Fishing

Fishing is an important part of game play, being one of the five main type of XP that a player can gain. Eating fish replenishes a dragon's energy and happiness (depending on the fish).

The current max level for Fishing is 30, fishing XP are gained only by catching fish.

Information

How to fish

To initiate the fishing minigame, locate a fishing spot and walk up to the water's edge, and click on the Fishing Rod icon that appears at the bottom of your screen - it's a circle with a picture of a fishing pole and a fish.

Wait...

STRIKE

When you click the icon, a small bait bag will appear on the ground to the left of your character. Click the bait bag and the bait you currently have in stock in your backpack will be displayed. If there's something blocking the backpack's view, it's suggested to move somewhere else around the fishing spot.

Choose your bait (you can't undo this action, even if you exit the minigame) and when you are ready to cast your line, press the spacebar or click the big "cast" button in the center of the reel. Now that your line is in the water, a red "wait!" will be displayed at the top of your screen.

Watch your float for any movement and when it goes under the water, the red "wait!" changes to "STRIKE". Press the spacebar or click the reel button to STRIKE. Be careful not to wait too long to strike, otherwise you will loose your bait and have to start over again.

A new bar comes up at the top of the screen displaying the fish type you have on your line below it. The goal of fishing is to keep the pointer in the green-to-red gradient area of the meter until the fish is reeled to shore. Reeling can be done by holding the space bar or holding the Reel button onscreen and doing so moves the pointer to the right, closer to the red area.

Result screen for failing at fishing the fish

Return screen for succeding at fishing the fish

If the pointer stays in the red area on the right too long, the line will snap, while if the pointer stays in the red area to the left too long, the fish will get away with the bait. While reeling, the fish may struggle, which makes the pointer move to the right faster and heightens the possibility of breaking the line, so don't reel when it struggles. Once the fish is close enough, it will automatically be added to your inventory.

If your rod is an Improved or Advanced rod, a "Drag" button will appear, clicking on it will let the fish drag, moving the pointer to the left, allowing more control over the pointer. The official School of Dragons fishing guide can be found here.

A feature introduced with version 2.12.0, released at the end of May of 2018, you can now watch a short video ad to catch a fish that broke the line.

What's a Fishing Spot?

A Fishing Spot is a lake/shore filled with the respective water type fish, distinguished by the multiple, respective fishes swimming and jumping out of the water and some shores have three pieces of cut fish hanging from a small, wooden structure; by walking close to the shore of said lake/ocean, you can start fishing.

Some spots, however, have different ways to get it, for example the one in the Training Grounds has to be approached by the docks and both the Open Sea and the Aurora Lights fishing spots can only be approached with a Gronckle.

Types of Fish

• Freshwater
• Saltwater
• Underground Lake
• Icestorm Island
• Other way to obtain fish

Bait

• Lug Worm: Lug Worm bait costs 8 per worm. Players can also get five lug worms by putting five spoilt crops into a Composter;
• Minnow: Minnows cost 12 each or can be obtained by fishing at freshwater fishing spots. Minnows are the easiest type of fish to catch;
• Glowworm: Works best for deep sea fishing. Glowworms cost 8 each;
• Chicken Egg: Obtained by farming or bought for 9;

Fishing Rods

There are four different rods to date:

• Basic
• Improved
• Advanced
• Deep Sea
  

Beginner Rod

Improved Rod

Advanced Rod

Deep Sea Rod

As you upgrade your fishing rod, fishing becomes easier. If you purchase an Improved Rod or Advanced Rod, they come with a Drag button which relieves tension from the right side of the meter.

With the exception of the Deep Sea rod, that switches with your current rod whenever you use glowworms, you can't switch back to the former rod, as soon it's brought, it will immediately become your current rod.

The Deep Sea Rod, earned via completion The Wide, Open Sea, also has a Drag button. To use this feature, use the space bar to reel and use the mouse to click the drag button. Be sure to not use the drag button for too long or else your line can snap.

Beginner Rod Render

Improved Rod Render

Advanced Rod Render

Deep Sea Rod Render

Tips and Tricks

• Fish have three states: not struggling, struggling and struggling hard. You can tell which state they are in by watching their movements in the water. Reeling while they are not fighting reduces the chance of breaking your line;
• The fish that jump out of bodies of water show what species are living there. There are certain areas dominated by a species, and other spots where the types of fish are evenly distributed out. It is a helpful indicator if you need catch a specific fish;
• A handy trick to catching fish that struggle a lot is to repeatedly click the mouse or space bar instead of holding it. This makes the fish reel in just as fast, but keeps the rods tension at a steady level;
• Another track to catch fish to both reel in and drag it all at once - keep reeling it and, when it gets too close to the right's red zone, drag it (let go the Reel button/space bar if it gets too close to the left's red zone), doing it so can cause such "tension", it can often make the pointer not move at all while reeling in the fish;

Glitches

• Started at an unknown date, the player can catch any species of fish in any location - this is a glitch that aids the player has it can be used on The Wide, Open Sea quest by simply fish with a glowworm on any location, skipping the dragon paywall;
• If players use a Glowworm in Explore the Sea's Fishing Spot, the Fishing Pole will be on a Gronckle's hand instead of the player's - This has been fixed.

How to train your Gronckle to fish

History

• 7/19/13, version 1.02: When out of bait while fishing, a button for the store now appears;
• 7/25/13, version 1.03: Brown Trout made easier to catch;
• 8/8/13, version 2.0: Fishing percentages in the Wilderness adjusted;
• 9/27/13, version 4.2: Store icon added to the message that appears when you run out of bait. Odds of catching a salmon from the secret fishing spot increased. Perch made the default fish for the fishing tutorial. Bug of not being able to select bait if environment object was in your way fixed. An attempted fix for not being able to reel in fish from the Safari browser was made;

Trivia

• Eels used to give five energy though they always lowered happiness. It's unknown at what date eels were changed to giving no energy to any dragons besides Typhoomerangs, Slithersongs and Death Songs;
• An unused fish named "Cod" can be seen in the Game's assets, including its texture, model and Store icon, it's possible the Cod was going to be another fish for players to fish for until it was scrapped.
  

  
• Unused Fishing Poles and bait can be also seen in the Game's assets, including Home Made Bait, Bread Bait, Maggot Bait and Chicken Meat Bait.
  

  

  

  

Home Made Bait

Bread Bait

Maggot Bait

Chicken Bait

• Icestorm Island is the only place in newer versions that has custom fishing music. The song that plays during the fishing mini-game in Icestorm Island is called "Flight Of The Basilisk" by Maurizio Malagnini.