Skyrim:Fishing (activity)

thumb|right|Fishing
The act of fishing has many variables that go into determining what you catch. The most important of these are the biome you are fishing in, the time of day, the population of fish at the fishing spot, the rod you are using, and any quests that you may have active.

Fishing can only be performed at designated fishing spots by activating the nearby Fishing Supplies while holding a Fishing Rod. You can purchase fishing maps to locate certain fishing spots.

 

Rarity
Fish can be common, uncommon, or rare, and are also either large or small. Unless using certain fishing rods, there is an equal chance of a fish being large or small. Junk also has common, uncommon, and rare rarities, with some drops differing depending on whether the fishing spot can contain Dwemer items. It is worth noting that "junk" also includes artifacts and valuables such as the Mentor's Ring or Enchanted items.

Time
The time of day is also important for catching fish. During the hours of 6am to 9am and 6pm to 9pm, fishing spots will have more fish in them before running dry. This peak time also reduces the odds of caught fish being of common rarity, and increases the odds of fish being uncommon or rare.

Population
A fishing spot's population is determined each day, and will typically have 5 or 6 fish. If you fish during peak hours, this increases to between 7 and 9 fish. As you empty the fishing spot of its fish, the odds of catching a fish decrease. If there are 4 or more fish left, there is a 90% chance of catching a fish and a 10% chance of catching a junk item. Once the fishing spot drops to 3 fish or fewer, these odds lower to 80% chance of catching a fish and 20% chance of catching junk. When the spot has dried up, there is of course a 0% chance of catching fish, and junk will be fished up every time.

Fishing Rods
The fishing rod used by you has one of the biggest effects on your fishing odds. Alik'ri and Argonian Fishing Rods decrease the chances of a caught fish being common and increases the chance of it being uncommon or rare. All rare fish also can only be caught by using a specific rod. If you are not using that rod when a rare fish is pulled, you will receive the notification "You lost your catch." Alik'ri rods have an 80% chance of the fish being small and are required to catch Angelfish and Lyretail Anthias, while the Argonian rods have an 80% chance of the catch being large and are required to catch Angler and Scorpion Fish. The Dwarven Fishing Rod increases the odds of catching junk over fish, and further decreases the chances of catching a fish when the population of a spot is at 3 or less. The Dwarven Fishing Rod also reduces the odds of caught junk being common to increase the chance of it being uncommon and rare.

Biomes
There are 6 biomes that you can fish in. These are Freezing Waters, Underground, Temperate Lakes (Clear Weather), Temperate Lakes (Raining), Temperate Streams (Clear Weather), and Temperate Streams (Raining). These biomes determine what fish you can catch, and most fish are exclusive to a small number of biomes. This is also the only effect that the weather can have on fishing: determining the biome of temperate water sources. For example, a goldfish can be caught at a lake when the weather is clear, but cannot be caught when it is raining or at any other biome.



 


 


 
 
 

Catch Chances
The following tables include the catch chance of a fish/junk depending on rarity, time of day, and use of fishing rod. See population for the chance between catching a fish or junk.

If the player has a quest to fish an item from the fishing spot they're trying to fish at, there is a 50% chance that they catch their quest item. If they don't catch the quest item, their catch is calculated as normal.




Junk Drops
When you catch a junk item, there is an equal chance of catching each item within its rarity. Rare Artifacts can only be caught once.

Standard
Most fishing locations will draw from these standard junk items.
Common
Tankard
Empty Wine Bottle
Tongs
Bucket
Flagon
Lantern


Helmet, up to Ebony quality
Boots, up to Dragonplate quality
Alto Wine, Wine, or Ale
Silver Goblet
Troll Skull
Ancient Nord weapon
Mace, Sword, or War Axe, up to Daedric quality


Denstagmer's Ring 
Mentor's Ring 
Ring of Kynareth 
Ring of Phynaster 
Ring of the Wind 
Random enchanted ring
Random enchanted one-handed weapon
Random enchanted boots up to Daedric quality
Random enchanted helmet up to Daedric quality

Dwarven
There are five fishing spots that will draw from a special Dwemer junk item pool instead of regular junk items.
 
 
 
 
Common
Dwemer Cog or Dwemer Gear
Dwemer Gyro
Bent Dwemer Scrap Metal
Dwemer Scrap Metal
Dwemer Cup


Large Dwemer Strut
Solid Dwemer Metal
Dwarven weapon
Dwarven Boots
Dwarven Helmet


Denstagmer's Ring 
Mentor's Ring 
Ring of Kynareth 
Ring of Phynaster 
Ring of the Wind 
Random enchanted ring
Enchanted one-handed Dwarven weapon
Enchanted Dwarven Boots
Enchanted Dwarven Helmet


 

Fishing Locations
thumb|Fishing Supplies
There are a total of 69 fishing spots along Skyrim's many bodies of water
23 Freezing Waters, in the frozen north of Skyrim and Solstheim, many along the shore of the Sea of Ghosts
11 Underground, all located in various caves and subterranean areas
11 Lake mainly along Lake Honrich and Lake Ilinalta
24 Stream on many of Skyrim's rivers
The fishing spots, called Fishing Supplies, can be hard to find, especially when they are out in the wilderness and not at obvious locations, like a pier.

Fishing maps can be bought from merchants or found in game, with one map per region being available. They work similar to treasure maps, giving a rough idea of where some of the fishing spots are.
 


Notes
In the data, Freezing Waters fishing types are also referred to as Arctic, and Underground as Caves types.

Bugs
 

See Also