The rainbow trout is a cool fish that only comes out during one season in Stardew Valley, making it one of a small handful of fish in the game that can’t be found in two or more seasons. The pixel art of the trout is cute, but how does the rainbow trout in Stardew compare to other fish?
Let’s take a look at this fun little summer fish in Stardew Valley starting with the basics, talking about what they’re good for, and everything else you need to know.
Let’s jump in!
Stardew Valley Rainbow Trout: The Basics
The rainbow trout can be described simply as a sunny day summer fish of easy to moderate quality. Pretty graphics, but very average in almost every aspect beyond that.
- Where: In the town river, forest river, and mountain lake
- When: Summer season only 6AM to 7PM, Sunny weather only
- Difficulty: Medium at a 45 (out of 100), they aren’t overly difficult to catch and you will not need any special rod or gear to catch them
- Best For: Creating a fish pond or selling. They’re not particularly good for recovering energy or health and definitely not for gifting.
- Value: 18-30 fishing XP
If you want the specifics on how the numbers on rainbow trout change with each quality level, here’s a chart with all the relevant information:
| Rainbow Trout Quality | Energy | Health | Base Price | Fisher Price | Angler Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Base | +25 | +11 | 65g | 81g | 97g |
| Silver | +35 | +15 | 81g | 101g | 121g |
| Gold | +45 | +20 | 97g | 121g | 145g |
| Iridium | +65 | +29 | 130g | 162g | 195g |
Rainbow Trout Are Amazing for a Fish Pond
One of the major surprises many Stardew players find when they choose to create a Fish Pond stocked with Rainbow Trout is that these otherwise almost completely ordinary fish can give an incredibly rare and valuable item that resonates with their colorful nature: the Prismatic Shard.
The rainbow trout roe is very average if not straight out mediocre, and will be the most common product.
However, if the player does the three necessary quests to allow for 9 or more rainbow trout in a single fish pun, that unlocks many more items that can pop up. Those rainbow trout fish pond items and drop chances include:
- Rainbow Shell 2% overall item drop rate
- Prismatic Shard 0.1% overall item drop rate
Obviously the rare prismatic shard is the most exciting (and rare) one, but it definitely makes the rainbow trout in Stardew Valley all that much more appealing.
Other Uses for Rainbow Trout in Stardew Valley
Aside from the obvious selling or eating, there are a few ways the rainbow trout is useful in Stardew Valley. Let’s go over the three main ones outside of the prismatic shard producing fish pond.
Cooking
One of the major ones is with cooking. Since rainbow trout is not especially valuable and isn’t required in any bundle, it makes for an excellent fish for cooking recipes.
This makes rainbow trout an ideal choice for making:
- Maki Rolls
- Sashimi
- Trout Soup
- Quality Fertilizer
Quests & Special Quests
There are a limited amount of quests during the summer where the rainbow trout might be randomly picked as a fish or item. These quests only appear during the summer and are:
- Demetrius requests 1-4 rainbow trout for 65g per fish
- Wily requests 1-4 rainbow trout for 65g per fish
- One rainbow trout might be randomly requested by any town member for 195g plus friendship points with the poster
On the Special Orders board starting in Year 2 Demetrius might request 10 rainbow trout to prevent their overpopulation in local Pelican Town waters.
Tailoring Materials
The Stardew rainbow trout can also be used in the Sewing Machine to create the Fish Shirt design. The fish must be put in the spool of the sewing machine to create this particular shirt.
The rainbow trout becomes orange dye if it is used in the dye pots at Emily’s house instead of in the spool.
How Do Rainbow Trout Compare to Other Fish in Stardew Valley?
When it comes to pure cash value, rainbow trout are a pretty weak fish in Stardew Valley. They’re not the worst, but their definitely on the lower end of things compared to the most valuable side but there are a few things going for them.
One: They are very easy to catch. By the time they show up even with a modest fishing rod and fishing skill, you should be able to pull a lot of them in without too much issue.
Two: They are great for fish ponds. Not because of roe, because their roe is actually pretty cheap compared to many others, but the occasional prismatic shard is a HUGE pay-off for any fish pond.
Three: They’re great cooking recipe fish because they’re not valuable enough in energy recovery, health recovery, or worth that much money to sell.
While the rainbow trout in Stardew might be a pretty basic fish in most ways, that doesn’t mean it doesn’t have it’s place!
Stardew Rainbow Trout FAQ
Where do I find rainbow trout in Stardew Valley?
All the rivers as well as the mountain lake, but only during the summer season on sunny days. If it’s spring, fall, winter, or raining you won’t be able to catch a rainbow trout.
What season can you catch rainbow trout in Stardew Valley?
Rainbow trout can only be caught in summer in this game.
What are the chances of getting a prismatic shard from Rainbow Trout ponds in Stardew Valley?
The drop rate is 0.1% meaning it represents one out of 1,000 drops from the rainbow trout pond. So definitely not common, but it’s one heck of a pay-off when it comes up.
Other Stardew Valley Guides You’ll Love
- Stardew Rare Seeds Guide
- Stardew Valley Sprinklers
- Fences in Stardew Valley
- Fruit Tree Guide Stardew
- Recovering Lost Items Stardew Valley
Proud to embrace the locally created moniker of “Corrupt Overlord” from one of the all time great Lords of Waterdeep runs, Shane is one member of the Assorted Meeples crew and will be hard at work creating awesome content for the website. He is a long-time player of board games, one time semi-professional poker player, and tends to run to the quirky or RPG side of things when it comes to playing video games. He loves tabletop roleplaying systems like Dungeons & Dragons, Pathfinder, Werewolf, Fate, and others, and not only has been a player but has run games as DM for years. You can find his other work in publications like Level Skip or Hobby Lark.