10. From the Ship!

The Wailing Barnacle cosmetic set makes for a fine fishing boat

This probably seems the most obvious, but it is so worth mentioning. You start every voyage from your vessel, so why not use it? It’s the most common method for getting to the fish in the real world. 4 million fishing boat captains can’t be wrong! 

• It’s your own mobile platform, kitchen, storage, and stronghold. Everything you need is with you. And, when danger rears its ugly head, you need only lower the sails and speed away! 
• One issue with fishing in game is getting your line tangled on obstacles and losing the catch. Your ship offers the perfect fishing stage in the form of the bowsprit (that’s the pole poking from the front). Stand there and you’ll reel in safely from all angles. 
• You can fish on the move! You don’t need to be stationary to attract the beasties – they’ll come to you.  

9. Outposts and Seaposts

'Merry' Merrick of the Hunter's Call, doing his favourite thing

Where else to fish than right by where you’re about to sell them? Dotted at regular intervals throughout the Sea of Thieves, the Sea and Outposts offer an ideal and tranquil site for chucking your Bait in the water. The one drawback to this approach is that it can get a little tedious staying at these spots.

• An Outpost is where you first load into the game, making it a fast option to begin fishing. There’s an abundance of supplies, and plenty of sand to dig new Bait from. Plus, you can buy Bait Crates at the Sovereigns and sell your Fish there. If, of course, you are a Captain. 
• To get the full value, and full Reputation, from your catch, you’re better fishing directly beside the Hunter’s Call at one of the game’s 8 Trading Posts. These Seaposts also house a few general supplies, and the Hunter’s Call obviously have Bait Crates.
• Other Players tend not to bother you here either, knowing you’re most likely just there to fish and will have little else of value onboard. 
• Most Seaposts are secluded at the edges of the map, keeping you safe from opportunistic hunters. You’ll come to notice this is a common theme in the following points! 

8. Sea Forts

Night provides great cover for covert fishing

Half the time involved in selling to the Hunter’s Call is spent cooking your catch, as cooked produce is more valuable to a hungry sailor. Sea Forts offer a shortcut to that process, once you’ve cleared the place of its previous inhabitants. Dock your ship at the side facing towards the edge of the map, quickly clear the Fort of Phantoms, and the place is yours. And staying on site will stop the Phantoms from resetting. 

• The Fort’s kitchen facilities are what you’re here for. As it takes an age to prepare anything on your ship’s lone stove, the 4-ring stove of a Fort is an obvious upgrade. No need to run the mathematics here. 
• Underneath a Fort is a gated harbour. Used for getting loot out normally, it also offers a handy spot for fishing. This is another timesaving technique, as the smaller area of water means shorter reeling time. 
• Not only are you getting all the facilities you need to start your own restaurant, but a Fort will also be well-stocked with Supplies, Treasure, and in most cases, Meat and Fish already waiting in barrels (some precooked as well). 
• Most Forts are tucked away to the fringes of the seas, so hopefully you won’t be interrupted by any nosy Players. If you are, well you have a whole arsenal of cannons and ammunition to defend yourself with. 

7. Marauder’s Arch

What a lovely, grim slab of rock!

Nestled in the furthest corner of the Wilds, at Q3 on the map, Marauder’s Arch offers a wonderful, gloomy hiding place to cast your rod. Its high rock formations offer perfect cover for your ship and a generous amount of Supplies in case you run short. Just watch your back for Skeletons!  

• You cannot get much closer to the very depths of darkness here, apart from going off the edge of the map. So, you are unlikely to have your fishing session bothered by troublemakers. 
• There are 3 Campfires on the island for cooking your catch, but you are also close to Traitor’s Fate Fortress for speedier cooking, and the Wild Treasures Store for selling. 
• If you leave the Skeletons manning the watchtower cannons on the island’s east side alone, you’ll get some warning if a passing ship gets too close, as they’ll fire at anything that moves. Once, when I was there, they took shots at a Megalodon. I did not know they attacked the sea monsters until then. 

6. Mermaid’s Hideaway

This place calls for a spritz beside your fishing stool

In the southwest corner of the Shores of Plenty, at B13/C13, you’ll find Mermaid’s Hideaway. The name is apt, as there are plenty of spots to secret yourself away and get on with some fishing. On top of being a secluded oasis away from the terrors of the seas, it is just a lovely sunny environment to spend some gaming hours with your line in the water. 

• Most Voyages don’t tend to lead here, and it’s the other nearby locations that are more alluring for passing ships. And it happens to be another island composed of high rocks for hiding your ship behind.
• The Finest Trading Post to the southeast is the safest spot for selling. 
• In addition to a freshwater pond in the island’s north for catching Pondies, there are 3 Campfires for cooking. Or you could saunter up to Imperial Crown Fortress to the northwest and make use of its stoves. 
• Another idyllic location just northeast of the Hideaway, at D12, the Lagoon of Whispers. It hosts a small, protected bay perfect for fishing. The only thing to ever go there for otherwise is the NPC who sells tattoos. Taking a Rowboat there laden with Bait from the Hideaway is the best way to avoid detection. 

5. The Devil’s Roar

Do you think the fish come pre-smoked here?

Normally I would never condone going anywhere near the fiery waters of the Roar, but for that reason it is also one of the best places to fish undisturbed. Specifically, head to the waters in the vertical region of Z13 down to Z15, right on the map’s eastern edge. If you can make it there un-singed, you’ll be left alone for as long as you need. 

• This eastern pocket of the Roar is out of the range of the violent volcanoes constantly erupting in the region. And, as always with the best fishing spots, it is well out of the way of everything else. I’ve gone whole sessions here without seeing a single ship on the horizon. 
• You don’t need to leave the Roar for anything either. The Roaring Traders Seapost offers you a place to sell the catch and collect Bait Crates. Cooking is best done on the ship though – no nearby Forts and I wouldn’t recommend trying to cook on the geyser-pitted islands. 
• I don’t know why, but when I fished here, I kept stumbling upon Trophy Fish after Trophy Fish. Maybe it’s something about the fertile volcanic water that makes them grow so large, eh?

4. Shores of Gold

The fish come scaled with gold on this island! If you believe such things...

Also called Tribute Peak, this large cluster of islands can only be accessed near the end of the game’s story missions. But while you’re there, why not take a break from the action to fatten your scaly haul? With its centre point located at Y3 on the top right corner of the whole map, it will take some time to unlock this area. 

• No spoilers here! All I’ll say is that it takes a certain story mission – ‘Shores of Gold’ – to reach this spot, so no one is going to find you here. Really, no one. After unlocking the item that opens the way, you can keep replaying the mission to regain access. 
• NPC enemies won’t be too problematic here either. Staying on the shores of the Shores of Gold will only leave you open to the occasional Mr Skelly Skeleton, which can be dispatched without a thought. 
• The types of Fish to catch here are pretty basic – mostly Splashtails and Pondies, but you have all the time in the world to find them. Also, a great expanse of sand to dig up Bait in. 

3. In the Heart of the Storm

Don't fall overboard when casting here

The randomly occurring Storms are the only place to fish for Stormfish! Makes sense. Once you head into a downpour, or have it wash over you, just raise your sails when your Bell starts dinging and cast away. It’s important you wait for that Bell before you start! Won’t get the special Fish otherwise. Just don’t forget to bail your ship of rainwater, and dodge lighting strikes.  

• Players are very unlikely to bother you because, in most cases, sailing into a Storm is annoying and pointless. Speeding towards one can also throw off pursuers you may have already attracted. 
• If you have a crew of at least 2, you can even navigate with the Storm and follow it around the map whilst some of the crew fish! 
• The rarest and most valuable Fish in the game can only be found in a Storm – the Shadow Stormfish. A cooked version of the Trophy variant of this one can net you 16,875 Gold! That’s a lot for a fish. 

2. Active Skeleton Forts and Skeleton Ships

These fish are a wee bit bony

These are the most dangerous and inadvisable fishing locations of all. On that note, be advised – this is not worth attempting alone. Most of the time, at least. They are the only places you’ll find the Battlegill Fish type. 

• I’m going against my whole ethos here, aargh, but fishing at active Skeleton Forts, of which there are 10 possible locations, will attract so many Players. So many.
• The best way to fish at a Skelly Fort is to cast a rod when in between waves of NPC combat, or if the rest of your crew is distracting the Skellies. Otherwise, plodding alongside an active Fort that some other crew is completing and hoping they don’t shoot at you can work. Using a mic to explain your intentions might be worth it for that. 
• When a Skeleton Ship comes at you, there really is no time to be distracted by the call of the rod. So, again, leave your crew members to deal with the threat as you cast into the battle-fizzed water like the slacker you are. 
• One thing you can say about this method of fishing – it is far from boring. You will be on the edge of your seat hoping a stray shot doesn’t break your concentration or kill you. And you’ll be cursing Poseidon when it does.  

1. Don’t Fish!

Finders keepers!

This perhaps defeats the spirit of the whole fishing exercise, but if you’re only out there to grind for the Hunter’s Call, you need not really bother with doing any actual work. We don’t all have time to sit idly by dipping our toes in the water. There’s pirating to be done!

• Take from Floating Barrels, Sea Forts, and Shipwrecks instead. You’ll fetch plenty of Fish, rare or otherwise, and most of them will already be cooked! And you’ll find Beast Meat – from the Kraken and Megalodon – which are worth a fair amount. 
• You can raise the Hunter’s Call Reputation with more than Fish. They accept all Gems, Tridents, empty Container Chests, and even Bait Crates you can find beached on islands.
• You can do all of this whilst playing the rest of the game, fighting monsters and Players, completing Voyages, and gathering Treasure. Unless of course you really, really want to fish. There is something kind of relaxing about it, I must admit. 

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