New World fishing guide tips: How to fish, poles & where to get bait

Ava Thompson-Powell
New World Fishing Guide

New World has an ample amount of interesting mechanics for players to dive into, and fishing is no exception. From rod types to the different fish to catch, it’s not all cut and dry. 

New World has something for every type of player to find enjoyment from, whether through crafting, becoming a powerful Great Axe wielder, or a spellbinding AoE Mage.

Fishing is just one of these, taking place out in the wild of the gorgeous island of Aeternum, and is similar to the other crafting professions available.

With different baits and rod tiers to increase the likelihood of catching better fish in the game, there are lots of moving parts to be aware of.


Contents


A player fishing in New World
You’ll have to complete a minigame to get your catch of the day.

How to fish in New World

In order to fish in New World, simply follow these steps:

  1. Find a lake or other body of water.
  2. Once there, press F3 to take out your fishing pole.
  3. If you want to use bait, press R to equip it.
  4. Hold down the left mouse button to indicate how far to throw your line.
  5. Once happy with the distance, release the button, and you’ll cast out into the water.
  6. When an icon of a fish and hook appears, press the left mouse button again to hook it.
  7. If successful, a check mark will appear.
  8. Following this, an indicator will appear with a white circle that slowly fills up.
  9. Keep an eye on this indicator as it changes from green to orange and red.
  10. Let go of the button once it turns red and starts shaking.
  11. Once it returns to green, press the button again.
  12. Complete this process until the indicator fills up.
  13. That’s it – you’ll now have caught your first fish!

While catching the fish itself is easy to do, there’s a lot more to be aware of to fully reap the rewards.

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Crafting a fishing pole in New World

To craft a simple Wooden Fishing Pole, all you need to do is follow these steps:

  • Obtain 1x Fiber. These can be obtained by harvesting them from Hemp plants.
  • Obtain 1x Green Wood. These are readily available by collecting resources from bushes throughout the world.
  • Head to a campfire, and craft a Wooden Fishing Pole.

As well as the standard pole you can craft from the outset, there are an additional 4 tiers available, with each one increasing your cast distance, the likelihood of catching a rarer fish. Higher pole tiers also require a high skill in Enginerring to craft successfully.

Fishing pole tiers in New World

Fishing Pole How to craft Bonuses
Tier 1 Wooden Fishing Pole (Level 1) 1x Fiber / 1x Green Wood   12m Max Cast Distance 
Tier 2 Treated Wood Fishing Pole (Level 4) 1x Coarse Leather / 3x Linen / 12x Timber 14 m Max Cast Distance
Tier 3  Aged Wood Fishing Pole (Level 18) 3x Coarse Leather / 2x Linen / 13x Lumber 16 m Max Cast Distance
Tier 4  Wyrdwood Fishing Pole (Level 40 3x Coarse Leather / 2x Linen / 14x Wyrdwood Planks 18 m Max Cast Distance
Tier 5 Ironwood Fishing Pole (Level 60) 3x Coarse Leather / 2x Linen / 15x Ironwood Planks 20 m Max Cast Distance

As well as these 5 tiers, adventurers can also choose from a variety of other fishing poles once you’ve reached Tier 5. Currently, these include:

Fishing Pole How to get Bonuses
Ancient Fishing Pole Smoothbore Samuel, located in Reekwater. 20 m Cast Distance / 125% chance to catch rarer fish
Angry Earth Fishing Pole Parthenocissus, located in Restless Shore. 20 m Cast Distance / 125% chance to catch rarer fish
Corrupted Fishing Pole Foreman Robertson, located in Great Cleave 20 m Cast Distance / 125% chance to catch rarer fish
Lost Fishing Pole Smoothbore Samuel, located in Reekwater. 20 m Cast Distance / 125% chance to catch rarer fish
Legendary Azoth Fishing Pole Complete the quest “To Be a Grand Master”. 20 m Cast Distance / 250% chance to catch bigger fish in fresh water.
Legendary Strength Fishing Pole Complete the quest “To Be a Grand Master”. 20 m Cast Distance / +15% line strength in fresh water
Legendary Tech Fishing Pole Complete the quest “To Be a Grand Master”. 20 m Cast Distance / +15% line stength in fresh water

The first four poles will drop from Elite enemies throughout the map, but the Legendary poles are reserved for those true fisher folk out there, being reserved for those that complete the fishing questline.

Note: Due to the game’s always-online nature, this could change. If it does, we’ll update you here.

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new world
New World has a whole host of features to keep you busy on the island of Aeternum.

Where to get fishing bait in New World

While bait is completely optional to use when fishing, it will dramatically increase how quickly you get a bite, while also boosting your chances of catching rarer fish.

Players can find bait throughout the New World environment, such as by searching in Briar or Bulrush bushes. These are located around lakes and water beds. Other baits require crafting to obtain. The full list of all available baits are shown below:

Bait How to obtain Bonuses
Bread Bait Kitchen Tier 2 / Provision Containers Small boost to catching better fish in fresh water.
Cheese Bait Kitchen Tier 2 / Provision Containers Small boost to catching better fish in salt water.
Clam Bait Clams Small boost to chances of catching better fish in fresh water.
Electric Eel bait Electric Eels Large boost to catching bigger fish in salt water.
Firefly Bait Bulrush Plants / Briar Plants Large boost to catching better fish in fresh water.
Fish Bait Kitchen Tier 2 / Camp Tier 1 Small boost to catching better fish in salt water.
Glowworm Bait Flint / Nighttime Large boost to catching better fish in salt water.
Meat Bait Kitchen Tier 2 / Camp Tier 1 Small boost to catching better fish in fresh water.
Nightcrawler Bait Flint / Daytime Medium boost to catching better fish in salt water.
Oyster Bait Oysters Large boost to catching bigger fish in fresh water.
Snail Bait Snails Medium boost to catching better fish in salt water.
Woodlouse Bait Bushes Medium boost to catching better fish in fresh water.

New World fishing locations

Aeternum is full of different bodies of water to catch all manner of fish. New World fans have put together an interactive map that shows you all of the best places a budding fisherman should check out:

New World fishing locations
Aeternum is home to a whole host of different fish to catch.

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How to level up fishing ranks in New World

There’s a few steps you can take to speed up the process of leveling up your fishing ranks in New World. First of all, make sure you’re upgrading all of your tools, optimizing gear, and adding buffs.

In addition, you should prioritize casting in deep water as opposed to shallow water. This is because fish bite faster in deep water which significantly reduces the amount of time you spend on this activity.

Finally, this may sound simple, but remember to always use bait! While fish will bite without the use of bait, we’ve found that using it cuts this time in half which will undoubtedly increase efficiency and allow you to level up faster.


So, there you have it – that’s everything you need to know about fishing in New World.

To become the best adventurer that the island of Aeternum has ever seen, check out our guides and tips:

New World faction guide | How to get the Waning Crescent staff | Life Staff mastery tree | Fiber and Linen guide | Great Axe guide | Fishing guide | Where to find sheep | Candied Strawberries | AoE Mage guide | Ice Gauntlet guide | Saltpeter locations | Iron Ore locations