Fishing

You can spend time fishing to gain some food and raise your Survival skill (no cap).

There is currently one fishing location available: just a few minutes walk from your house in north Redhaven is the Red River, and on its banks right near you there is a perfect fishing spot, so you don't need to travel further. This also happens to be right next to Redhaven Market, from which you can buy a cheap set of simple fishing gear for just $25; all very convenient. And just one set will do; your Followers do not join you in fishing, currently (nor do they assist).

You can go fishing at any time of day or night. And you can do four sessions per day. You don't have to do all four sessions in one sitting; you can do a few, then return later that day to do some more.

Each session takes an hour, or 1½ hours if you choose shore fishing. The first 30 minutes of each session are spent using your Survival skill to try to figure out the best technique to use at that moment, given the weather conditions. You have a choice between fishing near the shore, casting further out into deep water, or drifting the lure using a float.

If your skill roll is successful (chance = your Survival skill), the help text will tell you which of the techniques is best to select at that time. It will also tell you what you think your rough chance of success is when using that method at that moment - which will be between 65% and 95%.

(Note that half the time, drift fishing is the best method.)

If you choose this recommended technique, you will have a very good chance of catching fish. This chance is based on the 65-95% figure, but may work out higher than that in practice.

If you failed your Survival roll so have no idea what method is best, you have to guess which of the three fishing methods to try. If you guess correctly, you will get the same yield as if you had determined the method successfully using your Survival skill. (Given that drift fishing is the best method half the time, if you don't know what method is best, it's best to try drift fishing.)

If you use the best method for that moment (whether guessed, or determined by successful Survival roll), and are also successful with it, you have a roughly 5% chance to increase your Survival skill by +1. You will also of course catch some Raanan "fish" - converting usually into 2 or 3 rations, but occasionally nine rations worth (if you manage to land a ten foot "sea serpent"):

• From shore fishing: two tasty black-striped eels (2); a stormfish (2); a slimy, four-feet-long "sea serpent" (3); five small fawnfish (2).
• From deep fishing: three large fawnfish (3); a 10-foot "sea serpent" (9); a shiny, dagger-like rifle fish (2); a small, 3 foot "sea serpent" (3).
• From drift fishing: a huge fawnfish (2); a large riflefish, from a shoal (3); a drowsy, 6-foot sea serpent that will make good soup (4); a large, red-striped smourn, popular for its salmon-like flavor (4).

If you guess or choose one of the wrong methods for that moment, you still have a chance of catching something, as follows:

• Shore fishing: you will get nothing but slimy sea grass. And remember also that shore fishing sessions take an extra 30 minutes.
• Deep fishing: A 25% chance, or 50% if you have Survival 70+, to land a 4 foot "sea serpent" (3). There is also a tiny chance that you may drag up some valuable durasteel from a wreck.
• Drift fishing: A 25% chance, or 50% if Survival 70+, to catch a nice fawnfish (2).