Harvest Moon: Light of Hope – Beginner’s Fishing Guide

I am not and do not claim to be an expert in any way, shape, or form.

Harvest Moon: Light of Hope does a wonderful job at explaining most things, but I was horribly confused when it came to fishing. Probably has something do with will my dislike of Cyril and not wanting to listen to him talk. Anyho, I spent way too long trying (and failing) to catch a fish. This game isn’t supposed to be frustrating, so I’m sharing all my hard won knowledge.

You must fix Cyril house before the fishing pole becomes available. Once his house is fixed, he will give you a fishing pole in thanks. Once you have the pole, you may upgrade the fishing pole at Gus’ Smithy like any other tool.

Sam sells bait. I highly recommend always using bait. You can fish without it, but it’s cheap and the fish bite faster with it. Later in the game, you can craft specialty baits in your windmill. Cyril has quests that will unlock these requests.

First, find water you can fish in. To do this, walk up to the edge of the water and see if your cursor turns into a green square fishing target. (As seen in the below screenshot) This square fishing target will show you where your bobber would land if you cast. If you don’t see it, you can’t fish there. Generally any water 3 squares wide and not blocked trees, rocks, etc. will let you fish. If in doubt, try casing…. If you can’t cast, move to another spot.

Once you cast, look for fish swimming around your bobber. You must see fish swimming around to catch fish, so if you see NO fish, you need to cast again. You do not have to move; just cast again and you will get more fish. But if you want to move, have at it.

Two fishes for me to catch!
[/scrensheot]

No fishes here! Time to recast.

Also, I find it much easier to fish when my bobber isn’t against the land. The fish can swim under the ground and there are hard to spot. So I recommend aiming your bobber at a tile with water all the way around it.

Once you have the bobber in the water with fish swimming around it, you must now wait for a fish to bite.

Do not do anything until you see an “!” and the bobber is completely submerge.

You will see fish swimming around your bobber, and even under your bobber. They will nibble on the bait causing the bobber to bounce up and down. Once a fish starts nibbling on the bait, pay attention. A smart fish might change it’s mind and swim away, but most fish are getting ready to chomp.

Once you see the “!”, it means the fish is hooked and you need to hit the action button repeatedly (and quickly) to reel the fish in. And voila, you’ve caught a fish!!

Thank you for reading my guide and happy fishing!!