The only reason I fish is to get ingredients, finish bundles/achievements, and do quests. I have never done it for the money. Yes, I know that very early on it can be a good income source... but as you said, fishing profit quickly pales in comparison to everything else. A buddy of mine plays the game with 2 other people and is their dedicated fisher (he's caught all the legendary and they still freak out when they see one, have never caught one), and he tells me that early on he was making all the money the group needed... but after a year, he felt basically unnecessary. And it wasn't a slow progression. After 1 month the two of them had their infrastructure set up. They went the Joja route, so they had all the community upgrades done before year 2. In year 2, what with starfruit available to them now and a greenhouse? He has said to me, "What do they need my fishing income for now? What do I do in the game any more? I thought I was going to be the person keeping everyone funded, and now I'm just the guy going fishing every day while everyone else does all the work!" I just nodded sagely and said, "Yup. Sounds about right." Then I told him, "Stop. Fishing."
