Fishing in Tales of the Shire is more than a means to relax. Without a variety of fish in your pantry, you won’t be able to cook every meal, let alone satisfy your neighboring Hobbits’ cravings. To catch different fish species, you must learn their preferred fishing spot, weather condition, season, and time of day.
Ready to show Old Noakes how it’s done? Here’s how to fish in Tales of the Shire.
How to fish in Tales of the Shire
Can’t go fishing without a fishing rod, can you? To obtain one, follow the “Finding Your Feet” quest until you meet Old Noakes. He’s usually at his house during the day, Old Noakes’ Smial, which is across the stone bridge east of the village square. He will likely be fishing.
After receiving the fishing rod, find a fishing spot. Old Noakes doesn’t want you fishing in his pond, but you can use Old Ruby’s Pond, which is just north of your home. You can recognize a fishing spot by the dark shadows moving beneath the water surface.
Make sure you’ve equipped the fishing rod by opening the tool wheel (press “T” on keyboard or Up on the D-pad on console) and selecting the rod. Now, hold the cast button to throw out the line (“E” button or RT). Try to throw it as close to the fish as possible. When a fish bites, which is usually within seconds, press the reel button (Space, A on Xbox, or X on PlayStation) to reel them in.
The fish won’t let you catch them without a fight. As the fish struggles to swim away, you must use your movement button to drag them in the opposite direction. For example, if the fish tries to escape towards the north/upwards, you can press the movement button south/downwards to reel them in.
Be sure to keep an eye on the white circle; as you apply pressure on the line, it will turn orange and eventually red. If it stays red for too long, the line will snap and the fish will escape. Try to relax the line whenever it turns red by releasing the movement buttons. You only need to wait a moment before reapplying the pressure.
How to catch all fish species in Tales of the Shire
There are many different species of fish in The Shire. If you go to the main menu, open the encyclopedia, and click on the Fish tab, you can see which fish you’ve already caught and which fish species are yet to be discovered.
To learn how and when to catch a certain species of fish, you must consider the season, weather, location, and time. Here’s how that works:
- Season: The fish may only appear in a specific season (summer, autumn, winter, or spring) or several seasons. As seasons in The Shire last for 14 days, this means you may not be able to catch certain types of fish for quite some time.
- Weather conditions: Every species has a preferred weather type, which is dry, rainy, or snowy. Most fish appear during dry weather, which is a good thing, since that is the most common weather condition. Snowy days only seem to appear in winter. Despite the preference, the fish may also appear in different conditions, but less frequently.
- Location: This will tell you where in The Shire you will most likely (but not necessarily exclusively) find this fish, such as Old Ruby’s Pond or the Old Stone Bridge Pool. Scroll further down for an overview of fishing spots.
- Time of day: Fish won’t hang around all day. You’re more likely to catch them at the right time: dawn, morning, afternoon, evening, or night. Take a look at the time-tracker in the lower left corner of the screen to see which part of the day it is.
Remember, not all conditions need to be met to catch the fish — a fish with a “rainy” preference may still be caught in dry weather, for example, but it’s less likely.
If you haven’t found a fish species yet, you will only see the season and weather conditions required to catch it when you hover over the icon, but if you have already caught the fish, you will also see its location and the time of day it appears. So, if you’d like to cook a dish that requires a specific type of fish, be sure to check the encyclopedia so you’ll know when and where to catch it.
One more thing to keep in mind; some fish species require a better fishing rod. The deliciousness rating of the fish you catch will also improve if you equip a better rod. To upgrade the fishing rod, unlock the Fishing Club during the Bywater Village Campaign Tale (main quest) and improve your fishing level. Every fish you catch contributes to this level, but completing fishing missions from the Village Square notice board results in extra experience.
Tales of the Shire fishing spots
Once you’ve visited a fishing location in Tales of the Shire, it will be marked on your map. The trouble, of course, is to discover such spots. These fishing spots should be available from the start of the game:
- Old Ruby’s Pond. It’s just north of your Hobbit-hole.
- Old Stone Bridge Pool. It’s on the south side of the Old Stone Bridge, east of the Village Square.
- Tree Root Pool. It’s hidden away in the forest, in the southeastern corner of the map.
- Cotton Farm Pond. It’s just southeast of the Cotton Farm.
Note that this is not a conclusive list. Increase your friendship level with the following Hobbits (and Dwarf) to gain access to their fishing spots:
- Nefi’s fishing pond. Reach friendship level 3 with Nefi to unlock the fishing spot next to her home.
- Orlo Proudfoot’s fishing pond. Reach friendship level 6 with Orlo to unlock this pond.
- Old Noakes’ fishing pond. Only a true fisherman is allowed near Old Noakes’ pond. Reach friendship level 10 to unlock it.
If there’s no more fish left in the pond, just wait for the next part of the day. If you emptied a pond in the morning, it’ll be full of fish again in the afternoon.