Starsand Island Fishing Guide: Bait, Rods & Fish

Quick Answer

Fishing is the Angler profession: talk to Delphin at the AquaBlue Outpost, equip a rod, and cast onto a green bobber marker aimed at a fish shadow — red means the cast is blocked or the water is too shallow. Once hooked, hold to reel and release if the line turns yellow or red so it does not snap. Bug, Veggie, and Meat bait are chummed into the water, not hooked, to spawn shadows. Fish are gated by season, weather, time of day, and water type: lake, river, ocean, the three boat-only grounds (Celestwave, Luminwave, Coral Sea), and Moonlit Forest waters. A Fishing Net bulk-catches up to purple rarity, but the six King (yellow) fish still need a rod.

On this page

For the six yellow-rarity fish, continue to the King Fish guide.

How to Cast and Reel

Equip a rod and stand at the water. Look for ripples or a fish-shaped shadow — without Workpedia fishing upgrades, a fish can only be caught if a shadow is present.
Cast only when the bobber marker is green. Red means the cast is blocked or the water is too shallow.
Aim at a shadow. The shadow moves to the bobber, tugs, then hooks — hold Use to reel.
Yellow line means the fish is about to break off; red means it is gone. Ease off as the line nears red. Failing to hook in time also lets the fish steal the line.
New species trigger a hold-up and dialogue; repeat catches only show a bag toast.

Controls per IGN: hold Cast (PC left mouse / Xbox RT), aim the bobber, release to throw; after the hook, hold again to reel and let go as the line nears red. The in-game day ends at 2:00 AM, which is why many fish windows run 0:00–2:00.

Rod Progression

Rods follow the Angler profession ranks, crafted at worktables from blueprints sold at the AquaBlue Outpost:

Guide reference table
Rod	Rank	Station	Key materials (wiki.gg)
Wooden Rod	Angler	Worktable I	Softwood (6), Fiber (4)
Chrono Rod	Apprentice	Worktable II	Copper Ingot (3), Softwood Plank (3), Fiber (10), Wooden Rod
Noble Rod	Junior	Worktable II	Bronze (5), Iron Sheet (5), Prism (5), Chrono Rod
Solar Rod	Intermediate	Worktable III	Spring (5), Alloy (6), Magnet (5), Noble Rod
Titanium Rod	Senior	Worktable III	Eternal Alloy (6), Lunar Crystal (5), Chip (5), Solar Rod

IGN notes that some fish cannot be landed on a Wooden Rod and need a higher tier, but there is no verified per-fish rod-tier table — treat rod upgrades as steady profession progression rather than a checklist per species.

Two more tools sit alongside rods: the Fish Trap (Intermediate) catches fish overnight when stocked with Advanced Fish Food from a Chopper III, and the Fishing Net (Senior) throws a circular catch area that shines after chumming — up to purple rarity only, never King fish.

How Bait Works

Bait is chum: you throw it into the water with Use, each throw can spawn a shadow, and holding Use chums continuously. Workpedia fishing skills buff chumming, and the Hooked on Fate skill line eventually removes the shadow requirement entirely — first in rivers, then lakes, then oceans.

Guide reference table
Bait	Chopper I recipe	Shop	Commonly used for
Bug Bait	Flour (2) + Protein Powder	45g at Apprentice stock, 10 per refresh	Glowfish (King), Paddlefish (King), many river/lake fish
Meat Bait	Fish Fillet + Flour	Same	Ocean Kings and boat-ground night fish
Veggie Bait	Flour (2) + Vegetable Juice	Same	Arapaima (King), Paddlefish (King), freshwater fish

Fish Fillet comes from any fish on a Separator; Flour comes from wheat. TechRaptor calls meat chum "Minced Fish Bait" — it is the same Meat Bait the Chopper recipe and other guides use.

Water Types and Boat Grounds

Fish are gated by season, weather, time of day, and water body. Named water types on wiki.gg are Lake, River, Ocean, Celestwave, Luminwave, Coral Sea, and Moonlit Forest. Each body has its own list, and a few species ignore season, weather, or time.

The three boat grounds are reached on the Parrot after Starsand Port is rebuilt and Delphin's 30-grape quest is done. Wiki.gg location pages list fish that can only be caught at each ground:

Guide reference table
Ground	Exclusive fish (wiki.gg location pages)
Celestwave	Flounder; Long-barbelled Dragonfish (King); Mandarinfish; Ribbon Eel
Luminwave	Anglerfish; Megamouth Shark (King); Mola Mola; Tuna; Viperfish
Coral Sea	Bass; Blue Tang; Humphead Wrasse; Sardine; Swordfish (King)

Fish Reference

A curated reference of notable catches — the full catalog runs to over a hundred species, so use Islandpedia > Bio Research > Aquatic Life in game for your completion list. Conditions follow the wiki.gg table (updated near 1.0), and the confidence column flags how each row stands up: Cross-checked rows agree across the wiki and at least one independent guide; Community-reported rows rest on the wiki or player lists alone, or have known cell-level disputes.

Search by nameRaritySeasonWeatherTimeWaterBaitConfidence

38 results

Fish reference
Fish	Rarity	Season	Weather	Time	Water	Bait	Confidence
Paddlefish (King)	King	Spring, Winter	Sunny, Snowy, Rainy	6:00–22:00	River	Bug, Veggie	Cross-checked
Arapaima (King)	King	Summer, Autumn	Sunny, Rainy	12:00–2:00	River	Veggie, Meat	Cross-checked
Swordfish (King)	King	All	Sunny, Snowy, Rainy	6:00–18:00	Coral Sea	Meat	Cross-checked
Long-barbelled Dragonfish (King)	King	All	Sunny, Snowy, Rainy	20:00–2:00	Celestwave	Meat	Cross-checked
Megamouth Shark (King)	King	All	Sunny, Snowy, Rainy	20:00–2:00	Luminwave	Meat	Cross-checked
Glowfish (King)	King	Autumn	Sunny, Rainy	0:00–2:00	Lake (disputed)	Bug	Cross-checked (spot disputed)
Carp	Common	Spring	Sunny	6:00–20:00	River	Bug	Cross-checked
Red Carp	Common	Spring, Summer	Sunny, Rainy	6:00–2:00	River	Any	Cross-checked
Tilapia	Common	Summer	Sunny	10:00–22:00	River	Bug	Community-reported
Snakehead	High value	Summer	Rainy	6:00–18:00	River	Meat	Cross-checked
Payara	High value	Spring, Summer	Sunny, Rainy	6:00–12:00, 18:00–24:00	River	Bug, Meat	Cross-checked
Clown Featherback	High value	Summer, Autumn	Sunny, Rainy	6:00–12:00, 18:00–24:00	River	Bug, Meat	Cross-checked
Electric Eel	Uncommon	Spring, Summer	Sunny, Rainy	6:00–18:00	River	Bug, Veggie	Community-reported
Lungfish	High value	Winter	Snowy	10:00–20:00	River	Veggie	Community-reported
Giant Barb	Common	All	All	6:00–2:00	River	Any	Cross-checked
Bighead Carp	Common	Spring, Summer	Sunny, Rainy	6:00–22:00	Lake	Veggie, Meat	Community-reported
Chinese Perch	Uncommon	Autumn	Sunny	10:00–24:00	Lake	Veggie	Community-reported
Koi	Uncommon	Spring	Sunny	12:00–24:00	Lake	Veggie	Community-reported
Lake Trout	High value	Winter	Snowy	8:00–18:00, 0:00–2:00	Lake	Meat	Community-reported
Alligator Gar	High value	Autumn	Rainy	8:00–20:00	Lake	Bug	Community-reported
Comet Glowfish	Uncommon	Summer	Sunny, Rainy	6:00–2:00	Lake	Veggie	Community-reported
Pearl Glowfish	Common	All	All	6:00–2:00	Lake	Any	Community-reported
Lionfish	High value	Summer	Rainy	10:00–20:00	Ocean	Veggie	Cross-checked
Emperor Angelfish	High value	Summer	Rainy	8:00–22:00	Ocean	Meat	Cross-checked
Trevally	High value	Autumn	Rainy	8:00–16:00	Ocean	Bug	Community-reported
Whitefish	High value	Winter	Sunny	10:00–20:00	Ocean	Veggie	Community-reported
Tuna	Uncommon	Spring–Autumn	Sunny, Rainy	8:00–18:00	Luminwave	Meat	Cross-checked
Mola Mola	Uncommon	All	All	8:00–18:00	Luminwave	Meat	Cross-checked
Anglerfish	Uncommon	All	All	20:00–24:00	Luminwave	Meat	Cross-checked
Viperfish	Uncommon	All	All	20:00–24:00	Luminwave	Meat	Cross-checked
Flounder	Uncommon	Spring–Autumn	Sunny, Rainy	8:00–18:00	Celestwave	Meat	Cross-checked
Mandarinfish	Uncommon	All	All	20:00–24:00	Celestwave	Veggie	Cross-checked
Ribbon Eel	Uncommon	All	All	20:00–2:00	Celestwave	Meat	Cross-checked
Blue Tang	Common	Spring–Autumn	Sunny, Rainy	8:00–18:00	Coral Sea	Veggie	Cross-checked (row disputed)
Humphead Wrasse	Uncommon	All	All	8:00–18:00	Coral Sea	Meat	Cross-checked
Sardine	Common	Spring–Autumn	Sunny, Rainy	8:00–18:00	Coral Sea	Veggie	Cross-checked
Bass	Common	All	All	6:00–8:00, 18:00–20:00	Coral Sea	Meat	Cross-checked
Dolphinfish	Uncommon	All	All	8:00–18:00	Ocean	Meat	Community-reported (spot disputed)

King Fish in Brief

"King" is a yellow rarity tier with six fish, not a single species. Two live in rivers (Arapaima, Paddlefish), three are boat-ground exclusives (Swordfish at Coral Sea, Long-barbelled Dragonfish at Celestwave, Megamouth Shark at Luminwave), and the Glowfish is an autumn late-night catch whose exact water is the game's biggest fishing dispute. Expert Angler asks you to catch two King fish of any species, and the net cannot land any of them. Full conditions, seasons, and the Glowfish conflict are on the King Fish page.

Troubleshooting

The cast marker stays red. You are blocked or the water is too shallow — reposition or pick deeper water.
Nothing ever bites. Without Workpedia's Hooked on Fate upgrades, a shadow must be present. Chum bait to spawn shadows, and match the bait family to your target.
The line keeps snapping. Release the reel as the line nears red; yellow is your last warning.
A fish stole the line. You waited too long to hook after the tug — hold Use as soon as it bites.
No boat-ground fish spawning. Those species are exclusive to Celestwave, Luminwave, or Coral Sea; finish Starsand Port and the 30-grape quest first. For night windows, charter before 18:00.
Your target is not in season or weather. Many windows are narrow; the Islandpedia entry for a discovered species shows its conditions.
King fish will not enter the net. Working as intended — yellow rarity requires a rod.

FAQ

How do I unlock fishing in Starsand Island?

Fishing is tied to the Angler profession: talk to Delphin at the AquaBlue Outpost on the Half-Moon Bay coast — the wiki says he mails you an invitation on Summer 3 of year 1. IGN describes starting with a Wooden Rod and then accepting his Apprentice Angler proposal, while a walkthrough source says Delphin hands you a novice rod. Either way, the outpost is where the profession begins.

How does bait work?

Bait is not attached to the hook. Bug, Veggie, and Meat bait are thrown into the water as chum — each throw can spawn a fish shadow, and holding the use button chums continuously. Buy bait at the AquaBlue Outpost or craft it on a Chopper machine.

How do I reach Celestwave, Luminwave, and Coral Sea?

Rebuild Starsand Port through Marston's quest line and finish Delphin's 30-grape quest, then ride the Parrot boat. The fare is disputed: wiki.gg location pages say 10g, while player reports say 30 gold. Charter before 18:00 if you need a night-time window.

Can the Fishing Net catch King fish?

No. Per wiki.gg, the net catches up to purple rarity, with lower odds at higher tiers. King (yellow rarity) fish still require a rod.

How many fish are in the game?

Over a hundred. The exact count is unsettled: the wiki's main fishing table has about 105 rows, its fish category indexes 104 pages, and IGN simply says over 100. We deliberately do not print a fixed total.

Where exactly is the Glowfish (King)?

That is the game's most disputed fishing spot — wiki.gg says Lake, Eurogamer and TechRaptor say Spore Cascade, and player reports point at the Dreamfall Garden waterfall in the Moonlit Forest. The King Fish guide lays out all three claims.