How To Catch Fish In Monster Hunter Wilds

Fishing is perhaps the most widespread minigame within games. We all seem to love the tranquil act of casting a line and patiently waiting for a fish to bite. Maybe it’s for display, or you’re selling it off to market. Or in the case of Monster Hunter Wilds, it’s so you can cook dinner and get valuable crafting materials.

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Fishing in Monster Hunter Wilds is a fairly simple affair, though it isn’t without its own quirks. While many smaller fish will be biting your line with minimal effort, it’s knowing where to find them and what bait to use that really makes fishing such a joy. So here is everything you could possibly need to know about fishing.

How To Go Fishing

While there are a series of side quests that open up in the Scarlet Forest to teach you all about fishing, you can do so from the very beginning of the game with your handy Fishing Rod. This is classed as an essential item like your Ghille Mantle and BBQ Grill, so it will always be in your inventory. We would recommend setting it in your Radial Menu for quick access.

The act of fishing itself is simple. Once you take out your rod, you simply cast it into any body of water, and wait for a fish to nibble. Keep in mind that there must actually physically be fish in the water for you to be able to catch them. They are much rarer during intense weather events, such as the Sandtide and Downpour, so wait for the Plenty and Fallow to go fishing outside.

Try to cast your line as close to the fish as possible so that it entices them. You can also give the rod a flick by pulling the left stick towards you, though this will scare some fish rather than attract them. Otherwise, it’s just a waiting game. Once a fish bites the rod (not just nibbles it), just press A/X to catch them. No extra button presses are required.

And that’s all it takes to nab any small fish you want! The process is a bit different for big fish, though we’ll get into that a little further down.

Where To Look For Fish

Any body of water is a viable location to find fish, though you may want to seek out specific areas when looking for specific fish. Time of day as well as the weather has an impact on what fish are present in an area, though this mainly impacts exteriors.

Fish are mainly found in two locations – exterior ponds, or caves. There are very few rivers in the game, so the game doesn’t make a strict distinction between which fish are available in rivers versus ponds and lakes. Interior and exterior fish can be quite different, however.

Certain fish, such as Escunites, can only be found in caves. Bowfins and Arowana can appear in both caves and lakes, though are more common in open bodies of water outside. Valuable fish such as Platinumfish are much more likely to appear in caves. As such, if you are looking for valuable fish that you can sell for money, try fishing in caves. If you are looking for crafting materials, focus on fishing outside instead.

How To Catch Big Fish

Big fish work differently from regular small fish, and you can’t start to even catch them until you unlock the side quest that gives you the appropriate bait. They are also found under more specific conditions, such as the Gastronome Tuna being found in the lake by the Wudwud Hideout in the Scarlet Forest during the Plenty.

Big fish, also called whoppers in-game, can only be attracted with the right bait. For the Gastronome Tuna, this is the Tough Joint bait. Catching them is also a system more reminiscent of other fishing minigames, with you having to follow the direction of the fish to reduce the tension on the line. You can tell you’re pulling in the wrong direction as the controller will start vibrating strongly.

Once the fish stops moving, that’s your chance to start reeling them in. Do this as quickly as possible to reduce the chance of the line breaking, as you can’t check how much tension is on it easily.

Big fish can also jump out of the water. When this happens, you must follow in their direction, and then press RT/R2 when they reach the height to slam them back down. This will immediately tire out the fish and allow you to drag it in.

After you’ve reeled them in, the fish is yours. Big fish all have lots of obtainable materials, so it’s always worth fishing for them when you see them as they are quite rare.

Every Type Of Bait And What Fish It Catches

There are multiple types of bait you can acquire for your fishing rod to help you catch just the right type of fish. If there’s a specific fish and they just won’t bite, then more than likely they don’t like the bait you’re using.

The only way to get more bait is to complete the fishing side quests in the Scarlet Forest Base Camp, though each bait is infinite once you acquire it. Here is each of them, and the type of fish they attract:

Almost every type of fish can be caught with the Common Wood Minnow, the default bait, though your chances are much lower of attracting them. Big fish can only be caught with the appropriate bait, so it’s important to read the descriptions so you can attract the fish you want to catch.

Otherwise, that’s everything there is to know about fishing. Now get out there and angle to your heart’s content.

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