The delightful world of Palia invites players to a new world where they’ll experience the enjoyable activities common to many games in the cozy life simulation genre. Players will explore the beautiful regions of Palia, befriend villagers, complete quests, grow and nurture their own farm, and partake in other day-to-day activities.

Fishing is a key feature in Palia, offering a wide assortment of fish in its waters for players to catch. After entering the game world, players can quickly acquire a fishing rod. There are a plethora of unique fish to collect, so mastering the mechanics of fishing is key to becoming an expert angler. This guide covers all aspects of fishing in Palia, from locating different fish to upgrading fishing rods and obtaining bait.

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How to Get & Upgrade Fishing Rod

After completing early quests in Palia, players encounter Auni, a young delivery boy who loves bug catching. The player is introduced to the in-game mail system and will immediately begin receiving mail from villagers sending invites to the player to introduce various services and activities. One of the first letters players receive comes from Einar, the town's resident robot and fishing enthusiast, who includes with it a Makeshift Rod and requests for the player to visit his cabin to learn the ins and outs of fishing.

As the player’s Fishing Skill improves, they will be able to purchase recipes to upgrade their Makeshift Rod to a higher quality rod. Higher quality rods will feature more line health and move faster, allowing players to keep up with a challenging fish and increase their odds of a successful catch. There are four tiers of Fishing Rods the player can obtain, and recipes for each can be purchased from Einar. Higher quality rods require the previous tier’s rod in order to craft.

Where to Find Einar

The player can find Einar at Fisherman’s Lagoon, located southeast of Kilima Village at the base of a large lake. Einar is the skill master of Fishing, so players will return to him regularly to browse the guild shop for fishing supplies, including bait and recipes.

The player does not need to visit Einar to start fishing, as they are able to do so immediately after obtaining the rod, but Einar will offer a short quest to learn the basics of Palia’s unique fishing mechanic.

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How to Catch Fish in Palia

Fishing in Palia is a bit different from in other games, but players will get the hang of it easily once they understand its mechanics. The player should cast the rod into any viable body of water using the left mouse button, holding the button down to aim and releasing the button to cast.

Casting further increases the player’s chance of hooking higher quality and rare fish, but these fish will be challenging to catch with the early rods. The player will need to improve their Fishing skill to unlock recipes for purchase to upgrade the quality of their rod. Rare fish can also be found in pools of rippling water that can occasionally be found in Palia’s waters.

Once the cast has landed, the player should keep an eye on the bobber resting in the water. When a fish starts nibbling at the bait, the player will hear light splashing noises, and the bobber will move. The player should not attempt to reel in at this time and should wait for the fish to bite. When a fish takes the bait, there will be a louder splash, and the movement of the bobber indicates that there is a fish on the line. This is where the fishing minigame begins.

Once a fish is on the line, the player should start reeling it in by holding down the left mouse button. This causes two green curves to appear on either side of the bobber. To keep the fish hooked and effectively catch it, the player must keep the bobber between these curves. The player should follow the fish and bobber’s movement to ensure it stays positioned properly.

If the curves turn red, the player should release the left mouse button and use the mouse to reposition the bobber safely between the curves so they turn green again. Once the fish is back in the green, the player can hold down the left mouse button again to start reeling in. Once the fish has reached the shore, the player can release the left mouse button and catch the fish.

To keep the fish on the line and, hopefully, successfully reel it in, the player will need to keep an eye on their rod health. If their rod health is fully depleted, they will fail to catch the fish, and it will swim away. Rod health is restored between catches, so there are no worries about repair; just think of it as a stamina bar that the player should properly manage by effectively keeping their lock on the fish.

How to Get Fishing Bait

Some fish will only show interest if the player has applied specific bait to their fishing line. To change the bait, equip the fishing rod and press the right mouse button to open the bait menu. Click on the bait the player wishes to use and close the menu. There are only two types of bait available in Palia at this time: Worms and Glow Worms.

How to Get Worm Bait in Palia

Worms can be purchased from Zeki’s General Store for 10 Gold. When the player reaches Fishing Skill Level 4, they can purchase the Worm Farm Crafter recipe from Einar at Fisherman's Lagoon for 500 Gold. Crafting this device will allow the player to farm worms at their housing plot.

How to Get Glow Worm Bait

Glow Worms can be purchased from Einar for 10 Fishing Medals. However, the player will not start to earn Fishing Medals until they have reached Fishing Level 10. Prior to this, the player can opt to purchase the Glow Worm Farm Crafter recipe from Einar, which costs 2000 Gold and requires only Fishing Level 7.

All Fish in Palia: Where to Find & How to Catch

Palia currently features 80 fish for players to discover and catch, which players can sell for Gold, cook into delicious meals, or even display in aquariums in the player’s home. Players can earn Accomplishments with exclusive rewards for catching high-quality fish, all fish in a given area, and other fun fish-related tasks.

Each fish has its own conditions related to when and how it can be caught. Some fish are available only at specific times of the day, while others may require fishing at specific locations or take interest only in a certain type of bait. Rare fish are more difficult to catch and may require a higher quality rod, which has increased rod health, as they will certainly put up a fight.

Palia is currently available in Open Beta on PC. It will fully release on PC and Nintendo Switch at a later date.