TT Fishing Player Guide

Fishing has been rebuilt from the hook up. Every choice you make — rod, lure, hour, water — now shows up in what you pull out and what it's worth.

The short version

Fish have size now. Better gear and the right lure land bigger fish, and bigger fish are worth more.
Lures matter per species. Every lure and bait works on everything, but each fish has favourites.
Time of day matters. Fish feed on their own schedules — day, dawn/dusk, or night.
Fresh water is real. Lakes, rivers and swamps hold their own species — and the salmon migrate.
Rods wear out and can be repaired. Fish knives fillet twice as fast and last twice as long doing it.
The workbench can re-rig rods for saltwater or freshwater specialisation.

Fish size, and what decides it

Every catch rolls up a hidden quality from four things: a small base, your rod, a fishing hat if you wear one, and — the big one — how well your lure or bait suits that species. Quality becomes the size of the fish, and size becomes fillets and money.

A gebs rod with the right lure lands a maximum-size fish. A vanilla rod can get there too if you wear a fishing hat to make up the difference. An improvised stick-and-rope will feed you, but it will never land a trophy.

Rods

Rod	Catch size	Wear per catch	Notes
Improvised rod	Worst	Fastest	Cannot be repaired. Survival tool, not a career.
Fishing rod (vanilla)	Middle	Moderate	Pair with a fishing hat to close the gap.
gebs rods (all colours)	Best	Slowest	Repairable with the rod repair kit.
Rigged rods (workbench)	Best +	Slowest	Saltwater or freshwater specialists — see below.

Rods now wear a little with every catch. Watch the condition; the repair kit brings gebs rods (and their rigged versions) back to health.

Lures & baits

Attractor	Character
Crankbait	Solid all-rounder; certain species love it.
Minnowbaits (3 patterns)	Imitates baitfish — ask a predator what it thinks.
In-line spinners (4 patterns)	Flash and vibration; river fish are suckers for it.
Worms & grubs	Weaker base than lures but a bigger bonus on the fish that want them.
Live minnow	The real thing. Same deal as worms — the right fish can't resist.
Bare jig / hook	Catches fish. Small ones. You get what you pay for.

Matching lure to fish is the game. Each of the 45 species has its own preferences — the wrong lure still catches, but smaller and slower. Watch what a spot gives you and experiment. Worms and live minnows are foraged from the world.

When & where

Every species is a day, dawn/dusk, or night feeder. Fish the right hours and the bites come fast; fish the dead hours and you'll wait — though never more than about 80 seconds for something to happen. Typical bites at the right hour arrive in under a minute.

Fresh water vs the sea: Your map's lakes, rivers and swamps are true freshwater. Some species live only there, some only at sea, some in both.

The salmon runs

Four migratory species — the salmons and the steelhead — spend most of the year at sea. During each one's run months it disappears from salt water entirely and packs into the rivers and lakes. Runs are staggered through the year; a freshwater rod in the right month meets fish the coast has lost.

Filleting

Cut fish with any knife — but the gebs fish knives fillet twice as fast and take half the damage doing it. Fillet count follows the species' real size; the fillet's condition follows the fish's.

Rigged rods

Servers can offer crafting that converts any gebs rod into a water specialist (and re-rigs it the other way later):

Rig	Needs	Effect
Saltwater rig	Rod + metal wire + some of a weapon cleaning kit + pliers	Better at sea, noticeably worse in fresh water
Freshwater rig	Rod + a jig + some of a sewing kit + pliers	Better in lakes and rivers, noticeably worse at sea

A rigged rod in its home water beats even a stock gebs rod. In the wrong water it's worse than an improvised one's pride. Serious anglers carry two.

Money

Size is value. Bigger fish mean more fillets in better condition — however your server prices them, gear and knowledge pay.
Junk catches (the wellies, the pot) are rare.

A word on company

Sometimes a splash draws attention. There's a small chance a wolf or a bear takes interest in your catch or your filleting — singles only, and rarely. Keep something loaded near the tackle box.