In the unforgiving and unpredictable worlds of the rim, survival has always been a game of mastering the land. Colonists hunt beasts, till the soil, and mine the mountains. The water, however, has largely been a decorative feature a river to bridge, a coastline to admire. With the Odyssey expansion, that has fundamentally changed. The waters are no longer just scenery; they are a deep and strategic resource waiting to be tapped.
Fishing is more than just a new way to get food. It’s a strategic pillar that can ensure your colony’s stability, a safe way to train vital skills, and even a path to unexpected riches. This guide will teach you everything you need to know about how to fish in RimWorld. From your first tentative cast to building a thriving fishing industry, we’ll cover the basics, the advanced mechanics, and the strategies that will turn your colonists into masters of the rod and reel.
You might also like this: The Full RimWorld Odyssey Guide for 2025
What Is in Our How to Fish in RimWorld
Why Fish? A Strategic Survival Tool
Before we get into the “how,” let’s understand the “why.” Fishing isn’t just a quaint side activity; it’s a powerful and reliable food source that solves many of the core challenges of survival in RimWorld.
Unlike hunting, it doesn’t depend on the random migration of animals. Unlike farming, it doesn’t require fertile soil or long growing seasons. Fishing is a consistent, year round source of nutrition that can sustain a colony through the harshest winters or the most barren landscapes.
This becomes especially critical with the new biomes and map types introduced in the Odyssey expansion. Imagine trying to survive on a small archipelago with limited farmland and scarce wildlife. Without a reliable, water based food source, such a colony would be doomed. Fishing is the elegant design choice that makes these new, challenging scenarios not just playable, but thriveable. It completely redefines the strategic value of coastal and island tiles, turning them from beautiful but difficult locations into powerful and sustainable bases.
Setting Up Shop: The Basics of Fishing
Before your colonists can even think about casting a line, you need to lay the groundwork. This process starts with a simple research project and ends with your designated angler heading to the water’s edge.
The First Step: Research and a New Work Type
To unlock the ability to fish, your colony must first complete the “Fishing” research project. This is a Neolithic era technology with a base research cost of 600, making it quickly accessible for most standard starts. A key advantage for tribal scenarios is that they begin with this research already completed, allowing them to fish from day one.
Once researched, a new work type, also named “Fishing,” will appear in the “Work” tab. It’s important to manually set the priority for this task for your chosen colonists, as it defaults to a lower priority than other jobs like hunting or cooking.
The most crucial strategic element here is the skill associated with fishing: Animals. This connection is a game changer. Traditionally, the main way to train the Animals skill is through taming and handling, which carries the inherent risk of animal revenge, potentially leading to severe injury or death. Fishing completely upends this. It provides a 100% safe, risk free method to train a colonist’s Animals skill. A colonist can sit peacefully by a river for hours, providing food for the colony while leveling their Animals skill to legendary heights. This means you can train a master animal handler capable of taming a Thrumbo without ever putting them in harm’s way.
Designating a Fishing Zone
Much like farming, fishing requires you to designate a specific area for the activity.
Creating the Zone
Navigate to the Architect menu and select the “Zone” tab. You will find the “Fishing Zone” button right next to the “Growing Zone” button.
Placement
The zone must be placed over a body of water, be it a river, lake, swamp, or ocean. Note that the zone needs to have a minimum size of 25 tiles to be functional. If it’s too small, the game will notify you when you click on it.
Assigning Work
Once the zone is created, any colonist assigned to the “Fishing” task in the Work tab will automatically head there when it’s time to work.
A key mechanic to remember is that each fishing zone is “reservable,” meaning only one colonist can use a single designated zone at a time. If you want multiple colonists to fish simultaneously, you must create multiple, separate fishing zones.
The Myth of the Fishing Rod
A common question from new players is how to craft a fishing rod. The simple answer is: you don’t. In a deliberate design choice to maintain simplicity and the “vanilla” feel of the game, the popular mod Vanilla Fishing Expanded (VFE), whose mechanics are often used alongside the official DLC, does not require you to craft rods. When a colonist goes to fish, they are assumed to automatically have the necessary tackle. This removes the need for extra micromanagement of tools.
However, for players who want to enhance their fishing operations, other mods like Vanilla Memes Expanded add a “Tackle Box” accessory. Equipping a colonist with a Tackle Box can increase their fishing speed by a significant 20%, a worthy upgrade for your dedicated anglers.
Advanced Catch Mechanics and Optimizing Your Haul
Simply assigning a colonist to a fishing zone is just the beginning. Several key factors influence your fishing efficiency, and understanding them is crucial for maximizing your food production.
The Formula for a Successful Catch
- Colonist’s Animals Skill: This is the single most important factor. A higher Animals skill level reduces the time it takes for each fishing attempt and increases the chance of successfully catching larger, more nutritious fish.
- Target Fish Size (VFE Mod Feature): The Vanilla Fishing Expanded mod allows you to select a target fish size (small, medium, or large) in the fishing zone’s settings. This is a powerful strategic tool.
- Small Fish: Quicker and easier to catch, ideal for low skilled colonists to ensure a steady, reliable food supply.
- Large Fish: Offer more nutrition but require more time and a higher skill level to catch. Sending an inexperienced colonist after large fish can result in wasted time and hunger.
- Fish Population (Odyssey Mechanic): The Odyssey expansion introduces the concept of a “fish population” for each body of water. Larger bodies of water, like oceans, have a larger population and can sustain more fishing. Overfishing a small pond will quickly deplete its population, drastically reducing your catch rate. This mechanic encourages sustainable management of your aquatic resources.
Optimizing Fishing Efficiency: A Summary Table
| Factor | Source | Impact on Efficiency | Optimization Strategy |
|---|---|---|---|
| Colonist’s Animals Skill | Odyssey / VFE | Critical. Directly increases catch speed and success rate. | Dedicate one or two colonists to fishing to rapidly increase their skill. Use fishing as a safe training method for the Animals skill. |
| Target Fish Size | VFE | High. Small fish are fast; large fish are more nutritious. | Start low skilled colonists on small fish. Gradually move to medium and large fish as their skill level increases. |
| Fish Population | Odyssey | High. Low population means long waits between catches. | Utilize larger bodies of water. Create multiple fishing zones and rotate between them to allow populations to regenerate. |
| Equipment | Mod dependent | Medium. Items like a Tackle Box can provide a direct speed boost. | If using relevant mods, equip your dedicated anglers with speed enhancing items. |
Bounty of the Sea: A Guide to Fish and Hidden Treasures
One of the most exciting aspects of fishing, especially when enhanced with the Vanilla Fishing Expanded mod, is the vast diversity of what you can pull from the water.
The RimWorld Fish Atlas
The VFE mod brings the underwater world to life by adding over 50 unique types of fish and aquatic creatures. This diversity isn’t just for show; it adds new layers of economic and survival strategy.
Biome and Water Type
Each fish is specific to a certain biome and water type. The fish you catch in a temperate forest river will be different from those in a tropical ocean. This makes your starting colony location even more impactful.
Mod Compatibility
VFE is deeply integrated with other popular mods. Most notably, it’s compatible with Alpha Biomes, adding 19 unique alien fish to its exotic new environments, making exploration even more rewarding.
The Unexpected Catch: A Guide to Fishing Treasures
Perhaps the most thrilling part of fishing with the VFE ecosystem is the chance to catch something other than a fish. The Vanilla Fishing Expanded – Fishing Treasures AddOn introduces this mechanic, and it can completely alter the course of your colony.
By default, each catch has a 1% chance of being a “treasure” instead of a fish. This percentage is adjustable in the mod settings and can be raised as high as 100%, effectively turning fishing from a food gathering activity into a resource mining operation.
The list of potential treasures is incredibly diverse, ranging from basic resources like wood and steel to legendary, game changing items. You might pull up a case of beer, a pair of high quality boots (if using Vanilla Apparel Expanded), or, in very rare instances, an AI Persona Core. This mechanic turns fishing into a strategic dual purpose activity. While your colonist is securing the day’s meals, they are also participating in a lottery for resources that are normally only accessible in the late game.
From Hook to Plate: The Art of Fish Cuisine
The fish you catch is more than just raw food; it’s an efficient and versatile ingredient for creating high value products.
Fish as a Superior Meat Source
In the game’s base mechanics, fish is simply classified as a type of meat. This means it can be used in any recipe that calls for meat, such as simple, fine, or lavish meals. However, fish holds a key advantage over other animal meats: it does not require butchering.
When an animal is hunted, its carcass must be hauled to a butcher table, where a colonist spends time processing it into meat and leather. Fish, on the other hand, are considered a ready to use meat item the moment they are caught. This saves a significant amount of colonist time and labor, making your food supply chain much more efficient.
The Sushi Revolution: Integrating with Cooking Mods
The true culinary potential of fishing is unlocked when combined with other mods in the Vanilla Cuisine Expanded series, particularly Vanilla Cooking Expanded – Sushi. This combination transforms fishing from a subsistence activity into an economic and morale boosting engine.
The sushi mod introduces new recipes that use rice (which is farmable) and various types of fish to create high quality sushi meals. This establishes a complete and sustainable production chain within your colony. As a luxury food item, sushi provides a significant mood buff to your colonists, increasing their productivity and reducing the risk of mental breaks. Furthermore, as a processed luxury good, sushi has a much higher market value than raw fish, allowing a coastal colony to create a powerful export economy.
Conclusion: Mastering the Waters of the Rim
Fishing in RimWorld Odyssey, especially when enhanced by the Vanilla Expanded ecosystem, is far more than a simple food gathering mechanic. It is a deep, multi layered system that provides players with a wealth of new strategic opportunities.
It acts as a stable food source, a safe and efficient method for training the vital Animals skill, a potential economic engine through luxury food production, and an exciting lottery for rare, game changing resources. From surviving on remote islands to building a trade empire on the back of a sushi industry, mastering the art of fishing allows players to confront the challenges of the rim in new and creative ways. The waters of RimWorld are no longer just an obstacle to cross; they are a rich frontier of opportunity for the clever and prepared colonist.
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