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Ice fishing

Ice Fishing is a Survival Skill that is used to catch fish. There are four types of fish obtainable by ice fishing in The Long Dark, two species in salt water and two in fresh water. Fishing requires a Fishing Tackle and is only possible after breaking open an ice fishing hole inside a Fishing Hut. Caught fish can be eaten raw at the player's own risk, or fish can be Cooked to procure a small amount of Lantern Fuel and food with a lower risk of afflicting the player with Food Poisoning. Higher levels in the Ice Fishing skill reduce the amount of time required to catch a fish and the chance of a line break while fishing.

How to fish

Fishing hut outside

A fishing hut is one of the safest and simplest locations to ice fish.

Players can use a Fishing Hut on a body of water within a region to fish. Each hut has a hole pre-drilled immediately inside its door to the left. The hole is frozen over until the player breaks through the ice. Clearing the hole takes time and requires a tool that can break up the ice. Players can select the frozen hole to bring up a work interface to clear it. A cleared hole will begin to slowly refreeze, if left alone for even a few minutes, regardless of temperature.

An alternative form of ice fishing involves a Free-Form Ice Hole menu option of cutting ice holes directly into frozen lake, pond, and ocean ice with an ice breaker. This form of ice fishing allows a survivor to fish anywhere with deep water, but leaves the player exposed to the elements and to wildlife attacks.

To actually fish, players have to "use" an ice hole with a Fishing Tackle in their inventory after the hole has been cleared, and select the Fish menu option. Players can specify the amount of time to spend fishing, and are notified of the number of calories that will be spent while fishing. After selecting the amount of time, players will fish, with any caught fish interrupting the period of time spent fishing. Players can choose to stop fishing early if desired.

As fish are caught, they will pop up as selected items, displaying their type and weight and pausing the fishing session. Players can take or release the fish, after which they continue fishing. At any point during a fishing session, there is a chance that the line will break, ending the fishing session. Over time as an open ice hole is not used, it will begin to freeze up and will eventually freeze over completely if not tended to for some time.

Equipment

Players need a few pieces of equipment before they can start fishing.

Ice Breaker

Ice breakers are any specific tool that can be used to clear ice holes, are required in order to begin fishing.

Tool Break rate
(minutes to clear ice)
Tool decay
Prybar icon Prybar 45.0 min 2.0%
Heavy Hammer icon Heavy Hammer 45.0 min 2.0%
Hatchet icon Hatchet 20.0 min 5.0%
Hunting Knife icon Hunting Knife 40.0 min 5.0%
Improvised Hatchet icon Improvised Hatchet 30.0 min 10.0%
Improvised Knife icon Improvised Knife 50.0 min 8.0%

Fishing Tackle

Fishing Tackle icon

Fishing Tackle are the primary tool used to catch fish and can be found in the world or crafted from a Hook and Line. Tackle do not degrade from fishing but does have a chance to break. The chance to break is not dependent on the condition of the tackle. Typically, players bring multiple tackle while fishing to prevent fishing from being cut short by broken lines. Breaking a fishing tackle does not mean a fish was caught; tackles can be broken during a fishing session and result in no fish.

Fishing Bait

Fishing Bait icon

While a survivor can fish with just a tackle, adding Fishing Bait to the tackle will help you catch bigger fish. Bait can be acquired from harvesting the bodies of any raw, uncooked fish captured or found in the game world, and will typically produce 3-14 pieces of bait, though this is dependent upon the weight of the fish. When bait is used, the minimum weight of any caught fish is increased by 50%.

Fishing Lures

Lures can be crafted at any Work Bench and can also be outfitted to a tackle to increase the odds of landing a fish, as well as increasing the odds of capturing a Rare Fish. There are currently 4 Fishing Lures present in the game:

Image Lure Materials Creation Time Weight
Fishing Lure (Acorns) icon Fishing Lure (Acorns) 50 min 0.01 kg
Fishing Lure (Revolver Shell Casing) icon Fishing Lure (Casing) 50 min 0.01 kg
Fishing Lure (Wire Bundle) icon Fishing Lure (Wire) 50 min 0.01 kg
Simple Fishing Lure icon Simple Fishing Lure 30 min 0.01 kg

Fishing Tip-Ups

Fishing Tip-Up icon

Fishing Tip-Ups are tools used to passively trap fish, similar to a Snare, and can also be outfitted with Lures and Bait before being used to increase their success rate. After clearing an ice hole and placing the Tip-Up in the water, the tool will auto fish for the player. As time passes and a fish bites the tackle, the tool will "Tip-Up" and fall into the hole, stopping itself from falling in due to its cross shape. A bell will sound and alert the player if they are nearby when this happens.

Tip-Ups have a chance of breaking due to the elements and usage, and do not carry any benefits as the player's Ice fishing skill. Using too many in a single area to create a "fish farm" will result in diminishing returns. These tools must also be constantly tended to by the player, as unlike Snares, Ice Holes will freeze up with time and render Tip-Ups traps useless for catching fish until the hole is cleared again.

Fishing Huts

Fishing Huts are premade shelter objects found within certain regions on top of frozen bodies of water, and provide protection from the elements and wildlife while fishing. Some fishing huts have doors on the front, and provide a warmth bonus in their interior. Hostile wildlife cannot enter a fishing hut, even when the door is open.

All fishing huts are equipped with a Pot Belly Stove, which can be used to keep warm and boil water while while waiting for a nibble, provided there is enough fuel available. The stoves are also useful for immediately cooking caught fish, if desired.

There are two types of Fishing Hut locations in The Long Dark: salt water and fresh water.

Region Location Water type
Mystery Lake Mystery Lake Fresh water
Coastal Highway Fishing Camp
Log Sort
Quonset Gas Station
Salt water
Pleasant Valley Pensive Pond Fresh water
Timberwolf Mountain Crystal Lake Fresh water
Bleak Inlet Cannery Worker Residences
Fallen Lighthouse
Salt water
Ash Canyon Bitter Marsh (this hut is missing the roof) Fresh water
Keeper's Pass South Frozen river under the bridge near Mirthless Fork Fresh water
Forsaken Airfield Shoulder Lake Fresh water

Free-Form Ice Fishing Holes

As part of a free update for Part 3 of the Tales from the Far Territory expansion, players now have the choice to create Free-Form ice fishing holes, allowing players to ice fish independent of a Fishing Hut. This allows for more fishing opportunities, but is limited to regions that have sufficiently deep bodies of frozen water (identified as deep blue ice, not white ice).

Free-Form ice holes can be used in tandem with Fishing Huts and Tip-Ups in order to set up multiple fishing locations. One can ice fish comfortably within a hut while using a Tip-Up on an ice hole cut just outside to increase the day's catch, though more ice holes will freeze over eventually and thus this requires more maintenance and attention from the player.

Keep in mind that attempting to set up holes near the ocean edge in coastal regions or many sections of Forlorn Muskeg can result in the player falling through Weak Ice. It is also impossible to place holes in areas designated as Weak Ice areas. Finally, without a hut to protect the player, they run the risk of weather exposure and wildlife attacks.

Holes can be cut in any area near a Fishing Hut mentioned above, but they can also be used in the following areas:

Region Hut Present? Location Water type
Hushed River Valley No Monolith Lake Fresh Water
Mountain Town No Milton Basin Fresh Water
Mystery Lake Yes Mystery Lake Fresh Water
Old Island Connector No The entire ocean area Salt Water
Desolation Point No The entire ocean area Salt Water
Coastal Highway Yes The entire ocean area Salt Water
Broken Railroad No Pond north of Maintenance Yard Fresh Water
Pleasant Valley Yes Pensive Pond Fresh water
Timberwolf Mountain Yes Crystal Lake Fresh Water
Bleak Inlet Yes (east side) The entire ocean areas to the south Salt Water
Ash Canyon Yes Bitter Marsh Fresh Water
Keeper's Pass South Yes River area near Mirthless Fork Fresh Water
Forsaken Airfield Yes Shoulder Lake Fresh Water
Forsaken Airfield No Pond near Final Approach and Surveyor's Memory Fresh Water
Zone of Contamination No Unquenched Extraction Fresh Water

Types of fish

*Big Bass is found only in Wintermute*

Image Name Type Minimum weight Maximum weight Raw caloric density
Lake Whitefish (Raw) icon Lake Whitefish Fresh water 1.50 kg
(3.3 lb)
2.30 kg
(5.06 lb)
250 cal/kg
Rainbow Trout (Raw) icon Rainbow Trout Salt water 0.50 kg
(1.1 lb)
2.30 kg
(5.06 lb)
250 cal/kg
Coho Salmon (Raw) icon Coho Salmon Salt water 2.80 kg
(6.16 lb)
5.50 kg
(12.1 lb)
300 cal/kg
Smallmouth Bass (Raw) icon Smallmouth Bass Fresh water 1.80 kg
(3.96 lb)
5.00 kg
(11 lb)
300 cal/kg
Goldeye icon Goldeye Fresh water 0.50 kg
(1.1 lb)
2.10 kg
(4.62 lb)
300 cal/kg
Burbot icon Burbot Fresh water 3.90 kg
(8.58 lb)
6.00 kg
(13.2 lb)
325 cal/kg
Rockfish icon Rockfish Salt water 1.80 kg
(3.96 lb)
5.00 kg
(11 lb)
300 cal/kg
Red Irish Lord icon Red Irish Lord Salt water 1.50 kg
(3.3 lb)
3.10 kg
(6.82 lb)
300 cal/kg
Big Bass (Raw) icon Big Bass* Fresh water 15.00 kg
(33 lb)
15.00 kg
(33 lb)
300 cal/kg

Skill levels

Players can increase their Ice Fishing skill by catching any fish.

A limited increase can be obtained from the Research Book The Frozen Angler, which increases the Ice Fishing by 10 skill points with 5 hours of research. This means that you can reach level 2 directly by reading your first book.

Level Skill points Effects
1 0
  • Basic ice fishing skill
2 10
  • Fishing time reduced by 5%
  • 8% chance of line break on catch
3 50
  • Fishing time reduced by 10%
  • 5% chance of line break on catch
4 150
  • 10% to average fish weight
  • Fishing time reduced by 20%
  • 3% chance of line break on catch
5 250
  • 25% to average fish weight
  • Fishing time reduced by 30%
  • 1% chance of line break on catch

Trivia

  • Each fishing session is treated individually, so longer sessions will typically catch more fish than two or more shorter sessions.
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