A Complete Guide to Fishing in ESO 2023

Fishing in The Elder Scrolls Online offers both relaxation and substantial rewards, enabling adventurers to discover rare ingredients, earn prestigious achievements, and explore Tamriel’s diverse aquatic environments. This comprehensive guide provides actionable strategies to transform casual angling into a profitable and efficient activity.

ESO features four distinct fishing water types: saltwater, lake, river, and foul. While saltwater, lake, and river locations are typically visible on your zone map, foul water spots require more specialized knowledge to locate effectively.

PC players can leverage fishing add-ons like Votan’s Fisherman for automatic hole detection, while console anglers should reference detailed online fishing maps for their current zone. Understanding zone-specific distribution patterns is crucial—for example, Summerset contains over 150 saltwater spots but only ten foul locations, while Cyrodiil offers merely five saltwater holes across its entire expansive map.

Many seemingly ideal fishing areas surprisingly lack active fishing holes entirely. Coastal regions that appear perfect for saltwater fishing may yield nothing, while unexpected inland ponds might host valuable foul water spots. Always verify locations through reliable sources rather than assumptions.

Successful fishing begins with precise bait selection. When you locate an active fishing hole, access your bait wheel and choose the appropriate bait type that matches the water environment. Using incorrect bait significantly increases junk item acquisition while reducing valuable fish catches.

Proper bait matching follows this systematic approach:

Saltwater Bait: Worms and Chub

Catches: Dhufish, Longfin, and Minnow

River Bait: Insect Parts and Shad

Catches: Salmon, River Betty, Fish Roe

Lake Bait: Guts and Minnow

Catches: Silverside Perch, Spadetail, and Shad

Foul Bait: Fish Roe and Crawlers

Catches: Slaughterfish, Trodh, and Chub

Advanced anglers should maintain balanced bait inventories, focusing on acquiring crawlers and fish roe through alchemy and other fishing activities to ensure foul water readiness.

Fishing activities yield diverse rewards when fish bite, including regular fish, zone-specific trophy fish (12 varieties per zone), material sacks, and additional bait resources. When you catch standard fish, transport them to any Provisioning station for filleting, which provides opportunities to obtain the highly valuable Perfect Roe provisioning material.

Trophy fish exist in every game zone, and capturing them contributes toward in-game Achievements and the coveted Master Angler title. Completing all trophy fish collections across the 20 base game zones awards this prestigious designation.

Implement these efficiency buffs to dramatically accelerate your trophy fishing progress:

1. Fishing with Friends

Each active fishing companion within your vicinity increases trophy fish drop rates, regardless of group membership status.

2. Champion Points Optimization

The green Craft tree contains two essential skills: Reel Technique (25% faster bite time) and Angler’s Instincts (increased trophy fish chance). Allocating at least 195 points enables simultaneous activation of both abilities.

3. Artaeum Pickled Fish Bowl (Summerset)

Summerset chapter owners can fish in Artaeum’s Mystic waters to obtain Waterlogged Psijic Satchels containing the account-bound Artaeum Pickled Fish Bowl recipe. Consuming this dish grants the Lure Allure passive, attracting fish and reducing bite timing. Non-Summerset owners can purchase Waterlogged Psijic Satchels from guild traders using gold.

4. Companion: Sharp-as-Night

Sharp-as-Night, unlockable through the Necrom chapter, possesses the unique Sharp’s Patience perk that enhances fish bite rates and trophy fish probability. This benefit comes with reduced bait acquisition chances, preserving your regular fish catch frequency.

Modern fishing mechanics have evolved significantly with these buff combinations, enabling complete zone trophy collection within 30-60 minute windows. However, RNG elements remain influential, with some trophy fish potentially requiring 2+ hours despite optimal setups.

Cyrodiil Trophy Fishing

Cyrodiil trophy fishing demands strategic planning. Select low-population campaigns and fish during off-peak hours to minimize PvP encounters. While fellow anglers typically respect fishing activities, remain vigilant for hostile players and carry invisibility potions for emergency escapes.

While specialized PvP builds aren’t mandatory in unpopulated areas, they provide valuable safety margins. All fishing enhancements except Sharp-as-Night remain functional in Cyrodiil.

Perfect Roe Fishing

Perfect Roe farming requires different optimization than trophy fishing. Disable the Angler’s Instinct CP passive and consider solo fishing rather than group activities for maximum efficiency.

With Perfect Roe’s typical 1% drop rate, focus on volume fishing using Reel Technique, Artaeum Pickled Fish Bowl, and Sharp-as-Night buffs. Utilize characters with maximum mount speed and the Continuous Attack passive to accelerate movement between fishing holes.

Total Amount of Fish Caught for Master Angler

During CozyCaster‘s Master Angler completion, she captured 2,249 total fish:

•    308 Dhufish

•    301 Longfin

•    178 River Betty

•    166 Salmon

•    318 Silverside Perch

•    316 Slaughterfish

•    323 Spadetail

•    339 Trodh

Filleting these catches yielded 26 Perfect Roe units, demonstrating approximately 1.15% drop rate efficiency.

Conclusion

Zenimax continues expanding fishing content with additions like the Necrom Master Angler Achievement, part of the Savior of Necrom Achievement that unlocks an impressive glowing Nix Ox mount. These collectible rewards appropriately acknowledge the substantial time investment required for fishing achievements.

For comprehensive ESO gameplay strategies beyond fishing, explore our Complete Guide covering all major game systems.

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