This page explains how to catch fish in Story of Seasons: Trio of Towns.
List of Fish
For a list of all of the fish available in Story of Seasons: Trio of Towns, see the List of Fish.
Get a Fishing Rod
When you go into Westown on Spring 8 of Year 1, there will be an event where you will get a fishing rod.
Basic Fishing
Equip your fishing rod when you are near some water. Press A to throw out your fishing line. After a moment, a fish shadow will appear in the water and approach your bait. The fish might nibble on the bait, but don't press A until the bobber goes underwater. Then press A to start reeling in the fish. You don't need to repeatedly tap A to reel in the fish. Just press A and your character will automatically try to catch the fish.
Catching Better Fish
You can improve the fish that you catch in several ways.
Level Up Fishing By Catching More Fish
Your fishing skill will level up based on how many fish you have caught. The higher your fishing level, the higher the quality of the fish you will catch, and the sooner a fish shadow will appear after casting your line.
Catch a Wider Variety of Fish By Increasing Rod Effectiveness
In Lulukoko, Ludus can improve the effectiveness of your fishing rod if you give him the requested materials and money. Certain fish can only be caught if the rod effectiveness has been upgraded beyond a certain level.
Catch Bigger Fish By Reducing Rod Weight
In Lulukoko, Ludus can reduce the weight of your fishing rod if you give him the requested materials and money. You will be able to catch bigger fish the more you reduce your fishing rod's weight. However, bigger fish are faster, so you will have a shorter amount of time to press the A button if a bigger fish bites the bait.
Catch Fish More Often With Late Night Fishing
After you cast your line and a fish shadow appears, you might have to wait a while for the fish to bite. However, between 0:00 and 5:50, fish shadows will bite the bait sooner than at other times of day. Fish shadows are slow to bite between 11:00 and 23:59 during Spring and Fall, between 10:00 and 23:59 during Summer, and between 12:00 and 23:59 during Winter.
Use Bait to Catch Better Fish
Regular Bait causes fish shadows to bite sooner, and Refined Bait causes them to bite even sooner than regular Bait. King Bait prevents you from catching trash, and increases the size of the fish that you catch. Magic Bait prevents you from catching trash, and adds two stars of quality to the fish that you catch.
Getting Bait
You can buy basic fish bait at various shops in the three towns. Some shops will also have a service to create bait for you from small fish or other ingredients.
Using Bait
Go to Ludus's shop in Lulukoko Village and ask him to attach bait to your fishing rod. The bait will be used the next time you use your fishing rod.
Using a Fish Trap
You can buy a fish trap in Lulukoko and put it into the stone area of Lulukoko beach. When you come back later, there might be fish splashing around. Check on it to take out the fish. The trap has a limited number of uses, but you can buy as many as you want.
Using a Hatchery
You can get a fish hatchery at Ludus's shop and put it on your farm using the work bench. After you catch fish, you can put it into the hatchery to breed more of the same type of fish. You can also get pearl oysters and put them into the hatchery to get pearls.