Level up fishing fast vs. the Training Rod

[hexnessie]

How does the Training Rod affect the speed at which you can level up fishing in the early days of Spring Year 1?

I'd always used it in my previous saves until I could afford the fiberglass but now I'm thinking maybe I should have tried to catch at least some silver, gold, and iridium quality fish with the bamboo pole -- aren't they worth much more XP?

I kind of suck at hand-eye coordination so catching an eel with the bamboo pole at fishing level 1 is, well, beyond my capacity to put it mildly, but I can get silver halibuts and herrings, and gold to iridium sardines and anchovies.

So, stick to the training rod, or use the bamboo pole?

 

[Lew Zealand]

This sounds like an @BlaDe question, but I'll go with what I experience when Fishing the Regular way, no Training Rod.

An Eel at Fishing Level 1? Forget about it! I'm at level 7 or 8 and can't catch the darn Lingcod right now (with no Tackle) and I'm pretty good at the Fishing minigame.

If you are new to SDV or have avoided Fishing, the Training Rod seems the way to go so you don't throw your mouse/phone/console through the window. This will cut down on costs. Also Fish you catch this way have the same XP as Regular Quality Fish with the Bamboo Pole, so no initial XP penalty.

But if you've got the hang of Fishing and use the Bamboo pole early on, you get to Silver Quality Fish pretty quickly, after a day or 2 of Fishing, and those start to rack up more XP and sell price, and in early game both of those things compound each other to make you more money. Seeing as Fishing is a great early game money source, it seems that transitioning off the Training Rod as early as possible should be financially rewarding.

And we're all in this game for financial rewards, right? That Mermaid's Pendant ain't cheap!

 

[Elenna101]

Depends on your ability to get perfect catches, but the Training Rod is probably better at low levels. Silver/gold quality fish are more experience, yes, but a perfect catch on a regular quality fish is worth way more XP than the quality bonus. (If I'm reading the equation right, gold quality adds 6 XP (and silver quality adds 3) but a perfect catch multiplies the XP by 2.4. And you're most likely going to get a lot more perfect catches with the training rod's larger bar.

Of course, as Lew Zealand pointed out, silver/gold fish also give more money, while perfect catches do not (since a perfect catch on a regular quality fish doesn't increase the quality). On the other hand, the faster leveling from the Training Rod will get you to level 5 faster, which will increase the amount of money from each fish. YMMV, you'd probably have to do some testing to see if it's worth it money-wise.

An Eel at Fishing Level 1? Forget about it! I'm at level 7 or 8 and can't catch the darn Lingcod right now (with no Tackle) and I'm pretty good at the Fishing minigame.

To be fair, the lingcod is way harder than the eel. Eel feels hard because you first encounter it in Spring at (probably) a low fishing level, but it's actually about the same as the Tuna, it just goes smoothly up to the top of the bar, and then sometimes goes back down and up once. It doesn't jump around nearly as much as the Lingcod does.
For comparison, Eel and Tuna are both difficulty 70 and Smooth behaviour, while Lingcod is difficulty 85 and Mixed behaviour.

EDIT: Also, the Training Rod removes harder fish from the list of fish that you can catch. In particular, if the list of the wiki is correct, you can't use the Training Rod to catch largemouth bass with it. So that's another factor to consider, which lowers both the XP gain and the money gain.

Also, regardless, buy the fiberglass rod as soon as possible, catching fish twice as fast will make much more difference to your XP than training rod vs bamboo pole.

 

[hexnessie]

Hm, the money argument is an excellent point... I badly need money in the early days.

I think I'm going to try fishing with the bamboo pole for a while to make money first, and then switch to the training rod for perfect catches to level up faster.

 

[Lew Zealand]

Depends on your ability to get perfect catches, but the Training Rod is probably better at low levels. Silver/gold quality fish are more experience, yes, but a perfect catch on a regular quality fish is worth way more XP than the quality bonus. (If I'm reading the equation right, gold quality adds 6 XP (and silver quality adds 3) but a perfect catch multiplies the XP by 2.4. And you're most likely going to get a lot more perfect catches with the training rod's larger bar.
...

EDIT: Also, the Training Rod removes harder fish from the list of fish that you can catch. In particular, if the list of the wiki is correct, you can't use the Training Rod to catch largemouth bass with it. So that's another factor to consider, which lowers both the XP gain and the money gain.

Also, regardless, buy the fiberglass rod as soon as possible, catching fish twice as fast will make much more difference to your XP than training rod vs bamboo pole.

Looking at it from an XP-focused viewpoint, it looks like a good Fisher would benefit from the Training Rod more than an inexperienced person as they'd have a much better chance to land perfect catches. The inexperienced person would still get to land catches more often and never waste time (and importantly in early game, Energy) on the uncatchable Fish anyway which is great, so they will still be getting XP faster, but the XP gain should be excellent for someone who can land mostly perfect catches.

I assume that if you're mostly landing perfects with the Training Rod by Fishing Level 2, the Fiberglass Rod and associated Bait's 2x Fishing bite speed will overcome the reduced Fishing Bar's loss of some perfect catches, and also adding the better quality Fish for both XP and g.

Food for thought...

 

[imnvs]

Looking at it from an XP-focused viewpoint, it looks like a good Fisher would benefit from the Training Rod more than an inexperienced person as they'd have a much better chance to land perfect catches. The inexperienced person would still get to land catches more often and never waste time (and importantly in early game, Energy) on the uncatchable Fish anyway which is great, so they will still be getting XP faster, but the XP gain should be excellent for someone who can land mostly perfect catches.

I assume that if you're mostly landing perfects with the Training Rod by Fishing Level 2, the Fiberglass Rod and associated Bait's 2x Fishing bite speed will overcome the reduced Fishing Bar's loss of some perfect catches, and also adding the better quality Fish for both XP and g.

Food for thought...

I was coming here to say basically this... and then I see Lew being all analytical and un-lazy? Did someone make a New Year's Resolution?

 

[Lew Zealand]

Um, ehhh... I was in avoidance mode this morning and er, was feeling a little light-headed and—

Look, it's Superman!!!

<runs>

 

[Giant Octopodes]

For me I find it's worth using Until fishing level 2, then I switch back to the basic rod for the chance at gold star flounder / halibut. Until Fishing level 2, without the training rod my perfect catch percentage is around 20%, with it I'm getting more like 80%. So since I'm good enough to perfect catch fairly consistently with it but not without it, I'm best off snagging it and using it until I've got 12 or so perfect catches under my belt. However testing has shown that keeping using it after hitting fishing 2, for me at least, is a net loss, both financially and from an XP standpoint. The only times I've gotten fishing 4 on day 2 is with using the training rod until around 2pm, and then switching to the normal rod. Even then for me I need some luck in bite rate, bubbles spawning, fish distribution, and ideally a treasure chest / perfect catch combo on a halibut or flounder. Those give you 90 XP for one catch.

Ultimately it's worth using for as long as it makes a significant difference. If you can (or can't) perfect catch regardless, use a different rod. What fishing levels make sense to use it depends on you personally, and the only real way to find out is to test for yourself and see how it goes either way.

One thing to note is that using the training rod, you don't need a box, but using the basic rod, you almost certainly do, if that affects your planning or routing at all.

 

[hexnessie]

Tested out, the results:
- I can manage Gold to Iridium quality on easier fish, the Halibut and the Herring. Good money and passable XP.
- The moment I started trying to get perfect catches I couldn't land any. Figures. Argh.
- Still, got to level 4 fishing within the first week, which is quite fast enough for me.
- I completely forgot about treasure chest having XP and been ignoring them, trying to get perfect catches. Double argh.

Conclusion:
- I'm an average but not consistently spectacular fisher and it's better for me to use the Bamboo Rod for both money and XP
- I placed the 3 crabpots from CC to offset any XP loss I might have incurred with my less-than-perfect catching style.

Now, on to the dreaded Catfish Hunt.

One thing to note is that using the training rod, you don't need a box, but using the basic rod, you almost certainly do, if that affects your planning or routing at all.

If by box you mean a chest, then yep, it's about the first thing I craft (a chest for the farm, a chest for the beach, then a chest for the mines). Even without the fish, with forage etc. I'm quickly running out of space as the initial pack capacity is just 12.

 

[Giant Octopodes]

If by box you mean a chest, then yep, it's about the first thing I craft (a chest for the farm, a chest for the beach, then a chest for the mines). Even without the fish, with forage etc. I'm quickly running out of space as the initial pack capacity is just 12.

Yep I'm the same, I typically get those, as well as a lake chest and a river chest, then fix the bridge to the other side of the beach. However I know Tom for example has a crazy route which has him finishing the bridge on day 2 or something like that. Which seems likely to be incompatible with building a chest at the beach, which thus could impact the training rod vs bamboo rod calculations.

 

[Sigrah]

If / When you feel confidant enough in your fishing, you might consider taking your fishing pole (along with a chest if you can) up to the lake on day 2 and do your fishing there. Those Large Mouth Bass and Bullheads are good money in Spring, Year 1, and are also excellent XP. Usually, unless I just get hit with mostly Carp or a bad fishing bite rate, I get enough or close to enough to buy the fiberglass rod on day 3 with plenty of bait.

As an added bonus, Bullheads are pretty easy to catch, and you can get perfect catches on them with enough levels and / or skill, and Carp are one of the easiest fish to catch perfectly. He may only be worth 8 XP, but a perfect catch multiples that by 2.4 to give just over 19 XP.

Anyways, good luck with your fishing. I'm off to resume my new game and start Week 3 with the 6th rainy day of the season so far, and I must catch many Catfish to buy that gold watering can upgrade

 

[Giant Octopodes]

You might consider taking your fishing pole (along with a chest if you can) up to the lake on day 2

Just for what it's worth I've tested that and don't find it to be superior, primarily because of the 7pm-12am timeframe. It's actually better during the day, but during the night it's worse, and as a result if I go up there and fish all day I end up with worse outcomes. It's also not (from what I've found) better Enough during the day to warrant walking all the way there And Back, since you have to go to the beach anyway. If you prefer the lake by all means of course, it's the most profitable daytime fishing on sunny days in spring for sure, but without speed boosts or minecarts it's not my preferred destination for fishing on day 2.

 

[Sigrah]

Just for what it's worth I've tested that and don't find it to be superior, primarily because of the 7pm-12am timeframe. It's actually better during the day, but during the night it's worse, and as a result if I go up there and fish all day I end up with worse outcomes. It's also not (from what I've found) better Enough during the day to warrant walking all the way there And Back, since you have to go to the beach anyway. If you prefer the lake by all means of course, it's the most profitable daytime fishing on sunny days in spring for sure, but without speed boosts or minecarts it's not my preferred destination for fishing on day 2.

It suits me and my play style pretty well. I tend to always do at least 40 crops on day one, so I usually have to head back to the farm at 8pm to water the crops, dump the fish, and go back to the lake to collect the chest and anything left over before heading to bed (unless I see bubbles, then it's fish until you drop or the bubbles go away). Also have to find time and energy to cut down some trees for more chests and all that too.

BTW, I edited my post. My cat walked on my keyboard earlier just as I was getting started, so had to fix it.

 

[Tom]

I know Tom for example has a crazy route which has him finishing the bridge on day 2 or something like that. Which seems likely to be incompatible with building a chest at the beach, which thus could impact the training rod vs bamboo rod calculations.

Actually, I do prioritize the Fish Shop chest. I have to run to the beach with 350 wood on day 2. But I don't get there until like 10:00 due to the last-minute scrounging up wood. For anyone who hasn't heard that crazy route before, I do it by selling Daffodils and Wild Horseradish on day 1 for a few Salads so I can top trees like a maniac and fall asleep with close to 300 Wood.

My general feeling about the training rod is to buy it if you absolutely need it and also to buy it if it makes a big difference in your perfect catches. Those early game ocean fish include many very easy ones. I did some tests where I didn't even click any buttons to move the green bar with the Training Rod, and I got to level 1 and sometimes 2 on the first day before fainting.

One trick in favor of the Training Rod (hasn't been mentioned) is that since long casts don't help you anyway, you can save time with ultra-short casts and thus catch more fish in a day.

 

[hexnessie]

BTW, I edited my post. My cat walked on my keyboard earlier just as I was getting started, so had to fix it.

Hey, s/he was trying to help! (I love cats!)

I do enjoy fishing in the mountain lake for pure profit AND for better chance at treasure. I never seem to get treasure chests when fishing in the ocean.

I usually go there once the mines get open - water crops in the morning, go fish in the mountains until I'm out of energy, then eat the algae I fished out and head to the mines to do some fighting.

 

[Tom]

@Giant Octopodes, thanks for the Lake fishing test report!

Actually, I do prioritize the Fish Shop chest. I have to run to the beach with 350 wood on day 2.

That said, I am not sure that Spring 2 is all that great a day to repair the Beach Bridge since Corals and Sea Urchins spawn without limit and could just as well be foraged on Spring 6 if you repair the bridge then.

Not to hijack the thread, but what is a good way to use the 500 gp you have on Spring 1 so you can fall asleep at work every night the first week without being taxed too much? Just buy two Salads and keep them for Mining if you don't need them before then?

 

[hexnessie]

Not to hijack the thread, but what is a good way to use the 500 gp you have on Spring 1 so you can fall asleep at work every night the first week without being taxed too much? Just buy two Salads and keep them for Mining if you don't need them before then?

I usually spend them on seeds needed for the Community Center (1 green bean, 1-2 caulis, some parsnips to get 5 gold and 1 regular), and the rest goes into potatoes. That way I don't have to worry about replanting nearly anything for 6 days, and get a big cash injection at the end of the week from selling the taters.

I don't initially eat any food other than forage / fishing trash (yuck) and I find it is enough for the first week. Plus I usually start being able to make Field Snacks on day 2, so that's basically all I need until salmonberry season.

 

[Tom]

1. You don't worry about crows if you have more than 15 crops?
2. I generally get Cauliflower from Mixed Seeds, and 1 Green Bean doesn't cost much. I end up with 3-10 extra Parsnip seeds I don't need and a bunch of forage I could potentially sell. Other than seeds (I don't plant over 15) and Salads (assuming there is something better), what would I spend that little wad on?

 

[Tom]

Other than seeds (I don't plant over 15) and Salads (assuming there is something better), what would I spend that little wad on?

I guess the obvious answer is a Fiberglass Rod. Get to bed by 2 on Spring 1 with whatever money and shipping you can. And on Spring 2 spend it all on a Fiberglass Rod assuming you have the ability with the Training Rod to be money positive and get to level 2 before 5 p.m.

 

[hexnessie]

1. You don't worry about crows if you have more than 15 crops?
2. I generally get Cauliflower from Mixed Seeds, and 1 Green Bean doesn't cost much. I end up with 3-10 extra Parsnip seeds I don't need and a bunch of forage I could potentially sell. Other than seeds (I don't plant over 15) and Salads (assuming there is something better), what would I spend that little wad on?

As for 1, honestly, no. I never worry about crows in the first few days. I'm not sure they even come in the first week - the rules are a bit different for the few starting days (e.g. you don't get an energy penalty for staying up late).

And by the time the crows do appear, with all that planting and watering and harvesting I already have enough Farming level to craft a scarecrow.

If not seeds, I would definitely spend the initial 500 g (+whatever you can save) towards the expanded pack. The initial tiny pack capacity is the single most annoying thing in early game. It should also help with fishing / foraging as you wouldn't have to constantly run around between chests and shipping bin.