Getting a Fishing Rod
You get a Handmade Fishing Rod one of two ways: craft it (2 rope + 200 wood -- craftable by default, no workbench needed) or buy it for 80 scrap from the vendor at a Fishing Village. Crafting is usually cheaper, since rope comes from barrels and roadside crates.
Bait
Bait has a rating from 1 to 10, and the rating determines what you can catch -- higher bait catches more valuable fish.
- Easy early bait: pick up plant drops on the ground (hemp, corn, berries) to get grubs and worms. Berries are a level-1 bait, but you can stack 5 of them to fish as level-5 bait.
- Raw meat is a higher-level bait than berries/grubs.
- A bait rating under 2 mostly pulls junk from the sea. Rating 1-5 can catch small fish. Mid-size fish (Yellow Perch, small Trout) need at least rating 3. Catfish, Orange Roughy, Salmon, and Small Shark need rating 5-10.
As a rule, fish with level-5 or higher bait so you can catch up to level-10 fish. Right-click the bait in your inventory to load it onto the rod.
How to Catch a Fish
Approach any water, aim with right mouse, and cast with left mouse. A bobber turning blue means a successful cast. The farther you cast into DEEP water, the better the fish table.
When a fish bites, a mini-game starts: - Use the A and D keys to pull against the fish's movement and tire it out. - If the rod bends and creaks, stop reeling -- overstressing the line snaps it. - The line also breaks if it collides with a dock edge or foundation, so stay close to open water. - Once tired and close, the fish is added to your inventory automatically.
Quirk: you can't catch the same fish type twice in a row with the same rod + bait. If you're hunting sharks/salmon and catch one, switch to your second rod for the next cast.
The Fishing Village & Where to Fish
Fishing Villages are coastal safe zones -- turret-protected with the same rules as Outpost and Bandit Camp (holster your weapon inside). They sell rods and boats and buy your fish for scrap, which makes them the natural base for a fishing run.
There are four fishing areas, each with its own fish: Swamp, River, Ocean, and the Underwater Lab Moon Pool. The Moon Pool is a favourite -- it counts as deep water (so it yields high-tier fish) while its tight walls limit the fish's movement, making the mini-game easier. You need water at least ~4.5m deep to catch Small Sharks and Salmon.
Profit, Food & Safety
Fishing is one of the safest scrap incomes in Rust -- a solid hour can net around 1,000 scrap without touching a contested monument.
- For scrap: catch and SELL high-tier fish (Salmon, Small Shark) at the Fishing Village rather than gutting them.
- For resources: gut lower-value fish for Raw Fish (food, or reuse as bait), Animal Fat (furnace fuel and early crafting), and Bones. A cheap Harvesting Tea (4 berries) boosts gut yields by 50%.
- Safety: fishing pins you in place, staring at water -- prime ambush bait. Fish near cover, keep a weapon on your hotbar, avoid high-traffic beaches, and don't carry your whole net worth while you fish.