Betta fish skeleton

This Guide to Fishing will help you Catch Every Fish

The Sims 4's Fishing Skill allows your Sim to catch fish and make loads of fast cash. Completing the Fish Collection is a goal many Simmers would like to achieve, and I aim to help with that by providing fishing spots for the hardest to catch fish. We'll also go over what you can do to make your fishing efforts better, and other useful things you can catch other than the fish themselves. If you already know about the skill and want to see the Fish themselves, Jump to the Fish List, but also read the Best Fishing Spots section below it!

Getting Started in Fishing
Head to one of the signs next to a body of water. This is a fishing spot, and will allow your Sim to start developing the skill. As you level, not a lot unlocks, but know that your chances of catching the most valuable fish increase substantially with each level. Know that to fully complete your Fish Collection, you will need level 10 Handiness as there is a Fish that lies in the hidden area of Forgotten Grotto that can only be accessed with Level 10 Handiness. The other area, Sylvan Glade, also has rare fish but is accessible to all Sims.

Unlocking Angler's Tranquility makes Fishing Therapeutic for Sims

Good Traits & Aspirations for Fishing

• Genius - This will help Sims get Focused, which can be amplified a bit by the Trait below when Sims' Needs are also met. Don't select it just for this unless you will also pursue Mental Skills, as Geniuses get upset if they do not work on those types of Skills for a time. However, Angler's Tranquility from the Angling Ace Aspiration can make the negative Moodlet from this go away!
• Loves Outdoors - This will help your Sim be Happy when Outdoors, and being Happy is believed to help increase Skill gains. It will also work with any other Positive Moodlets and let your Sim fish a little longer before their needs send them home.
• Angling Ace Aspiration - Completing this Aspiration will get you a load of Satisfaction, while also making Negative Moodlets disappear while fishing throug the Angler's Tranquility Reward Trait.

Skill Unlocks
Here are the few things that unlock as you raise your Sim's Fishing Skill Level:

• Level 1 - Catch Fish, Mount them, and put them in Fish Bowls
• Level 2 - Catch Bass, Koi, and Trout
• Level 3 - Fish with Bait
• Level 4 - Can Catch Catfish and Tilapia
• Level 5 - Gains the Examine Water ability on Fishing Spots and catch more rare fish like the skeleton fish, "Captain Fishbones" Bonefish.
• Level 6 - Can Catch Rainbow Fish
• Level 7 - Can "Catch a mysterious Fish that lurks in the depths of each Fishing Spot". I believe this means Anglerfish.

Fish Bowls let your Fish shrink and become Immortal! :P

Putting Fish in Bowls
You may want to keep some of your catches alive. To do this, you must first find a Fish Bowl in Buy Mode > Objects by Room > Study > Indoor Activities. You can also search Fit4Fish. The bowl costs and will magically shrink fish to accommodate them, while also making them immortal. The Freshness of the Fish does not matter: a rotten, dead fish will live on to serve as decoration for your home.

Mounting Fish
To Mount a Fish, click it in your Inventory. Each will create Confident Decor based on the catch, from 2-4 each. Mounting or putting 15 fish in Fish Bowls is part of the Angling Ace Aspiration.

Click to Enlarge. Mounted Fish give off a Confident Aura.

Fishing with Bait
In The Sims 4, Fish do not require specific bait, but rather types of Bait. Fishing with Bait is better than without and seems to give you a better rate of catches, regardless. Certain types of Fish will only reliably appear at a Fishing Spot if your Sim is using bait. Bait types for each Fish that require it are discussed in the Fish List, below.

To get bait, you can harvest wild plants or pursue Gardening yourself. If you plant some for catching Fish, go for something that grows fast like herbs, as you want big stacks so you don't run out. Additionally, you can use your own catches as bait - some Fish want a medium-sized fish, like the Catfish, which itself eats any kind of Plant Bait. A recommend means of bait for one Rare Fish is to Look for Frogs in Ponds (Parks in Oasis Springs and Willow Creek have them). It's not super-reliable and requires you to queue up the action many times, but it's one of the best ways to get up stacks of specific types of frogs for using them as bait. Ideally, you want at least 4-5 in a stack so that you do not immediately run out of bait once you start fishing. The Ponds are a great way to get common Frogs, for the fish do not care about the rarity of the frog.

Frogs are Bait for Wolf Eels, and Ponds are a Great Place to Find Them

Examine Water
When you use this ability, which is best done when Focused, you will get an idea of what Rare types of Fish at that spot prefer you to use as bait. If it says Organic, there are Catfish that prefer plants. If it says the Fish are at the top of the food chain, it means they want Medium Fish like Salmon, Catfish, and Bass as bait. As a Forum member noted, you can also observe the fish jumping out of the water to see the types of fish available there. Many Fishing Spots are exactly the same, so there's little point to going to various Neighborhoods in the game or even checking another Fishing Spot in the same area. Finding a good spot that has the fish you want for Cooking or making money is all you really need to do to be successful.

The Fish Collection in The Sims 4

Fish List for Collectors
If you want to complete your Fish Collection, this is the list for you. Here are all the Fish and a good Fishing Spot for each Rare and Uncommmon, with Icons so that you can tell what Fish are missing.