How to Go Fishing in Minecraft

12tails Team
July 22, 2025
5-10 minutes
BeginnerVersion 1.21+
How to Go Fishing in Minecraft

Fishing in Minecraft is not just easy; it's also a fun way to gather food for your adventures! If you find yourself near a big body of water, you're in luck. With a fishing rod in hand, you can go fishing in Minecraft and quickly catch some delicious fish for your next meal. In this guide, you’ll learn the best tips and tricks to improve your fishing skills, from crafting the perfect fishing rod to knowing the best spots to cast your line. Get ready to dive into the exciting world of fishing in Minecraft, where you can reel in tasty treats while exploring the vast oceans and rivers!

Craft a Fishing Rod

You can’t fish without a rod. To craft one, you’ll need a crafting table, 3 sticks, and two string. You can get sticks from trees or craft them from wood planks. Once you’ve crafted you rod, grab it and head to the water’s edge.

crafting a fishing rod in Minecraft
Crafting a Fishing Rod in Minecraft with 3 sticks and 2 string.

Casting the Rod

Equip your rod by selecting it in your hotbar. Then right-click to cast your line. You’ll see a fishing bobber appear in the water and it will move slightly as it floats in the water.

Keep an eye on it. After a short while (anywhere from 5 to 30 seconds), you’ll see a line of bubbles appear and head straight for the bobber. That’s your fish. It will pull the bobber underwater. Once this happens, right-click again and you’ll catch a fish!

Minecraft - Fishing Bubbles
A small stream of bubbles will appear and move towards the bobber.

Types of Fish You Can Catch

Each time you cast the rod and successfully catch something, you have an 85% chance of catching a fish, a 10% chance of catching junk, and a 5% chance of catching treasure.

If you enchant your fishing rod with the Luck of the Sea enchantment, you will have a slightly higher chance of catching treasure instead of fish or junk.

There are four types of fish you can catch in Minecraft. They are:

  • Raw cod
  • Raw salmon
  • Tropical Fish
  • Pufferfish

There are seven types of treasure that you can catch:

  • Bow
  • Enchanted Book
  • Fishing Rod
  • Name Tag
  • Nautilus Shell
  • Saddle
  • Lily Pad

There are eleven types of Junk that you can catch:

  • Bowl
  • Fishing Rod
  • Leather
  • Leather Boots
  • Rotten Flesh
  • Stick
  • String
  • Water Bottle
  • Bone
  • Ink Sac Tripwire Hook In Jungle Biomes, the junk you might catch also includes Bamboo and Cocoa Beans.

Enchanting Your Fishing Rod

You can gain improvements to your fishing success by applying enchantments to your fishing rod. There are five enchantments that you can place on a fishing rod. One of them, Curse of Vanishing, is essentially useless, but the other four can make fishing faster and more productive.

To apply an enchant, use an anvil to combine your fishing rod with the appropriate enchanted book. This will cost you some XP (depending on the level of the enchantment you're applying), but you'll make up for it quickly with all the new XP you earn from fishing!

Fishing rod enchanted with Luck of the Sea and Lure
This Fishing Rod is enchanted to the max with Luck of the Sea and Lure.

Luck of the Sea A fishing rod that is enchanted with Luck of the Sea has a much better chance of catching valuable items (horse saddles, enchanted books, nautilus shells, etc.) There are three levels of the Luck of the Sea enchant, and each level increases your chances of catching "treasure" while reducing your chances of catching "junk."

Lure The Lure enchant decreases the time it takes for a fish to bite your hook. It significantly increases the efficiency of your fishing sessions. There are three levels of the Lure enchant, and each level decreases the time it takes for the fish to bite.

Mending This enchantment automatically repairs your fishing rod whenever it loses durability, but it comes at a cost to your XP.

Unbreaking This enchantment increases the durability of your fishing rod. You won't need to repair it as often.

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