An In-Depth Guide to Fishing in Fortnite Chapter 2

In Guides by Kr4mLeave a Comment

You can go fishing in Fortnite Chapter 2.

And you can catch different fish to heal with and even find weapons.

But to start with, you’re going to need a fishing rod.

Fishing rods are an uncommon item and take up a slot in your inventory. They won’t break and you can find one as floor loot, from searching chests, or by searching barrels.

Searching a barrel for a fishing rod

To cast your fishing rod you just need to press whatever button you would use to shoot your weapon. So for PC players (like me), you’d use your left mouse button. And console players would use the right trigger.

When your rod is out, you’ll want to wait a few seconds before reeling it back in. I’ve gotten a 100% success rate of catching an item by waiting for 2 splashes first.

You can reel your rod back in by pressing the same button you used to cast it. You can catch fish, weapons, ammo, material and a tin can.

Feel free to move around while your rod is cast out as well so you’re less likely to get hit.

Where to go fishing


Obviously you can only go fishing in the water.

And water is a big part of this new season with the new swimming mechanic as well as boats.

Anyway, you’ll notice some areas of water there’ll be a sort of “whirlpool” area (pictured below) and you’ll even be able to see the fish swimming underneath.

Casting a fishing rod in Fortnite at Craggy Cliffs

This is the best place to go fishing because you’ll be able to catch the best (uncommon and rare) fish, which I’ll explain in a moment. You also have the chance of catching a good weapon when fishing in these areas.

You can actually go fishing in any part of the water, you just won’t get the best fish or weapons. Instead, you’ll just get the common fish, a tin can you can throw at enemies (not recommended), some ammo, and a little bit of material for building.

In other words, you want to stick to fishing at the whirlpool whenever you can.

But you can only catch so many fish at the whirlpool before it expires and then you’ll need to find a new area.

The types of fish in Fortnite


As of right now, there are 3 different types of fish you can catch.

But there are leaks of a Mythic Goldfish and you can expect it to be added to Fortnite later in the season and likely a challenge and some XP to go with it.

When you catch a fish you can place them into your inventory as you would with any other item. In other words, they aren’t instantly consumed like an apple or coconut and so on.

Here is some useful information about the 3 fish you can catch in Fortnite:

  • Small fry – a common fish that heals 25 health up to a maximum of 75 (like bandages). You can carry up to 6 Small Frys.
  • Flopper – an uncommon fish that heals 50 health. You can carry up to 4 Floppers.
  • Slurpfish – an epic fish that heals 50 effective health or shield. So if you consumed a Slurpfish with 75 health and 0 shield you would go up to 100 health and 25 shield. You can carry up to 3 Slurpfish.
My loot from a few minutes of fishing

Also, all fish take 1 second to consume, so they’re a reliable way to heal up when you don’t have any traditional healing items.

Other uses for the fishing rod


Of course, the main use of your rod is to catch fish.

But did you know you can actually use it on other players?

Yes, you can cast your rod at other players to move them around and even yoink them from high ground.

Check out this hilarious Reddit post with over 6,000 upvotes showing a player rescuing his teammate from a sniper bullet by using the fishing rod.

Mostly this feature seems to be for the memes and it isn’t the most practical use. It’s still a fun mechanic, though.

Advanced fishing techniques


There is a lack of mobility items because of a reduction in the Fortnite loot pool in Chapter 2. Therefore, you could find yourself stuck in the storm.

But you can survive for a surprisingly long time if you’re near water and have a fishing rod by healing from your catches.

Also, if you have a boat, you can get yourself out of seemingly impossible situations with some trickery and good timing.

Here’s what to do if you find yourself in that situation:

  1. Cast your rod and catch some fish
  2. Start driving the boat so it has some forward momentum
  3. Switch seats so you can heal while moving forward
  4. Repeat until you’re safe from the storm

Of course, if you’re playing in Duo or Squad mode, you can coordinate between one player healing and one player driving. So you can cover the most amount of distance while you both heal when needed.

Another thing you can do if you plan on spending a long time fishing somewhere like Craggy Cliffs is to build a small base with a window so you’re less likely to get killed.

Fishing in a 1x1 base

Then all you need to do is cast your rod from the window and reel it back in after 2 splashes. You’ll collect whatever you catch in your base, too.

Conclusion


Fishing is a cool new mechanic that’s introduced interesting new ways for players to heal and survive.

You know, fishing actually reminds me of an MMORPG game I used to play call RuneScape. Even more so because you earn XP when fishing, so you can level up your Battle Pass.

Anyway, the fish you can catch are really strong healing items. Especially when you consider there aren’t as many healing items available in Fortnite Chapter 2 right now.

Of course, remember to keep yourself safe when fishing, so you aren’t an easy kill.

What do you think of fishing in Fortnite?

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