Hint-A-Week: Fishing

With Summer Festival coming up, it's time to talk about the only hobby in the game: Fishing.

To obtain the fishing skill, talk to a Hobby Master. This NPC can be found in the Scholar's Stair Archives in Bree, inside the Bird and Baby Inn in Michel Delving, Inside Thorin's Hall, inside the Hall of Fire in Elrond's House in Rivendell, and in the Twenty-First Hall in Moria.

Once you have the skill, you can equip it. Open your character panel and click on the Hobbies button. Drag the fishing skill to a quickslot.

Next, you'll need a fishing rod. The Hobby-Master will give you a basic rod, and (in case you lose it) you can purchase another from fishing suppliers. Woodworkers can craft Yew Fishing Rods and Lebethron Fishing Rods (or their critted versions, Well-Crafted Yew/Lebethron Fishing Rod). The Well-Crafted Lebethron fishing rod is the best in the game, and increases your fishing skill (though I really didn't seem much improvement by having it equipped).

When you're ready to fish, equip the fishing rod in your main hand and find some water. You can fish in pretty much any pool of water - including, surprisingly, swamps and contaminated pools such as those in Angmar. However, some people claim that the cloudier the water, the less successful fishing will be. Generally, you'll want to be in a safe location so that you won't be attacked while weaponless. You cannot fish in buckets or similar constructed items. You can fish from low bridges; the higher the distance from water, the less likely will will be able to cast a line. Also, you can wade into the water, but only to the point before you start swimming. Once you're swimming, you cannot fish.

Once you find some water, right-click on the fishing skill to cast your line. If you hook a fish, click on the skill again to reel it in. If you have not caught anything within a specific amount of time, the line will automatically be reeled in. You can catch a number of different things:

• Non-Fish Trash: You will frequently catch items such as weeds, balls of gunk, rusted weapons, driftwood, old boots and skulls. These items can be sold or destroyed.
• Trash Fish: The icon for these fish has a purple background. These fish have no use except to sell.
• Trophy Fish. The icon for these fish has a dark-blue background with a gold gradient border, and they can be traded to the Fishing Taxidermist in Bree for a housing item. There are a number of different Trophies, too many to actually have in your house.
• Fish for Cooks: The icon for these fish has a green background, and they can be used by Cooks.

Once you start catching fish, your fishing proficiency begins leveling. The maximum proficiency is level 200, and you can only gain 10 levels per day (though the gain is not always consistent). Supposedly, the higher the level, the more likely certain types of fish drop. However, I did not find a consistent pattern to the fish drops.

As you level, you'll gain titles:

• Apprentice Angler, obtained at level 10.
• Journeyman Angler, obtained at level 50.
• Expert Angler, obtained at level 100.
• Master Angler, obtained at level 150.
• Lord/Lady of Streams, obtained at level 200.

Your progress is tracked on the Hobbies panel. If the bar is blue, the hobby can be level; if it is yellow, you have reached the daily limit.

There are a few quests, mostly at low levels, to support the hobby, but they don't bestow any extra proficiency or titles. There is also a quest in Forochel that requires you to catch some fish.

More importantly, there is a set of deeds associated with the hobby, and these deeds bestow a title and a trophy:

• Darter-Master: Catch all 9 types of Darters. You are also automatically given a trophy that shows off all the fish.
• Sturgeon-Master: Catch all 9 types of Sturgeon. You are also automatically given a trophy that shows off all the fish.
• Trout-Master: Catch all 9 types of Trout. You are also automatically given a trophy that shows off all the fish.
• The Complete Angler: Catch a 50-pound Salmon. You won't get trophy, but the fish itself is a barter fish that can be used to obtain the trophy. There are various sizes of Salmon, and all can be bartered for housing trophies.
  

There is a deed in Enedwaith that grants the title Fisher-King/Queen, but this deed is not related to the fishing hobby.

More importantly, fishing is integrated with the Summer Festival. There are special fishing quests that reward festival tokens, as well as special fish - Amberjack, Luillim, and Drum - that can also be traded for tokens. The icon for the Festival Fish is the same as the background for trophy fish, and can only be caught in specific locations (the fishing holes inside Thorin's Gate, outside Bywater, outside the South Gate of Bree, and on the docks at Celondim).

There are also 4 rare festival fish that can be traded for 2 summer tokens or festival cosmetics/housing items. These fish are Celebhall [Celondim], Golden Redfish [Bree], Starry Flounder [Bywater], and Silver Haddock [Thorin's Hall]. In 2011, a special fishing deed was added for catching 10 of each of these rare fish (40 in all). As a reward, you'll get the "Rare Fish" title.

Woodworkers can take advantage of the festival by crafting the fishing rods and selling them on the Auction House. You won't get rich, but you can pad your wallet a bit.

Although I have maxed out the hobby, I found fishing to be a bit frustrating. There was no consistency to when I'd level or what fish dropped. Oftentimes, I'd get a feeling that I'd fished out a spot, and the barter, trophy and cooking fish would dry up so that all I was getting was trash - or just repeats of the same fish over and over and over. Leveling would also come to a standstill. Even moving a few hundred meters away didn't seem to change things; I'd have to move a significant distance from the original spot or stop altogether.

I did find that fishing slowed significantly if I was fishing in water that was crystal clear - Not just in marshes, but also in mud puddles - and near waterfalls.

The Shovelnose Sturgeon because the absolute bane of my existance. It was the last fish I needed for the Sturgeon deed, and it refused to drop. I fished for days - even after maxing out the hobby - before it decided to drop. I maxed out the hobby long before entering Moria.

For the most part, fishing was a nice diversion. In a way, I wish I hadn't leveled so quickly - I'd still have a bit of leisure at the end of a long day.