Monster Hunter Wilds Fishing Guide – How To Catch Rare Fish, Which Is the Best Place To Fish, Bait, and More
If you're going after all the trophies or achievements in Monster Hunter Wilds, you will want to learn to fish properly to catch rare fish or even 30 whoppers (which I cover in this guide). Some side missions will also have you fishing so you may as well get up to speed with the easiest way to fish in Monster Hunter Wilds, what time to fish, which is the best place to fish, and more. This guide will not have any story spoilers (outside of revealing the Scarlet Forest Apex Monster), but it will have some later on location spoilers for a camp.
Why should you fish in Monster Hunter Wilds
Fishing lets you gather materials, earn Guild Points (which you use to trade in for items and save investigations for the endgame).
How to fish in Monster Hunter Wilds
After a bit of playing (less than a few hours) you will have unlocked the fishing rod and other tools like the binoculars in Monster Hunter Wilds. To fish, you need to equip the fishing rod by selecting it from the item bar. To fish, stand near a body of water and hold L2/LT to aim and then press R2 to cast the line. You can select bait (once unlocked) by pressing up or down on the d-pad once you've equipped the fishing rod.
Once you've cast your line, the reel or jig actions displayed on the top right of the screen are very important. You need to quick reel or slow reel for some fish to take notice of the bait. Start out slow by just using the left analog stick to move the lure.
Once a fish has bitten, your controller will vibrate or you will see it physically bite as well. If it is a normal fish or a small fish, pressing R2 or RT will reel it in.
Where to fish in Monster Hunter Wilds
If you see fish silhouettes or large shadows in any water bodies, you can fish there.
Which is the best place to fish in Monster Hunter Wilds
If you want to get fish like the Goldenfish or are hoping to catch the Grand Escunite, the best location is Area 8: Underground Lake as I covered in my guides for items found there or even fish there. If you're after whoppers or the Goliath Squid, the best location is Area 17: Great Lake Shore. This has multiple fishing locations across the shore. Make sure to walk across so you can spot the larger fish among the pools of smaller ones here.
What time and environment to fish at in Monster Hunter Wilds
This depends on what you are trying to catch, but if you are going for whoppers like the Tuna, the best time is Morning and Plenty (environment) so rest until then.
How to catch rare fish in Monster Hunter Wilds
Rare fish or aquatic life like the Goliath Squid, Grand Escunite or the Goldenfish (early on) require specific bait and patience. Your aim is to follow Kanya's fishing side mission chain to not only work towards finishing all the missions in the game, but also to unlock better bait that will help you with fishing in general. Rare fish also have specific requirements like weather conditions and time of day so keep that in mind.
What is a whopper in Monster Hunter Wilds
A whopper is classified as a large fish. When these bite onto the bait or your hook, you will engage in the actual fishing mini-game as opposed to automatically catching the fish like in the case of smaller fish.
How to catch a whopper in Monster Hunter Wilds
The first thing to keep in mind with whoppers in Monster Hunter Wilds is patience. You might end up messing up a few times, but practice makes perfect here. I used to struggle with whoppers until I caught four of them. After that point, it was easy and I got the trophy for 30 whoppers in under an hour. Your aim early on is to follow the instructions that pop up on the screen. If the fish is swimming to the left, move the lure to the left. If it goes to the right, move to the right.
You need to follow its movement until it gets tired. Then quickly move the left analog stick up and down to reel in until it starts moving again. It might jump out of the water as well. In these situations move the analog stick in the direction it jumps and press the restrain button which is R2 or RT on the controller.
Try and avoid casting your bait from close to obstacles or rocks because if a large fish moves too far to each side of an obstacle, you might lose it. Again, you need to be patient during fishing.
If you're struggling to see where the fish is moving in a pool of other fish with a lot of splashing, look for the fin above water and focus on it so you can see where that is moving rather than the silhouette or shadow. This makes the whole process a lot easier.
How to catch 30 whoppers and unlock the A-fish-ionado trophy in Monster Hunter Wilds
If you're after the A-fish-ionado trophy and achievement in Monster Hunter Wilds, you need to catch 30 whoppers. If you've been following Kanya's quest chain, you might have already caught a few, but your aim is to have caught 30 in total to unlock it. The best place to do this is in Area 17: Great Lake Shore. Rest until Morning and Plenty (environment) and then start walking across the shore. You will see a few pools of fish with big Gastronome Tuna swimming among them.
I usually caught three or four Gastronome Tuna fish on each rest here and got the trophy in under an hour. You might see other large fish like the Gajau here, but those are harder to catch. I recommend focusing on Gastronome Tuna fish for the quickest and easiest way to unlock the A-fish-ionado trophy and achievement in Monster Hunter Wilds.
How to catch the most fish without being interrupted in Monster Hunter Wilds
Depending on when and where you're fishing, you might run into monsters spawning. You can equip the Ghillie Mantle or use a large dung pod on monsters like the Uth Duna that potentially spawns in Area 17: Great Lake Shore. Aside from doing those two things, I recommend having the camp unlocked at Area 17 in the Scarlet Forest. This camp will be super useful for all fishing-related activities.
Monster Hunter Wilds is now available worldwide on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC (Steam). Check out all our Monster Hunter Wilds guides here.