Fishing Tips and Guide - Project Zomboid Guide - IGN (2024)

Fishing is a great skill to have in Project Zomboid. Being able to fish means that your character will be able to survive in more rural locations, helping you avoid busy malls or residential areas when you're hoping to stock up on food.

Here, we've gathered our top tips for Fishing in Project Zomboid. Use the links below to navigate if there's a specific area of the topic that you need help with, or keep reading for a full Fishing Guide.

• How to Make a Fishing Rod
• How to Find a Fishing Rod
• How to Make a Fishing Net
• How to Fish
• How to Level Up Fishing

Fishing is a lot easier if you pick the Fisherman Occupation, and some Traits can make it either easier or trickier to pick up as well. Keep your character build in mind when you're picking a Game Mode and deciding how you're going to play the game.

How to Make a Fishing Rod

When it comes to making a Fishing Rod in Project Zomboid, you've got two options – the first being a Crafted Spear and the second being a Fishing Rod.

To make a Crafted Spear in Project Zomboid, you'll need to have leveled up your Carpentry skill to at least 2 – we'd recommend being at least level 3, though, as the skill level impacts the quality of the Spear. You'll need these items:

• 1 Tree Branch or 1 Plank. Tree Branches can be found by foraging in wooded areas and Planks can either be crafted by dismantling furniture or barricades, or they can be made by sawing Logs – which can in turn, be found by cutting down trees with an Axe.
• 1 Kitchen Knifeor 1 Machete or 1 Meat Cleaver or 1 Stone Knife. Your best bet for finding a usable knife is to head to a kitchen in a residential area or a restaurant.

Once you've obtained these items, you will be able to assemble the Crafted Spear from your inventory by sharpening the Branch or Plank with your pointy object of choice.Unless you picked the Fisherman Occupation or Angler Trait, you'll need to find the Angler USA Magazine Vol. 1 and read it before trying to craft a Fishing Rod in Project Zomboid. You should be able to find this in a bookshelf, chest of drawers, or storage box. The items to make a Fishing Rod include:

• 1 Hunting Knife or 1 Kitchen Knifeor 1 Machete or 1 Meat Cleaver or 1 Stone Knife. Again, head to a kitchen or restaurant to find one of these knives quickly.
• 1 Fishing Line or 2 Twine. Fishing Line can be found in fishing-adjacent locations like Bait Shops or in storage locations like warehouses. Twine can be found by looting general storage areas like drawers and cupboards in houses, or in locations like warehouses and general stores. Stock up on whichever option you choose – they're both multi-functional.
• 1 Nail or 1 Paperclip. Nails can commonly be found in sheds or garages, and Paperclips can be found in desks, bedside drawers, or storage boxes. Again, pick up a few of whichever item you opt for as they can have many uses.
• 1 Sturdy Stick. You'll need 1 Plank and a Saw to cut it with to get a Sturdy Stick.

Once you've got all of the required items, you'll be able to craft a Fishing Rod directly from your character's inventory.

How to Find a Fishing Rod

If you don't feel like crafting, you can also come across a Fishing Rod in the overworld.

The best place to do this is a Bait Shop – you can find these near bodies of water. Not only will you find Fishing Rods here, but you'll also find Tackles, Fishing Line, Traps, and Bait. Often, there'll be other key supplies like canned drinks and survival tools.

How to Make a Fishing Net

Fishing Nets are incredibly useful to have on hand, as they can help you catch Bait fish which can assist with catching bigger fish.

To make a Fishing Net, you will need to either be a Fisherman, an Angler, or someone who's read Angler USA Magazine Vol. 1 to gain the correct skills. The ingredients for this item are:

• 10 Twine. Twine can be found in warehouses, general storage areas, or places like counters and drawers in residential homes.
• 5 Wire. Wire can be found in locations like storage warehouses, garages, sheds, toolboxes, and factories.

To use a Fishing Net, you can simply place it in a body of water, leave it for an hour, and then select it again once the time is up.

How to Fish

Once you've crafted your Fishing Rod, equip it in your primary slot and equip a Tackle or piece of Bait in your secondary slot.

Then, approach the water and right click. You'll be able to select the Fishing option – or Fishing Net option, if that's what you're focusing on – and begin the process automatically. Your character will continue here unprompted, fishing automatically until your Fishing Rod breaks.

In terms of timing, fishing is quicker if you have a higher Fishing skill level. This can be improved by practicing and reading Fishing skill books. More specifically;

• Using a Fishing Rod with live Bait will take roughly 10 in-game minutes for an attempt. There's a 20% chance of success (getting a fish) with this method, increasing by 1.5% with every skill level gained.
• Using a Fishing Rod with a Tackle will take around 14 in-game minutes for an attempt. Fishing Rods and Tackles have a 10% chance of success, with a 2.5% boost for every level.
• Using a Crafted Spear will take anywhere from 5-10 in-game minutes for an attempt. Crafted Spears have a 10% success rate with a 1.5% skill boost for every level.

For every Fishing skill level, each attempt time is reduced by 5 seconds in-game time. This is why it's worth leveling up Fishing in Project Zomboid.

How to Level Up Fishing

As with any major skill in Project Zomboid, you'll be able to find educational materials about Fishing around the map – particularly on bookshelves and drawers in houses. Reading books and magazines on the topic will help you gain experience quickly.

Combining the Fishing leveling process with the Cooking leveling process is well worth the effort. Both of these skills take arguably the longest time to level in the game, so heading out for long fishing trips and then cooking up your haul at base is the best bet here.

Leveling fishing simply requires you to keep on fishing until the bar goes up. There aren't any shortcuts you can take here, so settle in and pick your moment. Watching your back while leveling fishing is essential, as the noise of the Bait hitting the water can sometimes draw attention.

Fishing at dawn or dusk will give you a much higher success rate, so plan your trips around these timeframes and keep an eye on the clock.