ARK Survival Evolved is slowly becoming an evergreen open-world survival game. The premise is that you spawn on an island, completely naked, you are starving, thirsty, with literally nothing in your inventory. And then, you guessed it – you work your way up from sticks and stones towards the endgame. The dinosaur setting/theme and quality gameplay drive many players toward the game. Of course, you can Fish in ARK: Survival Evolved as well. In this guide, we’ll help you relax by the water (virtually) and get some food while you’re at it.
What Do I Need To Fish in ARK: Survival Evolved?
First things first, you need to be level 20. This is necessary because that’s when you unlock the engram. In addition to that, you can rummage through supply crates to find a blueprint for the fishing rod, or the fishing rod itself.
Second of all, as an older meme goes, “Son, this is bait”: Sap, Leech Blood, Giant Bee Honey, Ancient Amber, Unicorn Residue.
Lastly, you need something to sit on while you’re participating in this relaxing activity, so you’ll need either a Wooden Bench or a Wooden Chair:
- Wooden Bench requires 120 × Wood (or Fungal Wood), 45 × Fiber, and 55 × Thatch (supports more people).
- Wooden Chair requires 30 × Wood (or Fungal Wood), 14 × Fiber, and 18 × Thatch (cheaper but made for one).
Now that you’ve prepared your first fishing kit, you need to find somewhere to fish. In Ark: Survival Evolved, you can fish for Piranhas, Coelacanth, and Sabertooth Salmon, so you should be searching for schools of these fishes in the waters around you. Make sure that you are seated (and that you don’t accidentally stand up) during the fishing process. Ready, aim, and left-click to cast your line! As soon as you cast the line, you have spent one of your baits irreversibly, so if you get fed up with waiting for the fish to bite, you can pull the rod out but you won’t get the invested bait back.
How Do I Reel The Fish in ARK: Survival Evolved?
When the fish bites your bait, you will play a small, QTE (Quick Time Event) minigame. It involves a reflex test which is instructing you to press a key on your keyboard. The game will tell you what to press between the nine keys (3×3 formation) at the left edge of your keyboard (Q, W, E, A, S, D, Z, X, C), and if you guess everything right and on time, you’ve caught yourself a fish! If you miss, stand up, or run out of time, the line breaks and the fish escapes with a free bait snack.
- Related: ARK: Survival Evolved Survival Tips
If you get fed up with fish, you can always tame bees and farm honey, or just build up honey supplies for bait purposes.
Another tip is that you can also fish far away from shore from a raft that you create. Depending on the size of the raft, you can place chairs on all edges of the raft so that you do not need to turn the whole raft around if you find fish from a different angle.
