too little lets the fish slip away. Reel in when the line is calm and give slack when the fish pulls hard.
Line tension also hints at the catch. Trash barely pulls at all, while a big fish fights hard. A strong pull is worth extra care, since heavy fish give the most experience.
A pond near the safehouse makes a good practice spot. Short, regular trips build the skill without long journeys. Larger lakes and rivers hold bigger fish once the skill is higher.
Fishing nets catch fish while the angler is elsewhere. They sit in water tiles and need chum as bait. Net recipes come from magazine knowledge, an occupation or a trait. Check nets on regular trips, since each check gives a little experience as well as food.
The XP each Fishing level asks for, with the running total from level 0.
| Level | XP Needed | Total XP |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 75 | 75 |
| 2 | 150 | 225 |
| 3 | 300 | 525 |
| 4 | 750 | 1,275 |
| 5 | 1,500 | 2,775 |
| 6 | 3,000 | 5,775 |
| 7 | 4,500 | 10,275 |
| 8 | 6,000 | 16,275 |
| 9 | 7,500 | 23,775 |
| 10 | 9,000 | 32,775 |
Fishing Level Effects
Each level raises the quality of fish caught. A skilled angler lands larger, heavier fish more often. Those fish are more filling and carry more fat.
Trash catches become rarer as the skill rises. More casts end with real food.
Fishing gear lasts longer at higher levels. Lines and rods are less likely to break during the fight with a fish.
The wait for a bite depends on other things. Temperature, weather, time of day, the hook used and the local fish population all play a part.
A trained angler turns fishing into a steady food supply. Bigger fish mean more meals from each trip. Raw fish spoils like other meat, though. Clean and cook the catch soon, or preserve it, before it goes bad.
The Angler USA magazines teach fishing recipes. Harvesting roe from a catch adds a little more food and experience.
Fishing Skill Books
The Fishing Skill Books come in five volumes. Each volume speeds up experience for two levels. Fishing I: "Dean's Good Fishing Guide" covers the first two levels. Fishing V: "The Authoritative Kentucky Fishing Guide" covers the last two. Reading the books makes the skill quick to train even from zero.
The five volumes, the levels each one speeds up, the XP bonus while those levels are trained, and how long each takes to read. Reading times are game time at the default two minutes a page. Sitting down and wearing Reading Glasses each cut the time by a tenth, the Fast Reader trait cuts it by about a third, and Slow Reader adds a third.
| Volume | Image | Levels | XP Bonus | Pages | Read Time | Spawn ID |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fishing I: "Dean's Good Fishing Guide" | 
|
1 to 2 | x3 | 220 | 7 h 20 min | /additem Base.BookFishing1
|
| Fishing II: "Fly Fishing, with JR Hartley" |
|
3 to 4 | x5 | 260 | 8 h 40 min | /additem Base.BookFishing2
|
| Fishing III: "Fresh and Saltwater Fishing" |
|
5 to 6 | x8 | 300 | 10 h | /additem Base.BookFishing3
|
| Fishing IV: "Latest Rod and Net Techniques" |
|
7 to 8 | x12 | 340 | 11 h 20 min | /additem Base.BookFishing4
|
| Fishing V: "The Authoritative Kentucky Fishing Guide" |
|
9 to 10 | x16 | 380 | 12 h 40 min | /additem Base.BookFishing5
|
Set of Fishing Books bundles all five volumes in one item and unpacks into them.
| Item | Image | Spawn ID |
|---|---|---|
| Set of Fishing Books | 
|
/additem Base.BookFishingSet
|
Fishing Starting Levels
The Fishing Guide begins with three levels of Fishing. That start brings better catches and fewer snapped lines from the first day. The Angler and Former Scout traits each add one level at character creation.
A head start makes fishing a reliable way to eat early in a run.
A character with Angler or Former Scout and a riverside base can live largely off the water. Former Scout also adds First Aid and Foraging, which suit the same outdoor style.
These occupations and traits start a character with levels in Fishing.
| Name | Image | Type | Levels | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fishing Guide | 
|
Occupation | +3 | -2 |
| Angler | 
|
Trait | +1 | -4 |
| Former Scout | 
|
Trait | +1 | -6 |
Fishing Recipes
Every recipe that asks for Fishing or trains it, one tab per level asked.
| Name | Image | Recipe | Crafting Materials | Tools | Skill | Station | Learned | Spawn ID |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fish Roe | 
|
Harvest Roe |
|
Bowl | Fishing: 0 | In Hand | No | /additem Base.FishRoe
|
Notes
- Cast at least eight tiles from shore for the best fish.
- Fish at dawn, at dusk or in the rain for faster bites.
- Always use bait, or only trash will come up.
- A rod with a lost line can be relined with a nail or paperclip and twine or fishing line.
- Keep the fishing spot clear of zombies before casting.
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