The Bamboo Fishing Rod is the collection breakpoint in Doloc Town. It can hook every listed fish; Fiberglass and Carbon Fiber rods make the minigame faster or more forgiving, but they do not open another species tier. If a catch is missing after Bamboo, stop spending on rod access and inspect the pool, progression gate, local season, weather, and time instead.
This guide covers the Windows/Steam 1.0 release and was checked on August 9, 2026. Version 1.0 renamed the calendar periods Light Rain, Heavy Rain, Early Dry, and Harsh Dry, while Wetland and Old City use their own persistent regional weather. Older pages that still say Month 1–4 need translation before their fishing conditions are useful. The current game identity and release are available on the official Steam page.
Stop buying rod access after Bamboo
Lightman’s fishing tutorial awards the Old Fishing Rod. The Fisherman’s Shop also sells that rod and the Bamboo Fishing Rod. Later, the Kon-Tiki Trading Station carries Fiberglass and Carbon Fiber models. Rod level is a hard eligibility check, but catch speed and starting progress belong to the reeling minigame.
Use the rod column as a gate audit rather than a shopping ladder:
| Minimum rod | Fish that stop at this requirement | What the upgrade changes |
|---|---|---|
| Basic | Carp, Four-eyed Fish, Needlefish, Ricefield Eel, Aquatic Chameleon Bug, Pike, Sea Hare, Lamprey, Arapaima, Sardine, Loach, Snail, Hermit Crab, Blanket Octopus, Shrimp | These species do not require the tutorial rod, although their location, region, or time gates still apply. |
| Old | Catfish, Grass Carp, Golden Fish, Koi, Rainbow Trout, Wolf Fish, Sturgeon, Bass, Mimicry Fish, Eel, Glow Eel, Dumbo Octopus | Lightman’s tutorial clears the rod filter for this group. |
| Bamboo | Cod, Tuna, Mahi-mahi, Salmon | This is the final species-access upgrade. |
| Fiberglass or Carbon Fiber | No additional listed species | Faster catching and a better starting state; Carbon Fiber also raises bonus score. |
A Bamboo rod does not make every fish immediately available. Koi, Rainbow Trout, Wolf Fish, Sturgeon, Tuna, Eel, Glow Eel, Dumbo Octopus, and Mahi-mahi still sit behind progression checks. Salmon keeps its festival window. The rod only proves that rod level is no longer the blocker.
A cast is filtered before its catch is rolled
The useful mental model has two stages. First, the pool checks for trash and removes entries that fail the current rod, unlock, local season, weather, or time. Only then does it roll among the tiers that still contain an eligible catch. A one-time reward disappears from that pool after it has been collected, changing the remaining mix again.
That sequence is why a universal “one in ten” promise is misleading. The same pool can contain a different eligible set at night, in another season, after a terraforming unlock, or after a one-time item has gone. Fix an eligibility mismatch before blaming luck.
Pool choice can still reduce wasted casts. Deep Forest pond, the Wetland lotus pool, the Wetland hidden cave pool, and the Old City hidden pool are listed with no trash roll. By contrast, Garbage Mountain’s polluted water and the Wetland wastewater pools are configured around trash. A zero-trash pool removes one source of failure, but it does not guarantee a particular fish because tier selection and the remaining eligible species still matter.
Build the collection in four water sweeps
Start with Deep Forest, the Dock, and the shallows
Deep Forest pond is the efficient freshwater audit. It combines the common freshwater group with Golden Fish and has no listed trash chance. Visit once in rain for Grass Carp, once after 19:00 for Catfish, and keep the Bamboo rod equipped so a rod gate cannot contaminate the result. Catfish’s window crosses midnight and runs from 19:00 through 02:00.
At Doloc Dock, separate the central pool from the two bridge pools. Sardine and Bass can come from either. Mimicry Fish is the bridge-specific dry-season target. Cod uses Light Rain or Heavy Rain at the Dock, while Mahi-mahi uses Harsh Dry. Tuna, Eel, Glow Eel, and Dumbo Octopus also need progression or weather checks described below.
Use Rivervalley and mountain shallows for Loach during Light Rain or Heavy Rain and Snail during Early Dry or Harsh Dry. Shrimp is common across many pool families, so do not dedicate a special trip unless it remains blank after the regional sweeps.
Use Wetland for regional fish and rainy-season substitutions
Wetland opens a different location set: Ricefield Eel at the Aquafarm, Aquatic Chameleon Bug in freshwater or the Aquafarm, and Pike in the open cave or lotus pool from 06:00 through 19:00. The Fishbowl Hat belongs to the hidden cave pool rather than the fish list, so keep that pool on the same trip.
The fishing data maps Wetland water to Heavy Rain conditions throughout the calendar, matching 1.0’s permanent rainy regional rule. That makes Wetland more than a list of exclusive fish: it can replace a missed rainy-season visit elsewhere.
Give Old City its own cleanup pass
Old City has several pool types that should not be collapsed into one marker. Sea Hare uses residential water, Lamprey uses the hidden pool, Arapaima uses deep water, and Hermit Crab plus Blanket Octopus use the sewers. The hidden pool has no listed trash roll, but the residential water and shallows are much noisier.
Old City uses dry regional conditions throughout the year. Its coast can therefore replace the Dock calendar gate for Eel after the Core Sample unlock, and its sewers can replace the shallows calendar gate for Snail. Glow Eel is not a free regional catch: it still requires Scorching Sun at the Old City coast.
Return for the two cores and the festival
Most remaining blanks after the three regional sweeps are not random. The Water Purification Core expands the freshwater set. The Core Sample expands the coastal set. Salmon appears only during the Salmon Festival on Light Rain days 25–27, then leaves the pool on day 28.
Use regions to avoid five calendar waits
The permanent regional weather creates five useful substitutions. The alternate pool changes the local calendar test; it does not waive rod, progression, time, or weather conditions that are listed separately.
| Fish | Calendar-bound route | Regional substitute | Condition that still matters |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cod | Doloc Dock in Light Rain or Heavy Rain | Wetland coast in any calendar period | Bamboo Fishing Rod |
| Dumbo Octopus | Doloc Dock in Heavy Rain | Wetland coast in any calendar period | Core Sample and Old Fishing Rod |
| Loach | Rivervalley or mountain shallows in Light Rain or Heavy Rain | Wetland freshwater in any calendar period | Correct Wetland pool |
| Eel | Doloc Dock in Early Dry or Harsh Dry | Old City coast in any calendar period | Core Sample and Old Fishing Rod |
| Snail | Rivervalley or mountain shallows in Early Dry or Harsh Dry | Old City sewers in any calendar period | Correct sewer pool |
Do not stretch this shortcut to every seasonal fish. Rainbow Trout, Wolf Fish, Sturgeon, Mimicry Fish, Mahi-mahi, and the seasonal music rewards do not have a documented regional bypass in the captured table. Plan those around their actual season or festival instead.
Hold progression gaps until their gates open
Activating the Water Purification Core and Core Sample changes the eligible species set. If one of their fish is absent before activation, more casts cannot repair that state. Finish the relevant terraforming function, return to a listed pool, and recheck the Collection screen before changing rods or chasing a different location.
The current fishing reference contains two English-name inconsistencies: its table uses Wolf Fish and Glow Eel, while its progression summary says Hoplias and Fluorescent Eel. This guide does not choose a permanent winner without a matching client capture. Use the live Collection name, then match it to the Water Purification or Core Sample gate and the table’s location/condition. The gate is the stable diagnostic; the translated label may change.
Salmon is a third kind of gate. It needs the Bamboo Fishing Rod and a freshwater, Deep Forest, or Doloc Dock festival pool during Light Rain 25–27. Missing that window means waiting for the next Salmon Festival, not fishing harder on day 28.
Separate one-time rewards from the fish list
Several desirable catches use the non-trash side of a fishing pool but are not fish species. Once a one-time reward is caught, it disappears from later rolls. Keep a separate reward audit so a vanished item is not mistaken for a broken pool.
- Fishbowl Hat: Wetland hidden cave pool, any calendar period or weather, Basic rod.
- Damp Cloth Strips #1–3: freshwater, Deep Forest, or Doloc Dock pools, any calendar period or weather, Basic rod.
- Melody of Sunny Day #2, #3, #5, and #6: the same broad freshwater/Dock pool group, tied respectively to Light Rain, Heavy Rain, Early Dry, and Harsh Dry; the weather must be Sunny, Cloudy, or Windy.
- Special Melody #1: the Salmon Festival window on Light Rain 25–27, any weather, Basic rod.
- Kelp: repeatable at the Doloc Dock central or bridge pools during Rain or Thunderstorm, with at least the Old Fishing Rod.
Read a missing catch as one failed filter
If the right-looking pool keeps producing the wrong result, audit in this order: rod level → progression gate → exact pool family → regional season → weather → time → one-time status. This order catches hard exclusions before you spend time on the variable tier roll.
Move to a zero-trash compatible pool when one exists, but do not restart the whole route after an ordinary run of eligible fish. When every hard filter matches, repeated misses can still be normal because the tier mix changes with the eligible set. The evidence supports relative tier weights, not a guaranteed number of casts.
Your fishing cleanup is ready for its final pass when Bamboo is equipped, Water Purification Core and Core Sample are active, Wetland and Old City have each received a pool-by-pool visit, and Light Rain 25–27 is reserved for Salmon and Special Melody #1. After that, every remaining blank should point to a named filter above. Change that one state, return to the documented pool, and leave unrelated rods, regions, and calendar waits alone.