Crimson Desert Fishing Guide: Rods, Spots and Legendaries

Fishing in Crimson Desert starts with a rod, either a free one from Annabelle's quest in Hernand or a cheap Basic Fishing Rod from a fishing dock merchant, and the catch itself is a tug of war: pull against the fish while it splashes, reel only when it calms down. There are 56 fish and aquatic creatures to log, including five legendary fish, and since patch 1.08.00 you can stock your catches in a pond at camp. Here is how to get started, where the notable fish are, and what changed in the patches.

We checked this against KeenGamer's fishing guide, PowerPyx's fish location list, Nerdschalk's legendary fish guide and Pearl Abyss's official patch notes from 1.04.00 through 2.04.08 in November 2026.

How to Get Your First Fishing Rod

Fishing is not something you pick from a menu; you need a rod in your equipment first. KeenGamer lists several ways to get one, from free to late game:

• Annabelle's quest (free). She stands north of the Freesword Encampment in Hernand and trades a fishing rod for a fish, specifically a Tench. The quest is unavailable if you already own a rod, so do it first if you want the free one.
• Basic Fishing Rod. Sold by Finley at the Nas River Fishing Dock, at the Rodbel Fishing Dock and in Vellua, and by Alden in the Provisioner's Shop in Hernand.
• Fine Fishing Rod. Sold by some fishing merchants for 10 Silver, and it speeds up how quickly fish bite.
• Pororin Fishing Rod. Unlocked by sending missions to Pororin. KeenGamer calls it the rod that catches legendary fish with the most regularity.
• The Claw. A rod that reels fish in automatically. Sources disagree on how to get it: KeenGamer says you buy it from the merchant Patrigo near the Greymane camp after Chapter 3, while PowerPyx says you earn 100 trust with Patrigio, a hidden vendor who travels the roads between midnight and 4 AM in game, or take it from the "Item Fisher" NPC at Bounty's Nest east of Vellua.

Since patch 1.08.00, tools have their own equipment slot in the quickslot menu below the secondary weapon slot, which makes switching between a weapon and a gathering tool quicker during exploration.

How the Catch Works

The fishing fight follows a simple rhythm once you know it. KeenGamer's steps:

1. Equip the rod through the weapon wheel and walk to a river, lake or coastline.
2. Press L2, LT or the left mouse button to take out the rod, and hold to aim your cast.
3. When a fish bites, hook it.
4. While the fish is splashing, pull the rod away from the direction it is swimming. Do not reel.
5. When the splashing stops, reel in by rotating the right stick or using the mouse wheel.
6. Repeat the splash and reel cycle until the fish lands or the line breaks.

The most common mistake is reeling during the splash phase, which KeenGamer warns will break the line. Patience wins more fish than speed. Patch 1.06.00 also made the fishing guide prompts display while you wait for a bite and fixed spots where fish would not bite at all, so if older advice said certain areas were dead, it may no longer apply.

You do not always need a rod. KeenGamer notes you can wade into deep enough water and grab small fish by hand with the interact button, which mostly turns up Small Gudgeon and Pond Loaches. PC players using an Xbox controller through Steam Input should also know that patch 1.04.00 fixed right-stick rotation actions, including reeling, not working with that setup.

Where to Fish

The water type decides the catch: rivers and lakes hold freshwater fish, oceans hold saltwater fish, and KeenGamer adds that deeper water gives better odds of larger fish. PowerPyx's location list names specific spots for many species:

• Crucian Carp and Giant Pond Loach: the waterfall beside Claggy Chasm, west of Longbranch.
• Salmon, Sockeye Salmon and Paddlefish: the water west of Dewhaven Logging Camp.
• Trout: the lake south of Demeniss.
• Catfish and Electric Eel: the Red River around the Bursada Temple Ruins.
• Opaleye and Crimson Opaleye: the south coast of Demeniss, at the bottom of the waterfall with the Abyss Cresset.
• Sailfish and Striped Marlin: the coast northeast of Marni's Drilling Rig in Delesyia.
• Anglerfish: the southeast coast of the Crimson Desert region.
• Freshwater Eel: the western side of Horseshoe Lake, east of Demeniss.
• Sturgeon: the south coast of Demeniss, south of the Steel Mountains.

The strangest entry on PowerPyx's list is the Blue Whale, which you find by rowing a boat out to the edge of the map, where it knocks you back. It counts toward the aquatic creature log, so completionists cannot skip the trip.

The Opaleye waterfall has an Abyss Cresset right beside it, and activating travel points near your favorite spots turns repeat fishing runs into quick trips. Our Crimson Desert fast travel guide explains how those points unlock. As of the latest patch, 2.04.08 on November 6, 2026, the game also shows a help entry the first time you encounter a school of fish.

The Five Legendary Fish

PowerPyx lists five legendary fish: Golden Tench, Coelacanth, Golden Coelacanth, Golden Carp and Clockwork Fish. KeenGamer gives one location for each, while Nerdschalk reports alternative spots for some, so treat these as starting points rather than fixed pins:

• Golden Tench: the southwest edge of the map per KeenGamer; Nerdschalk also places it left of Silver Mountain below Hernand, roaming a river near a waterfall.
• Coelacanth: between Delesyia and Dewhaven per KeenGamer; Nerdschalk also reports it just south of Delesyia.
• Golden Coelacanth: Deadfire Mountain per KeenGamer; Nerdschalk reports it on the right side of Pailune near the Crimson Desert, in a small river.
• Golden Carp: Pailune per KeenGamer; Nerdschalk narrows it to a small standalone pond north of Hernand.
• Clockwork Fish: Tashkalp per KeenGamer; Nerdschalk describes a sandy patch southeast of Tashkalp where you cast from a large central rock.

Nerdschalk's most useful tip is to fish from the bank or a rock and not enter the water, because doing so can make a legendary fish vanish; fast traveling away and back respawns it. Bring your best rod, since these fights take longer and the fish can escape several times.

What to Do With Your Catch

Regular fish have three main uses. KeenGamer covers cooking, where fish are ingredients and cleaning one in your inventory turns it into a fillet that takes less space, and selling, which patch 1.06.00 made more profitable by increasing the selling prices of fish. Patch 1.08.00 also split griddle and pan-fried dishes into fish, meat and vegetable variants.

The third use arrived with patch 1.08.00: a Pond at Howling Hill and the Pailune camp, built through a pond construction mission. You can release fish into it from your inventory, and keeping several of one species slowly grows their numbers. Overfilling the pond can kill fish, but a legendary fish always survives, and only one legendary can be registered. The same patch improved fish traps so they actually catch fish.

Legendary fish now follow special rules. Older guides suggest selling them, feeding them to cats or donating them to camp, but patch 1.08.00 made legendary fish impossible to sell, use or discard, and restored any you had already lost that way. Patch 1.09.00 then fixed legendary fish being donatable. In practice, they are trophies for your pond and quest items.

Fishing Toward Completion

Fishing feeds a real completion goal. PowerPyx explains that "The Underwater Ecosystem" is a Life challenge that requires all fish knowledge, and the Life challenges as a group lead to the Natural Collector silver trophy. You do not have to catch everything yourself to fill the log:

• Visit each fishing vendor; you automatically learn the fish they sell, which covers a little over half the knowledge.
• Send recruits on expeditions from your Greymane camp after Chapter 4, which occasionally finds fish no vendor sells.
• Talk to NPCs marked with a white dot on the minimap, especially around fishing areas and Dewhaven Logging Camp.

The Knowledge menu groups everything under Creatures, Aquatic Creatures, split by freshwater and saltwater size classes, with the legendary fish listed under Legendary Creatures. For the full set of Life and hunting challenges and the trophies they lead to, see our Crimson Desert trophies breakdown.

The ocean got much bigger with the Charting the Unknown expansion, which added diving, ships and maritime trading in patch 2.04.00. Our Crimson Desert DLC guide explains how to unlock your first ship, and our guide to Crimson Desert legendary mounts covers the land-based legendary creatures you can hunt alongside your fishing trips.

Short on Time for the Rest of the Checklist?

Fishing is one of the more relaxing parts of Pywel, and most players will want to do it themselves. The heavier grinds around it, such as mounts, elements, map unlocks and the platinum trophy, are where outside help tends to come in. The Crimson Desert services hub lists the store's boosting services, items and in-game packages, with platform notes on each listing where it matters, so you can check exactly which consoles or PC a given service supports before you order.

Frequently Asked Questions