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Fishing is one of the most important activities in Raft. Catching fish is how to stay alive on the ocean, but eventually you’ll want to catch fish for more than just the delicious meals. As you progress through the game, you’ll be able to collect new types of bait. Each bait moves you up to a new “tier” of fish rarity. Only the best fish can be caught with bait. And you’ll want to catch those rare fish to unlock everything the Trading Posts have to offer.
Rare Fish, Bait, and Trading Posts are all interlinked systems — yes, it sounds weird, and that’s only because it is. At Trading Posts, you can trade rare fish to increase your reputation, and the higher your reputation, the better tiers of items you can unlock at the Trading Post. We’ll explain how all this works in the full guide below.
More Raft guides:
10 Items You NEED To Survive | How To Stop Shark Attacks | Unlockable Characters | How To Get Metal Ingots | How To Get Scrap Cubes | How To Get Titanium | How To Get Explosive Powder | Reaching The Radio Tower | Opening The Vasagatan Bridge | Reaching Balboa Island | How To Use Cheats | Best Cooking Pot & Juicer Recipes | How To Catch & Tame Animals
How Fishing Works
At the start of Raft, you’ll immediately have access to the Wooden Fishing Rod recipe. This basic tool lets you throw the hook with [LMB] and then press [RMB] to retrieve. Throw the hook in the water and wait for a bite. Fishing is extremely basic and only requires time.
Your starter Fishing Rod will only catch certain types of low-level fish. Fish can be eaten raw or cooked on a grill. Fishing is the easiest way to collect a steady supply of food items — and bait is only required for catching rare fish.
- Wooden Fishing Rod Requirements: x6 Plank, x8 Rope
- Metal Fishing Rod Requirements: x3 Scrap, x1 Bolt, x8 Rope
How To Get New Bait
There are three types of bait. Bait is purchased from the Trading Post. Trading Posts are small shops that frequently appear on large islands — but only large islands. You can earn Trade Coins by trading materials (selling) — and you can purchase bait. Bait often costs Trash Cubes which are acquired through special methods. Learn how to get Trash Cubes here.
- Simple Fishing Bait: Tier 1 – Costs 1 Trash Cube at any Trading Post.
- Advanced Fishing Bait: Tier 2 – Costs 1 Trash Cube at any Trading Post.
- Expert Fishing Bait: Tier 3 – Costs 1 Trash Cube at any Trading Post.
To raise your Trading Post Reputation and unlock new tiers, you need to trade Rare Fish. Using bait with a Fishing Rod unlocks the ability to catch Rare Fish — catching Rare Fish is entirely random, so you can fish exactly as before. Add Bait with [RMB], throw the hook and pull when you get a bite.
By trading a specific number of Rare Fish to the Trading Post, you’ll unlock the next tier of items. Purchase the next tier of Bait, use it to catch Rare Fish, trade those fish in at the Trading Post and rank up again. Follow this method to unlock all three tiers.
- What Rare Fish Can Each Bait Type Catch?:
- Simple: Glowshrimp, Netnibbler & Sharp Charp
- Advanced: Pufferlisk, Trap Snapper, Foamspitter
- Expert: Lionfish, Pentapus, Lunarfish, Rainbow Lobster, Sharkeater & Pink Pike
At Expert rank, trading Rare Fish will give you x2 Trade Coins instead of reputation.
