Fishing was added in the Aquarius update (version 5.10, September 2024) and it works better than you probably expect. There are over 200 fish to catch across seven biomes, four rarity tiers, and a depth system that lets you target the size of fish you want. Here’s how to get started and how to actually get good at it.
Getting the Fishing Rig
The Fishing Rig is a Multi-Tool attachment. To get it:
- Go to the Space Anomaly and find Iteration Eos in the research area behind Polo and Nada
- Buy the Fishing Rig blueprint for 1 Nanite
- Craft it with: 3x Carbon Nanotubes + 1x Di-hydrogen Jelly + 60x Chromatic Metal
- Install it in your Multi-Tool inventory
Once installed, select it from your Multi-Tool the same way you’d switch any attachment. You’ll also unlock six bait recipes automatically when you install it for the first time.
An alternative version, the Lost Angler’s Rig, is earned by completing the Aquarius Expedition. Both rigs work the same way mechanically.
How to Cast and Catch
Find a planet with water, stand near the edge (or on top of your Starship), and select the Fishing Rig. Cast your line into the water.
After casting, three translucent fish will appear near your lure. These aren’t decoration. They tell you exactly what you’re going to catch. Watch the line:
- Yellow flash: a fish is interested, keep waiting
- Line turns green: hold your primary attack button to catch
If you reel in too early, you lose the fish and any bait you used. If you hold and keep reeling until it’s done, you get the catch every time.
Fishing from the roof of your Starship is better than using the Exo-Skiff. The Exo-Skiff is a floating platform you can deploy on water and has Cold Storage for your catches, but it’s awkward to position and limits your access to depth. With the Aqua-Jets Multi-Tool upgrade, you can land your ship on water and fish from the top. This gets you access to deeper water and better control over where you’re casting.
Controlling Fish Size With Water Depth
This is the most useful thing to know and the game doesn’t explain it clearly.
- Shallow water (20–30u deep): you will only catch small or medium fish
- Deep water (50u+): you will only catch large or colossal fish
The depth of the water beneath your lure shows in the bottom-left of your HUD once your line is cast. If you want a colossal fish, get to deep water. If you’re hunting a specific small legendary, stay in the shallows.
The three fish that appear when you cast confirm what size you’ll get before you commit. If the wrong size appears, reel in and recast in a different spot.
Bait
Six bait recipes unlock when you install your first Fishing Rig. You can also use cooked food and other edible items as bait. Put them in the Bait Box via the Multi-Tool inventory screen.
| Bait | Recipe | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| Mealworms | 120x Condensed Carbon → 20 | Improves size and rarity of catch |
| Spicy Chum | 80x Mordite + 25x Phosphorous + 90x Di-hydrogen → 20 | Further improves size and rarity |
| Bionic Lure | 2x Amino Chamber + 3x Ionic Battery + 3x Lubricant → 20 | Greatly improves rarity, especially for legendary fish |
| Dangling Orb | 1x Solar Mirror + 1x Metal Plating + 65x Sodium Nitrate → 20 | Attracts diurnal (daytime) fish |
| Shadow Lure | 2x Antimatter + 1x Metal Plating + 40x Cyto-Phosphate → 20 | Attracts nocturnal fish |
| Magpulse Lure | 1x Magnetic Resonator + 1x Metal Plating + 90x Tritium → 20 | Attracts storm fish |
One piece of bait equals one guaranteed catch, as long as you don’t reel in too early. The diurnal, nocturnal, and storm lures are not particularly useful. You’ll naturally catch those fish during the right conditions anyway. Save resources and skip them unless you’re specifically chasing the last one or two condition-specific fish for your catalogue.
Bionic Lure is worth it eventually, but not right away. The crafting cost is steep (Amino Chambers aren’t trivial to source). You’ll catch legendary fish with standard Mealworms and Spicy Chum. Save Bionic Lures for when you only need one or two remaining legendaries from a specific biome.
Fish Biomes and Rarities
There are 8 fish categories in total: 7 biome-specific groups plus a Universal group that appears everywhere.
| Biome | Where to fish |
|---|---|
| Universal | Any planet with water |
| Lush / Humid | Green, lush planets |
| Hot | Scorched or volcanic planets |
| Cold | Frozen or icy planets |
| Toxic | Toxic atmosphere planets |
| Radiation | Radioactive planets |
| Barren | Dry, barren planets |
| Mega-Exotic | Exotic or Mega Exotic planets |
Each biome has 21 fish across four rarities (Common, Uncommon, Rare, Legendary), split across small, medium, large, and colossal sizes. The Universal group fills out the catalogue with fish you can catch without needing to hunt down specific planet types.
Some fish only appear under specific conditions. The Thunderfin, for example, only spawns during storms. The Whispering Bonefish only appears at night. You don’t need to use special bait to find them. Just fish during the right conditions and they’ll show up.
What Fish Are Worth Targeting
Here’s a quick look at fish values from the catalogue, going up the rarity chain:
| Fish | Rarity | Size | Biome | Sell price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stonescale Shark | Common | Colossal | Universal | 5,000 units |
| Giant Ray | Uncommon | Colossal | Universal | 20,000 units |
| Thunderfin | Rare | Colossal | Storm / Universal | 50,000 units |
| Singing Sea-Snail | Legendary | Small | Universal | 50,000 units |
| Golden Jellyfish | Legendary | Medium | Universal | 100,000 units |
| Dragonfish | Legendary | Large | Universal | 150,000 units |
| The Lunker | Legendary | Colossal | Universal | 200,000 units |
| Blind Titancore | Legendary | Colossal | Lush | 200,000 units |
Legendary colossal fish are the top earners at 200,000 units each. For regular selling, rare and legendary universal fish are the most efficient since you can catch them anywhere without hunting a specific biome.
Automated Traps
If you’d rather not fish manually, Automated Traps are a passive alternative. Place them in water and they catch fish over time, up to four at once, based on whatever the local water conditions allow.
Get the blueprint from the Construction Research Station at the Space Anomaly for 1 Salvaged Data, or earn it through the Tales of the Waves expedition milestone. Automated Traps are useful for steady passive income from a water base, though they won’t produce legendary fish as efficiently as manual fishing with Bionic Lures.
What to Do With Your Fish
Fish have four uses:
Cook them. The Nutrient Processor accepts fish as ingredients and produces seafood dishes. Browse the cooking recipes page for the full list. Cooked fish provides better stat bonuses than raw fish and is worth more per unit of time.
Use them as bait. Any fish can go in the Bait Box. Higher-rarity fish attract better catches when used as bait. This is a way to use duplicates productively.
Release them for Nanites. Stand near water, open the fish in your inventory, and release it. You won’t get much per fish, but it’s a decent bonus on top of a fishing session.
Sell them. Rare and legendary fish sell well. A few legendary colossal fish per session adds up quickly, especially from biome-specific planets where the rare locals have good values.
A Few Practical Notes
If fish suddenly stop biting mid-session, try flying to a different star system. A known quirk is that leaving a system can reset fish spawns if something has gone wrong with the local water conditions.
Fishing difficulty can be adjusted in custom difficulty settings. At the easiest setting, fish are automatically reeled in after casting.
The Wonders Catalogue tracks your catch history under the Fishing Records tab, including the largest weight recorded for each species. It’s the game’s built-in checklist if you want to complete a full biome. You can also browse the full fish catalogue and collected flotsam on the site.