Fishing

This page of the IGN Wiki Guide & Walkthrough for The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim includes details on how to fish, the types of fish that are available, and what you’ll need to get started fishing.

Do I Need The Skyrim Anniversary Edition To Fish?

No! You do not need the Anniversary Edition Upgrade / DLC to enjoy the new Fishing mechanic. It is also included in Skyrim Special Edition, and can even be enjoyed by downloading a special fishing mod with the standard edition.

How To Start Fishing In Skyrim

There are several ways to begin Fishing in Skyrim. You can unlock it by accepting a quest at a fishery near Riften (more on that later), or you can simply find a fishing spot on your own and begin by looting the supplies.

Once you have a Fishing Rod, equip it and interact with a bucket of Fishing Supplies and you’ll cast your line in the water automatically.

Where To Find A Fishing Rod And Fishing Supplies In Skyrim

To find fishing equipment (very shortly after the beginning of the game), head to the first town you are likely to reach; Riverwood.

NOTE: If you are just starting Skyrim, you’ll only need to complete the Unbound mission, which includes your escape and unlocks the open world Skyrim has to offer.

Just northeast of Riverwood, you’ll find a bucket near the river. Look for a rack with fish hanging from it to find it more easily.

Leaning up against the bucket, you’ll find a Fishing Rod.

This is far from the only place to find a Fishing Rod and Fishing Supplies. Any fishing spot in Skyrim will have what you need to get started, and you can even purchase supplies from select shopkeepers around Skyrim.

How To Fish In Skyrim

There are many points around Skyrim alongside bodies of water, where you’ll notice buckets of fish, marked “Fishing Supplies.”

Whenever you discover these, you’ll be able to fish. Simply equip your Fishing Rod and interact with the Fishing Supplies bucket to cast your line into the water.

After casting your line in, wait a moment and your rod will twitch. If you have Vibration enabled, it will also vibrate in short bursts.

After a few seconds, your rod will twitch and raise up more prominently (and vibrate more strongly).

Once this happens, press the “interact” button (A / Cross by default) to catch the fish. If you do it too early or too late, you’ll miss your chance.

Shortly after you cast your line into the water, you’ll notice several splashes in the water. These represent fish still left at this fishing spot. If you’ve caught a few fish, you may notice that splashes no longer occur after casting your line.

This means you won’t be able to catch fish here for the rest of the day. To fish more at this specific location, you’ll need to Wait for 24 hours to replenish it.

How To Unlock The Skyrim Fishing Quest

Once you log into the game, you’ll notice a new quest in your Quests tab.

This quest, “Angler Acquaintances,” tasks you with the following:

Visiting the Riften Fishery
Talking to Viriya
Talking to Swims-In-Deep-Water

How To Find Viriya

To start, you’ll have to reach the area near Riften, the city to the far southeast. You can reach this location without even entering Riften proper by swimming beneath the docks outside the city, then opening your map and utilizing Fast Travel, which will place you in the docks.

If you already have the ability to Fast Travel to Riften, head through the door on the western side and go down the stairs to enter the Riften Docks and find an important building for fishing; the Riften Fishery.

Circle around the building and you’ll find a woman leaning up against the building. This is Viriya, so speak to her and she’ll give you a document; Bounty: Juvenile Mudcrab.

The “In A Pinch” quest will also be added to your Quest tab.

Open your “Books” menu and read the Bounty: Juvenile Mudcrab, then catch a Juvenile Mudcrab (or stay put if you already have one in your inventory) and speak to her again to complete the quest and obtain the Riften Fishery Key.

NOTE: If you don’t want to rely on chance, you can find Juvenile Mudcrabs crawling around in the open on the shore opposite the Fishing Supplies in Riverwood.

Afterward, she’ll give you a Bounty: Glassfish and direct you to Belethor’s shop in Whiterun for more maps and fishing information.

How To Find Swims-In-Deep-Water

The building Viriya is leaning up against is the Riften Fishery, and if you’ve already completed her quest, “In A Pinch,” you’ll have a key to it already.

Head inside and turn left, and you’ll find Swims-in-Deep-Water. Speak to him and ask if he knows a way to improve your fishing skills and he’ll add a new quest to your Quest tab; Catch Of The Day.”

Open your Book inventory and read the List Of Fair Weather Fish, which will tell you the fish you need to catch to complete the quest.

Goldfish
Pogfish
Glassfish
Carp
Optional: Read Fishing Mastery, v1

You can find Fishing Mastery in the back office, which hints at where the fishing spots in the Rift are, or you can head to the Pawned Prawn in Riften and purchase a fishing map of the area.

To catch all the freshwater fish that Swims-in-Deep Water needs, you can start at the Fishing Supplies bucket on the docks just outside the Riften Fishery, and then make your way west alongside the river, hitting fishing spots along the way.

You shouldn’t have much trouble catching these four fish from all these spots, and if the fish stop biting in a particular area, you can also skip forward a day to let the area replenish itself.

After returning to Swims-In-Deep-Water, he will give you a similar quest for rainy-day fish, and the rhythm will continue. Your best fishing days are ahead of you, so enjoy!

Where Can I Fish?

Following rivers, you can find fish buckets (which appear as “Fishing Supplies”) that enable you to fish, but you can also buy fishing maps, which contain the locations of area fishing sites, from shopkeepers.

For example, the Whiterun storekeeper sells a map for 25 Gold that includes three locations:

Many other shopkeepers sell similar maps, all over Skyrim. These maps will NOT mark your overworld map, so you’ll have to hold on to the maps, take notes, or use our handy interactive map to keep track of where you can fish.