The Best Items You Can Fish For In Minecraft

Key Takeaways

• Fish are common in Minecraft fishing, but pufferfish can be particularly useful for potions.
• Bows and saddles are valuable finds while fishing, especially early in the game.
• Fishing can yield items like enchanted fishing rods, name tags, and even coveted Mending books.

Fishing in Minecraft is one of the few activities that can be both relaxing and frustrating but also time-consuming. At one time or another, you have most likely decided to jump into your solo world, or on a server with friends, jumped in a boat and gone fishing.

There are three main categories of catches you can get from fishing: Fish, Treasure, and Junk. Each one has their own catch chance and those odds can be upped by adding enchantments onto your fishing rod such as Luck of the Sea. Here are some of the best items you can get from fishing.

7 Pufferfish

Fish are some of the most common catches you can obtain from fishing in Minecraft. There is an 85% chance that you might catch one of four fishes, but catching a pufferfish might be one of the most useful.

While you can eat the pufferfish, even though they can poison you and give you negative effects, they are used in Water Breathing potions, making them incredibly useful when you’re planning on taking on the Ocean Monument or an underwater project.

6 Bow

When it comes to fishing, bows might not be one of the biggest things on your mind when you’re hoping for some good loot, but if you have just started a brand-new world, getting a bow can be a game changer.

You can get plenty of bows from things like a skeleton grinder, but in scenarios where you might be very early on in a hardcore world and want to stay away from wandering around the caves without proper gear and weapons, there is a chance to get a bow and possibly with a random enchantment on it.

5 Fishing Rod

Fishing Rods require a very simple recipe of three sticks and two strings. String is a relatively easy item to obtain if you go around killing spiders, but it is one of those items that you just never seem to have enough of.

You can get Fishing Rods from fishing as both a Treasure and Junk item. Each one will be damaged, but the difference between them is the Treasure version will give you an enchantment on it which includes enchants you cannot get on an Enchantment Table.

4 Saddle

Finding a Saddle in Minecraft is one of those items that can evade you when you really need one or pop up at random times when you’re not looking for one. There are a few places in the world where you might find a saddle, such as a spawner chest, a desert pyramid, or in a weaponsmith’s chest.

There is also a high chance of finding saddles inside the Nether Fortress, but if you’re not willing to take a chance on exploring, potentially dying, and losing all of your items, then spending some time fishing to get a saddle is the best alternative.

3 Nautilus Shell

The Nautilus Shell is one of those items that can be tough to find or farm, and you might find yourself spending quite a bit of time trying to do either of those. The same could be said for fishing, but if you’re someone who loves fishing, then you might just be in luck.

This item was a big game changer when it was introduced alongside the Heart of the Sea. Combining eight Nautilus Shells and one Heart of the Sea gives you a Conduit, which has many uses, such as underwater night vision, waterbreathing, increased underwater mining speed, and will even attack hostile mobs at a certain range.

2 Name Tag

Name Tags are one of the items you wish you had early in the game when you first venture out and find a plethora of pets to bring home. There are a few places you might be able to find one, with the Mineshaft having the highest chance of spawning one.

You could always spend your time trying to get a Librarian villager that has a Name Tag trade, but that could be pretty costly. So why not try your hand at trying to get one from fishing? It might take a little longer without enchants, but you do have a fair chance of obtaining one or more from fishing.

1 Enchanted Books

Another trade that you can get from villagers is enchanted books, but we all know how tedious of a task it can be to breed, transport, and reroll villager trades until you find the one you want and for a good price. Especially during the early game, you might not want to work with villagers.

This is where fishing comes in. While there is a chance for you to get a book with random and mismatched enchantments on it, there is also a chance for you to obtain the highly coveted Mending enchantment that is crucial to every Minecraft player’s weapons, tools, and armor.