Fishing

Fishing in Ultima Online

Where to Start

Choosing Your Skills: To begin fishing in Ultima Online, start with at least 50 fishing skill. You can either start a new character with this skill or buy it from the fishing guildmaster for existing characters. Prepare to encounter sea serpents; consider skills like Magery (requires Meditation and Evaluate Intelligence), Mysticism (focus or imbuing), Archery (tactics, anatomy, and possibly chivalry), or Throwing (similar support skills). Cooking is also useful, especially with the High Seas expansion for making fish pies.

Casting your Line

Shore Fishing (50 Skill): Start fishing from shore, such as in Magincia. Move along the dock as your skill improves, cutting fish for steaks (yielding 4 fish steaks each) to manage weight. At this level, expect to catch:

• Footwear: Common catch early on, useful for selling or feeding pets.
• Normal Fish: Basic catch, useful for food or crafting.

Deep Water Fishing (75 Skill): At 75 skill, move to the end of the dock and begin deep-water fishing. Obtain a boat and learn to navigate it, staying at least 14 tiles from land or a server boundary to access deep water. Prepare to encounter sea serpents, which drop soggy parchments (treasure maps), special fishing nets, or messages in bottles.

Prized Catches

Special Fish (80 Skill and Beyond): At 80 skill, you can catch special fish like:

• White Pearls: Used in crafting items like Pendant of the Magi, Arcanist's Wild Staff, and others.
• Delicate Scales: Used with Imbuing skill to add Use Best Weapon Skill (UBWS) property onto weapons.
• Magic Fish: Temporary stat-boosting fish:
  • Prized Fish: Increases Intelligence by 8-12% for 150 seconds.
  • Wondrous Fish: Increases Dexterity by 8-12% for 150 seconds.
  • Truly Rare Fish: Increases Strength by 8-12% for 150 seconds.
  • Highly Peculiar Fish: Restores 10 points of stamina.

Net Fishing

Using Special Nets: Special Fishing Nets, found as loot or in treasure chests, summon monsters like Water Elementals, Sea Serpents, Deep Sea Serpents, or Krakens. These nets are valuable and come in various colors for decoration.

Trophies

Big Fish and Trophies: Use a Taxidermy Kit on big fish to create trophies for display. These fish are rare and only found in deep water. They vary in weight, with heavier ones being more rare. The trophy displays the fisherman's name and weight if it exceeds 20 stones.

Training

Skill Advancement: Progress from shallow water fishing to deep water as your skill increases. Use tools like the Crystal Ball of Knowledge to find optimal fishing spots. The crystal ball helps determine the best fishing distance from shore based on your skill level.

Items

Fishing Loot: Fish up various items including:

• Footwear: Common catch early on.
• Normal Fish: Basic catch, yields fish steaks when cut with a knife.
• Highly Peculiar Fish: Restores stamina.
• Prized Fish, Wondrous Fish, Truly Rare Fish: Stat-boosting fish at higher skill levels.
• Special Fishing Nets: Used to summon monsters and found in various colors.

Quests

Professional Fisher Quests: Undertake Professional Fisher Quests from the High Seas expansion for advanced fishing challenges and rewards. Complete these quests for power scrolls needed to advance your fishing skill further.