Overview
The Fishing Rod is a tool in Crimson Desert used for catching fish from rivers, lakes, and other bodies of water. Crafted from sturdy wood and simple materials, it is lightweight yet durable. Fish caught with the rod are used in Cooking recipes, making it one of the more useful early-game tools. Unlike most other tools, the Fishing Rod has an Attack value of 0, so it is completely ineffective as a weapon.
Stats
Stat | Value |
|---|---|
Attack | 0 |
Mastery Bonus | None |
Yes | |
Sell Price | Unknown |
How to Obtain
The guide documents Alden in Hernand selling a rod for 15 Copper. The item record also names Hailard and many regional fishing/general merchants, including Wynstan at camp; first-stock gates are not established by those names. Reward references include Annabella's Request, Meal of Might and Gentle Sound of Flowing River. The older observe-NPC or display-object grants and the exact Rodbel bandit-clear requirement below remain separate unverified acquisition reports. The short rod record supplies no refinement curve, so the older Smithy/reeling-efficiency claim is not newly verified from it.
There are several ways to get a Fishing Rod early in the game:
Observation: Early in the story, you can observe NPCs fishing near the starting area. Watch them until the observation progress bar completes, which unlocks fishing knowledge and grants a basic rod.
Vendor purchase: Buy a rod from Alden at the Hernand Provisioner for 15 copper coins, or from Hailard at the Rodbel Fishing Dock for 15 copper coins. The dock becomes available after clearing a nearby bandit camp.
Provisioner display: Visit the Hernand Provisioner shop and observe a fishing rod on display to trigger the learning sequence.
How to Fish
To fish, the guide accepts a natural body of water at least knee-high; choose an unobstructed spot. Equip the rod through inventory or the Equipment Wheel quick menu using the current control preset. The captured guide lists left D-pad on controller and T on PC, rather than the older F3 instruction. Hold Aim and release to cast; when a fish bites, use Hook, pull opposite its movement and reel when splashing stops. The guide describes clockwise right-stick rotation on controller and warns that obstacles and premature reeling can snap the line.
Be careful not to pull during a thrash, as this will snap the line. Upgraded rods offer better reeling efficiency. Players can also catch fish bare-handed by wading into rivers and interacting with visible fish directly, though this bypasses the fishing minigame entirely.
Refinement
The Fishing Rod can be refined at a Smithy to improve its effectiveness. Higher refinement levels make reeling in fish easier and reduce the chance of the line snapping during the minigame.