Core Keeper Fishing Guide: All Rods, Baits, & Equipment

After finding or looting a Fishing Rod, you can now fish in Core Keeper. But fishing in Core Keeper is more than simply casting your line in any body of water. So, keep reading as we guide you through this in-game mechanic.

Core Keeper Fishing Basics

The act of fishing in Core Keeper is fairly straightforward. Equip your fishing rod, and hold and release the secondary action button while standing near a body of water with fish. You’ll know where to cast your line when you see fish swimming in the water. If you miss and the line hits any other surface other than the water, your character will recover it. Otherwise, if your line hits the water but fish aren’t biting, you can manually reel it back in by pressing the secondary action button. But if you’re in a spot with fish, wait for the notification audio (it sounds like a “bloop”). Once you hear this auditory signal, press the secondary action button again to reel in the caught fish. At this point, a fishing battle will occur. Tip: Wear earphones or headphones if you have trouble hearing the “bloop” sound with speakers. Continue holding the secondary action button to bring the caught fish as close to your character as possible. However, let go of that button when the fish indicator goes red. Failure to release the button in time will make the line snap, resulting in the fish escaping. Note: You can fish in an area without fish. But you’ll likely pull up an item instead.

Fishing Rods

Core Keeper had four fishing rods since the mechanic’s introduction in version 0.3.0-297a. But future updates brought two additional fishing rods to the game. At the time of writing, these fishing rods are:

• Wood Fishing Rod: +38 to fishing. Craft at a Copper Workbench using 5x Wood, or find it in a Seashell Chest.
• Tin Fishing Rod: +74 to fishing. Craft at a Tin Workbench using 5x Wood and 4x Tin Bar or find it in a Seashell Chest.
• Iron Fishing Rod: +126 to fishing. Craft at an Iron Workbench using 5x Wood, 1x Gold Bar, and 5x Iron Bar, or find it in a Seashell Chest or Wooden Crate.
• Scarlet Fishing Rod: +169 to fishing. Craft at a Scarlet Workbench using 5x Wood and 7x Scarlet Bar, or find it in a Seashell or standard chest.
• Octarine Fishing Rod: +238 to fishing. Craft at an Octarine Workbench using 8x Coral Wood and 9x Octarine Bar.
• Galaxite Fishing Rod: +286 to fishing. Craft at a Galaxite Workbench using 17x Coral Plank and 17x Galaxite Bar.

Fishing Baits

Core Keeper players can either craft baits in large quantities or buy them from the Fishing Merchant. Selecting the latter option requires defeating Azeos The Sky Titan first.

• Spicy Bait: +9% to fish biting faster than normal
• Sweet Bait: +10% to fish biting faster than normal
• Glowing Bait: +10% chance to increase the rarity of the hooked non-fish item
• Sticky Bait: +7% closer for fish to be reeled in
• Purple Bait: +21% chance for a high-rarity fish to bite
• Green Bait: +7% to fish biting faster than normal and +7% chance for a fish to get caught on the hookRed Bait: +8% to fish biting faster than normal and +6% closer for fish to be reeled in

Fishing Equipment

Aside from fishing rods and baits, Core Keeper players can also wear certain pieces of equipment that can provide fishing perks. These items are:

• Sea Foam Ring: +51 to fishing. Buy from the Fishing Merchant or fish it at the Azeos’ Wilderness biome.
• Polished Coral Amulet: +17% to boat speed and +12% chance for a high-rarity fish to bite. Craft from the Jewelry Crafter using a Coral Amulet.
• Lucky Ring: +7% chance to gain an additional ore when mining from walls and +7% chance to increase the rarity of a hooked non-fish item. Buy from the Vending Machine for 1,590 Ancient Coins.

Apart from these items, there’s also a fishing set that provides additional fishing perks. The items to wear are:

• Diving Helm: +30 max health, +17 armor, +40 fishing, and +7% chance for higher rarity fish to bite. Fish it in The Sunken Sea biome.
• Kelp Mantle: +32 max health, +16 armor, and Fish starts +7% closer to being reeled in. Fish at the Mold Dungeon biome.
• Scuba Fins: +12 max health, +7 armor, and +8% chance to get a fish on the hook. Fish at the Dirt biome.
• Neptune Necklace: +53 to fishing. Buy from the Fishing Merchant for 1,890 Ancient Coins or fish it at the Larva Hive biome.
• Goldfish Ring: +13% for fish to bite faster than normal. Fish it at The Forgotten Ruins biome.

Wearing three pieces of this fishing set will add +24% of the wearer’s fishing stat to range damage. Also, wearing five pieces of the set will grant a +29% chance to double the number of fish caught when fishing.

Fishing Locations and Items

Core Keeper players can find fishing locations all across the game’s map. Check out our Core Keeper biomes list for information regarding these fishing spots including which fish can be found where.