Stardew Valley: Worst Fish, Ranked

When Farmers get bored with battling through the Mines, chucking various items at villagers in the name of romance, or foraging through Stardew Valley‘s vast variety of landscapes, there are always the surrounding waters to keep them busy. New players should beware though, as mastering Fishing isn’t as simple as casting a line and crossing their fingers.

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Serving as its own mini-game complete with a catch bar, escalating difficulty levels, and the ability to reel in a frustrating amount of Trash, Fishing is either loved or hated by veteran Stardew players. For those who wish to avoid wasting their daily hours with chum-worthy catches, here are some of the worst Fish that Farmers can pull from the game’s rivers, ponds, and oceans.

7 Stonefish

A Rocky Start

Found at Level 20 in the Mines, the Stonefish is appropriately rock-like in appearance and a slippery character to catch. In fact, it’s likely that only the most completionist of Stardew players have ever caught one except by accident… or after checking the meticulously maintained fan wiki.

While inedible and not used for any Bundles or Quests, the Stonefish does at least fetch a good base selling price of 300g. This jumps to a whopping maximum 900g with the right quality and professions involved, but the variable results of keeping it in a Fish Pond (basic Geodes and Stones, very rarely a Diamond) make this one better left in its natural habitat.

6 Pike

A Spike In Profit

Commonly located in the Southern waters of Stardew Valley, the Pike is another Fish that shows up in all weathers and at all times of the day during the Summer and Winter months. While it’s an unsuccessful Gift (Neutral at best, like almost all other Fish), it does turn a small profit at a 100g base selling price.

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Unlike most of the other mediocre or just plain terrible Fish, it also produces something besides basic Roe when cultivated in a Fish Pond. 20x Bug Meat may not be the most useful product for later-game players, but its potential to be crafted into different kinds of Bait and attract better catches gives Pike a small, but significant, edge.

5 Perch

Mediocre, Medium, Middle Of The Road

Available across many locations throughout the Valley, Perch is a middle-of-the-road Fish in many respects. It has a mid-level catching difficulty, a low base selling price, and nets the player a small amount of Fishing XP points per catch.

Despite also giving out no extra items (besides the standard Roe) when placed in a full Fish Pond, Perch is included in several small Quests posted on both the Help Wanted and Special Orders boards in town. These net the Farmer a little extra gold per catch, and they can still sell the Perch for profit.

4 Halibut

Tricky Tide Timing

Halibut is a common Ocean-dwelling fish that appears during a whopping three months of the Stardew Valley year. Despite its frequent appearance, it shows up during finicky hours (either very early in the morning or very late at night), which may lead completionist players to dedicate entire days to fishing until they catch one.

This, added to its relatively high catch difficulty (50pts) and lack of use in Quests or Bundles, make it a pretty disappointing result for rod-casting Farmers. Its involvement in the Aquatic Overpopulation Quest (which nets players the recipe for the Farm Computer) saves it from appearing any lower in the ranking.

3 Smallmouth Bass

Drop The Bass

Appearing in two locations during Spring and Fall, the Smallmouth Bass makes up for what it lacks in usefulness with enthusiasm (of breeding). It’s a very commonly caught Fish and likely one of the first a new player will encounter. Its low 50g selling price will seem impressive during the first few weeks in-game, at least.

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Sadly, that’s where the Bass’s usefulness ends. It isn’t used in any Bundles or Quests and produces nothing but basic Roe when put into a Fish Pond. It can be made into edible items like Sashimi, but that’s about all it’s good for.

2 Herring

A Minor Improvement

With its vibrant purple color and tiny size standing out from the crowd, Herring only misses out on the bottom slot because it’s marginally easier to catch than the similar Ocean Fish Anchovy. If anything, its unusual coloring suggests it should be more interesting than it is.

Instead, the Spring and Winter swimmer appears as the cold-water version of its similarly useless cousin. It’s far more profitable to process Herring into Sashimi before selling for gold, as anything below Iridium level (and then only with Angler Profession enabled) sells for less than Sashimi’s 75g.

1 Anchovy

Small Profits, Tiny Benefits

Scraping the bottom of the barrel, or in this case, the fishing net is the tiny Anchovy. Found in the Ocean during Spring and Fall, the little Fish is found close to land and nets Farmers a measly 30g selling price… which only rises to 90g at an absolute maximum.

One reason for Anchovy to take the worst place on the Fish list is due to its disappointing results when put into a Fish Pond: it puts out Roe (like all Fish) and nothing else, regardless of how full the Pond is. Added to its ubiquity and low selling price, this tiddler is definitely one to toss back from whence it came.

Stardew Valley

Released

February 26, 2016

Developer(s)

ConcernedApe

Genre(s)

RPG , Simulation