1.5 spoilers - new tackle

[Squigglyruth]

I am slowly running through my first game in 1.5, with a beach farm. Currently in Spring Y2, and it just occurred to me that if I had taken the quest 'Juicy Bugs Wanted' (which has been offered to me twice) I could almost certainly catch legendary fish at iridium level... The Quality Bobber (reward from the quest) looks useful for that! I would probably need a Seafoam Pudding too, but I normally catch the legendaries without that - it would replace the Trap Bobber.

I didn't bother catching the legendaries in Y1 because I was concentrating on other things, and I don't sell them - I keep them as trophies. I normally catch them all in Y2, for completeness and the stardrop.

I thought I would share in case anyone else is a little behind me - maybe you tried out the new content with an old farm, and are just about to start again? In which case I would say the 'Juicy Bugs Wanted' quest is more valuable than it looks.

I now have a dilemma. It's unlikely that quest will come up again in time for me to catch the Legend at Iridium quality. So do I wait and catch that in Year 3? It would be sad to only have it at Gold level when I know Iridium is possible...

Also, does anyone know a reliable way to get a gold Angler without the Quality Bobber? I have nearly always ended up getting it at silver because of fishing off the bridge in town - the water just isn't deep enough for gold. But I did once get a gold one - not sure how...

 

[Elenna101]

Also, does anyone know a reliable way to get a gold Angler without the Quality Bobber? I have nearly always ended up getting it at silver because of fishing off the bridge in town - the water just isn't deep enough for gold. But I did once get a gold one - not sure how...

The quality of the fish you catch is dependent on water depth (basically equivalent to distance from shore) and fishing level. Based on the maps on the Fishing Strategy page of the wiki, the highest depth you can get while catching the Angler is depth 2.
If you click "Discussion" at the top of that wiki page, it'll bring you to the discussion page for editors, and if you scroll down, there's a table showing (among other things) the chances of gold/silver fish for each combination of fishing depth and fishing level. At depth 2, you can only get gold quality fish (ignoring the perfect bonus) if you're fishing level 14, in which case there's a 33% chance of gold quality. (That table was made before 1.5, presumably fishing level 15 also works.)

TL;DR: you probably got the gold one by fishing with a Seafoam Pudding to get level 14 fishing. I'm guessing that on 1.5, level 14 or 15 fishing with the Master enchantment on the rod would also work. If you do that, you'll have a 33% chance of a gold quality fish (iridium if you perfect it).

 

[LRangerR]

Does luck factor into the fish quality at all?

 

[Elenna101]

Does luck factor into the fish quality at all?

Not as far as I know.

 

[Squigglyruth]

TL;DR: you probably got the gold one by fishing with a Seafoam Pudding to get level 14 fishing. I'm guessing that on 1.5, level 14 or 15 fishing with the Master enchantment on the rod would also work. If you do that, you'll have a 33% chance of a gold quality fish (iridium if you perfect it).

Thanks! I guess it must have been.

 

[One More Day]

The quality of the fish you catch is dependent on water depth (basically equivalent to distance from shore) and fishing level. Based on the maps on the Fishing Strategy page of the wiki, the highest depth you can get while catching the Angler is depth 2.
If you click "Discussion" at the top of that wiki page, it'll bring you to the discussion page for editors, and if you scroll down, there's a table showing (among other things) the chances of gold/silver fish for each combination of fishing depth and fishing level. At depth 2, you can only get gold quality fish (ignoring the perfect bonus) if you're fishing level 14, in which case there's a 33% chance of gold quality. (That table was made before 1.5, presumably fishing level 15 also works.)

TL;DR: you probably got the gold one by fishing with a Seafoam Pudding to get level 14 fishing. I'm guessing that on 1.5, level 14 or 15 fishing with the Master enchantment on the rod would also work. If you do that, you'll have a 33% chance of a gold quality fish (iridium if you perfect it).

Will this also apply for the sandfish and scorpion carp, or is there not enough depth in the desert pond, even with Fishing 14? It always bugged me that you were capped at silver quality for those two as well

 

[Squigglyruth]

Will this also apply for the sandfish and scorpion carp, or is there not enough depth in the desert pond, even with Fishing 14? It always bugged me that you were capped at silver quality for those two as well

Yes, that annoys me. Possibly the combo of Seafoam Pudding and Quality Bobber might be enough... If not, the Master enchantment might help? I am prepared to try it out :-)

EDIT: Looking at the Wiki, I can see that it was actually very possible for me to get an Angler at gold without Seafoam Pudding. There is a very small strip of L3 water near the bridge in Pelican Town, which gives a 90% chance of gold level fish at fishing level 10. I'm honestly surprised that's only happened once! I think I cast just right of that normally :-(

The desert pond is apparently more problematic. It's highest tiles are level 2, which just edge up into a 33% probability of gold at fishing level 14... Still, if you cast at those repeatedly with a Seafoam Pudding and a Quality Bobber, odds of an iridium catch should be high.

I think the legendaries are more of a challenge in the end because you can only catch them once...

 

[Elenna101]

Will this also apply for the sandfish and scorpion carp, or is there not enough depth in the desert pond, even with Fishing 14? It always bugged me that you were capped at silver quality for those two as well

Yep, I was able to get gold desert fish in 1.4 with seafoam pudding (with the 33% chance). Not sure how the quality bobber or master enchantment affect that, but presumably it would only make it easier. Same for the submarine fish.

EDIT: Looking at the Wiki, I can see that it was actually very possible for me to get an Angler at gold without Seafoam Pudding. There is a very small strip of L3 water near the bridge in Pelican Town, which gives a 90% chance of gold level fish at fishing level 10. I'm honestly surprised that's only happened once! I think I cast just right of that normally :-

Huh, yeah, I wasn't sure if you could catch the Angler in that area, but if you can that should work better.