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You are thrust into a post-apocalyptic world inOnce Human. In this online open-world multiplayer, you will need to gather resources and fend off hostile creatures in order to survive. Like any other survival experience, you’ll need to ensure that you’re well-fed and that your thirst is constantly quenched to keep your health and energy up.
An easy way to get the nourishment you need is to rely on the vast fruits of nature. There is an abundance of food from harvesting crops, foraging for berries, picking fruit, hunting animals, and even fishing. Once you have a fishing rod and some bait, you may fish in certain areas.
Updated Jul 05, 2025, by Maria Antiporda:We’ve updated this article to include changes made to the fishing mechanic, fish bait, and fish storage.
How To Get A Fishing Rod
A fishing rod is a tool that you cancraft on your Supplies Workbench.Press ‘F’ to interact with your workbench, thenselect the fishing rodfrom the list of items that you can craft.
You’ll need tounlockEssential Toolsunder Crafting in your Memetics menuin order to build a Supplies Workbench.
It will costone Cipher in order to unlock, which can be obtained when youlevel up,complete season challenges, andcatch Deviations.
You will needlogs and copper ingotsin order to craft a fishing rod:
Obtained by
20
10
Smelting it in a furnace usingCopper OreandCharcoal.
Copper ore can bemined from copper veinsspread out throughout the world. Charcoal can be made byburning logs in a furnace.
Press ‘F’ to add the fishing rod to your crafting queue. You’ll be able to see how much time it will take to finish crafting it on the lower left side of your menu. Once it’s ready, make sure tocollect it from your workbench.
How To Get Fishing Bait
You won’t be able to start fishing without first acquiring some bait. You cancraft bait at your Supplies Workbench.
There are different types of bait you can use, and the formula to craft some of them can bebought from Margerie at the different dock locations.
1x Corn
1xRaw Meat
1xMasala
3xRubber
Can attract all kinds of fish.
How To Catch Fish
Head to a fishing spotto go fishing. There are several docks that serve as great fishing spots, but you can also tryfishing in different bodies of wateryou come across.
Bring out your fishing rod at the fishing spot.Press ‘R’ to select the baityou’d like to use, then left-click to aim at a spot and cast your line.
The spot in the water will turn green if the area can be used as a fishing spot. If you can’t get it to turn green,move to another area.
Wait for a bit for fish to bite. If a fish takes interest in your bait and gets hooked,a mini-game will begin. You will have five seconds to start reeling in your fish before it gets away, so keep your eyes peeled!
A reeling icon will appear at the bottom of your screen.Hold left-click to reel the fish in. This will fill up the reeling circle. While the circle is lit blue, the fish will start to lose stamina.
Make surenot to completely fill up the reeling circle. If the circle gets filled, it will turn red andyour fishing line will snap. The fish will get away and you will need to cast your line again.
The goal while reeling the fish in is toget it to lose all of its stamina. You’ll see a stamina bar below the hooked fish’s name, and depleting this will mean successfully capturing the fish.
While you’re reeling in the fish,your stamina also gets used up. You’ll see your own stamina bar at the bottom of the screen. Depleting this completely will cause you to fail the mini-game.
At certain points, a quick-time-event will pop up signaling you to eitherhold ‘D’ to pull right or ‘A’ to pull left. Succeeding these will deplete the fish’s stamina greatly.
Once you reel in the fish completely, you’ll have the choice tohit ‘F’ to keep itor tohit ‘G’ to release it.
You canthrow Lure in the waterto raise the fish activity in your fishing spot.
When reeling in fish, it’s a good idea tokeep the reeling circle half-filledso that you can maintain a good reeling pace. If the circle is empty, the fish will not lose stamina at all. If the circle is too close to full, you risk snapping the line.
Wait for the options to pull right or left to appearto easily deplete the fish’s stamina. They appear frequently as you reel, so there’s no need to rush reeling the fish in.
How To Store Fish
Like perishable food, your fish willdecay over time. You canstore it in the refrigeratorto prolong its freshness. You can alsodry it using the Meat Drierto keep it edible forever.
Another option to keep your fish alive and fresh for good is todisplay them using furniture.
You can mount your fish on the wall using aSpecimen Rack. You can onlymount one fish per display, and it’ll stay fresh and alive while mounted.
You can alsouse aFish Tankto store your fish. The tank has limited space and it can hold a number of fish depending on their size. All in all, a fish tank has acapacity of four.
Fish in the tank will stay alive and fresh, andyou can take them out anytime.
How To Join The Surge Of Fish Event
Occasionally,a red fish icon may appearon your world map. Hovering over it will read’Party Event: Surge Of Fish', and you will be able to instantlyteleport to that areashould you wish to participate in the event.
Thislimited-time event occurs over a fishing area, and it covers a small radius. you’re able to participate in the event while youremain within the radius.
Fishing in the area during the event will allow you tocatch rare fish, which can be used totrade with Margerie in exchange for different kinds of fish.
