Every fish in Stardew Valley is tied to a water body and a set of conditions: season, weather, time of day, and sometimes a fishing level or a special method. To find a fish, look up its row, then check each condition against the spot you plan to fish. The table below covers four fish with clearly documented conditions. For the full per-fish list, use the Stardew Valley Wiki’s Fish page.
The four conditions that decide a catch
- Season: Many fish appear only in certain seasons, and some are listed as available in all seasons.
- Weather: Rain or sun can switch a fish on or off, so a good season alone is not enough.
- Body of water: The beach, the river, the mountain lake and each special area have their own fish pools. Waters that look alike can hold different fish, so a catch in one river does not tell you what the next river holds.
- Time of day: Some fish bite only inside a fixed daily window, which can be a narrow block of hours.
Two more filters apply to some fish: a fishing level requirement, and whether the catch comes from a rod or from a Crab Pot.
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Where to fish: main water areas and special areas
Main water areas
- The beach: the ocean water used for the ocean fish in the table below.
- The river: the water where Catfish appears in rain during spring and fall.
- The mountain lake: the third standard water area, with its own pool.
Special areas
- The Mines
- Secret Woods
- The Desert, home of Sandfish
- The Sewers
- Witch’s Swamp
- Ginger Island
- The Night Market submarine
Ginger Island and the Night Market submarine have their own fish entries, so the mainland seasonal lists do not cover them. Check those entries separately before you travel.
Fish with documented conditions
The four fish below have rows detailed enough to compare side by side. Source names in parentheses show which reference gives each value.
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| Fish | Where | Season | Time | Weather | Method | Level or special condition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Catfish | River locations (Fishing Strategy page) | Spring and fall (Fishing Strategy page) | Not stated | Rain (Fishing Strategy page) | Not stated | Not stated |
| Eel | Ocean (Fishing Strategy page) | Spring and fall (Fishing Strategy page) | 4 p.m. to 2 a.m. next day (Stardew Valley Database) | Rain only (Fishing Strategy page) | Not stated | Not stated |
| Pufferfish | Ocean (Fish page) | Summer (Fishing Strategy page) | Noon to 4 p.m., main ocean window (Fish page) | Sunny day only (Fishing Strategy page) | Not stated | Not stated |
| Sandfish | Desert (Fish page) | All seasons (Fish page) | 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. (Fish page) | Not stated | Not stated | Not stated |
“Not stated” means the value does not appear in the reference rows this guide draws on, so it is left open rather than guessed.
Narrow windows: rain-only, sunny-only and timed fish
Rain-only fish: Catfish and Eel
Both fish depend on rain in spring and fall, so a dry day in those seasons is a wasted session for either one. Catfish is a river fish. Eel is an ocean fish whose window runs into the night, which makes it a late-session target rather than a morning one. The sources give Catfish no time window, so rain and season are the only confirmed conditions for it.
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Sunny-only fish: Pufferfish
Pufferfish works in reverse. In summer it is listed as sunny-day-only, so a rainy summer day does not offer it at any hour. Its main window is short, which means a sunny summer afternoon session should be planned around the clock rather than left open-ended.
Magic Bait: the exception to the normal rules
According to the Fish page, Magic Bait is an exception to ordinary weather, time and season requirements. It does not remove the need to check the fish’s location, its method, or any access rule on its row, so treat it as a single exception rather than a shortcut.
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Rod catches and Crab Pot catches
Not every fish comes from a rod. The Fish reference separates pole fish from Crab Pot fish, and it lists special methods and locations for some species. Keep the two plans apart: a fish’s method on its row decides which gear you bring, and a fish listed for one method is not guaranteed under the other.
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How to check a fish before you go
- Open the Stardew Valley Wiki’s Fish page and find the fish’s row. Note its water body, season, time, weather, method and any special condition.
- Open the Fishing Strategy page and find the same fish under its location, season and time to confirm the season and weather rows.
- Look up the Stardew Valley Database entry for the fish’s hours, weather, fishing level and location count, and compare these with the Wiki rows.
- If the fish belongs to a special area such as the Mines, Secret Woods, the Desert, the Sewers, Witch’s Swamp, Ginger Island or the Night Market submarine, confirm that area’s access requirement before you travel there.
- Check the game version before you plan around a row, because fish conditions can change with updates.
What these references do and do not settle
- The Stardew Valley Wiki is community-maintained. It is the primary reference here, but it is not an independent audit of every platform, and the conditions in this guide were not checked by playing the game for this article.
- The Stardew Valley Database is a structured secondary source. It is used here as a cross-check for hours, weather, fishing level and location count, not as a replacement for the Wiki row.
- Coverage is partial. The table covers four fish with documented conditions. The complete per-fish list is on the Wiki’s Fish page, and this article does not reproduce every row.
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