Fishing in video games is one of the most popular minigames to ever exist. It is a staple in popular games like Pokemon, Stardew Valley, Red Dead Redemption 2 and even the Legend of Zelda games. New World: Aeternum, much like other MMOs, also includes fishing as a mechanic to obtain various rewards including treasure chests if you get lucky. Fish can be used as an ingredient in preparing some of the best food buffs in the game, which is why you definitely do not want to sleep on this mechanic.
In this New World Aeternum Fishing guide, we will be looking at the ways to obtain the best fishing rods, bait and catch the highest rarity fish.
How To Catch Fish In New World Aeternum
To catch fish in New World Aeternum, you need to obtain a fishing rod and bait. You also need to find a suitable location with either freshwater or saltwater. The quality of the rod affects the rarity and ease with which you can catch higher quality fish.
How To Craft Fishing Rods
- For beginners, the key component needed to make a tier 1 basic wooden fishing pole (1*Greenwood, 1*Fiber) are fibers. These can be obtained by harvesting the Hemp plant, which looks like a shrub with pink flowers. The rod can then be crafted on a campfire or crafting station.
- There are 5 tiers of craftable fishing rods, that require varying levels of engineering skill as well as rare materials. The tier 5 ironwood fishing rod (15*tier 5 timber, 3*leather, 2*cloth) requires a 150 level in engineering skill, and has the highest cast distance, fish rarity amongst the fishing rods that you can craft.
Alternatively, if you don’t want to get your hands dirty, you can purchase them from the trading post.
Where To Find Fishing Bait In New World: Aeternum
Fishing bait can be found by harvesting the numerous resource nodes across the map in New World Aeternum. Using bait is optional and not necessary to capture fish. However, it is much more efficient and resourceful to always use bait, as it increases the rarity and reduces the time taken to catch the attention of the fishes available.
There are different types of baits, that work well in their respective type of water body. Using bait efficiently can result in higher rarity yield. Here we list every type of bait in New World Aeternum, and how you can acquire them.
| Bait | Source | Best Location to Use |
| Firefly Bait | Bulrush – shallow waters | Freshwater |
| Bread Bait | Provision Containers | Freshwater |
| Meat Bait | Cooking | Freshwater |
| Woodlouse Bait | Bushes | Freshwater |
| Glowworm Bait | Flint – nighttime | Saltwater |
| Nightcrawler Bait | Flint – daytime | Saltwater |
| Cheese Bait | Provision Containers | Saltwater |
Guide To Fishing In New World Aeternum
Fishing in New World Aeternum is quite realistic in that it is a peaceful side activity that requires a bit of patience, and skill. The best spots to catch fish are hotspots, which are certain areas in water bodies, that contain visible turbulence and fish jumping around.
Once you find a spot, the steps to reel in a fish are as follows:
- Pressing F3 on keyboard or holding up on the D-pad and selecting fishing is how you enter fishing mode. You can then select a suitable bait and equip it if required.
- Casting your line can be tricky at first, as you need to get the timing right. The longer the casting meter, the longer your cast with go. If you cast the rod too close to land in shallow waters, you will not be able to fish there.
- It can take a while for fish to latch on to your fishing rod, which is why New World Aeternum shows a warning before a fish is about to get baited.
- Immediately after the warning, there is a short window to hook the fish. Waiting for too long can result in failure, hence it is important to pay attention after the warning.
- Finally, with the fish in our grasp, there is only one step remaining. We need to reel the fish in, while making sure that our line does not snap. This can be seen with a tension bar, which turns orange every time the tension rises beyond a threshold. You need to stop reeling when the tension reaches orange and continue when it reaches green again.
Repeat these steps a few times and you can master fishing in New World Aeternum in no time.
If you are interested to know the best ways to level up quickly and unlock the best fishing rods, then check out our Levelling Guide for New World Aeternum.