Farming simulations have become some of the most popular sims on the market today – and one that has captured the imagination of players from all over the world is Stardew Valley, in part because of the sheer choice of how to go about converting a run-down farm into a thriving enterprise.
You inherit that farm from your Grandfather – and need to start from the beginning with some hand-made tools that are somewhat worse for wear and a meager pocket full of coins. You face the might of the Joja Corporation in a race to see who will come out on top – can you be the person who can restore the fortunes of this once thriving town?
Fishing is a major part of the game and in fact is a great way to make decent money early game to help buy more seeds, plant crops, and upgrade some crucial tools to keep moving things forward. You’ll not only make you some coin – but it helps to stack up those experience points. A few fish can be used to cook once you have a kitchen and while not many fish make good gifts, sashimi is a great gift for most villager and can be made with any fish.
If you want to target Walleye in Stardew Valley here are some hints and tips that can help you maximize your chances of getting a strike and landing the big one.
Stardew Valley Walleye: The Basics
Firstly, a little about Walleye. Walleye measure from 10 – 41 inches and can be used to craft a variety of items such as the Maki Roll, quality fertilizer, and the all-important for energy and/or gifting Sashimi. They can also be used to craft a fishing vest at Emily’s, or put into the dye pot for a bright yellow dye.
- Where to catch Walleye in Stardew: Walleye are a widespread fish that can be found throughout the map in all fresh water locations, even the farm pond.
- When: Fall and Winter seasons but only during rainy or snowy days
- Difficulty: 45
- Best For: Cooking and crafting
- Value: 18-30 XP
- Spawn: [140]
Walleye are relatively easy fish to catch and are needed for the Night Fishing Bundle in the community center. Their behavior tends to be steady and at a mere difficulty of 45 should be very easy to pull in by the time they first appear in the fall.
| Walleye Quality | Energy | Health | Base Price | Fisher Price | Angler Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Base | +30 | +13 | 105g | 131g | 157g |
| Silver | +42 | +18 | 131g | 163g | 196g |
| Gold | +54 | +24 | 157g | 196g | 235g |
| Iridium | +78 | +35 | 210g | 262g | 315g |
When to Catch Walleye in Stardew Valleye
So how does one go about catching Walleye?
Walleye are best fished between the hours of 12 PM and 2 AM. So get all that farm work done in the morning! The season is also important – Walleye should be targeted during fall during rainy days. If you’re dealing with an in-game dry streak, a rain totem can help flip the weather back in your favor.
If you use Magic Bait you can target this species during any time of the year.
Where Can You Find Walleye?
If you are going to be targeting Walleye your best bet is to fish the Cindersap Forest Pond. The river that runs through the forest can also yield results. But if you target the Forest Pond on a rainy Fall day you have a 32% chance of landing Walleye. North of Pelican town at the upper right-hand corner of the map you will find Mountain Lake, which also has some great Walleye in residence.
You can buy them as an item that appears sometimes in the Traveling Cart, but they are expensive. And unlike fish like the Pufferfish or Lava Eel, walleye are pretty easy to catch so there’s not much reason for it.
You also increase your chances of catching walleye by using bait. As far as bait is concerned you can either use Wild Bait or Normal Bait. Wild bait is preferable, but it does require quite a few components. It also dramatically reduces nibble time – and you get the bonus chance of hooking two fish at once.
Remember that generally speaking in Stardew Valley walleye are a fall lake fish so don’t forget that or you might be fishing for
How to Use the Walleye in Stardew
The walleye has multiple uses in Stardew Valley. Aside from the already mentioned tailoring on Emily’s sewing machine, here are some of the best ways to use the walleye in Stardew.
Finishing Community Center Bundles
The walleye is one of the fish required to complete the Night Fishing bundle, so you will want to keep at least one for that. This is very important because the Community Center is a major part of the game and getting it completed open ups a wide variety of bonuses and late game options since the 1.5 update.
Crafting Food & Quality Fertilizer
This is one of the best uses of walleye since they are easy to catch, not overly valuable, and until you get to really high levels of fishing going with a Maki Roll or Sashimi
Fulfilling a Quest Request
There are multiple jobs when someone will specifically request a walleye on the Jobs Board outside of Pierre’s. This quest results in a large number of friendship points and moderate gold, especially for how easy the task is.
Fish Pond
The walleye can produce roe from a fish pond. There’s nothing special or outstanding about walleye in this regards, nor are there any special items created but they are a quick way to upgrade a fish pond. So when it comes to stocking your fish pond walleye isn’t the best option in most cases.
While there are walleye quests, there aren’t any walleye roe quests, at least not without a mod.
Stardew Valley Walleye, In Conclusion
The walleye is a late year one fish that sometimes evades a player if they don’t pay attention to the rainy day requirement. If you have a dry fall, it’s all the more important to prioritize some fishing after noon on one of those days to fill out the Community Center bundle and get that out of the way before going back to tending the pumpkin patches.
Other Stardew Valley articles and guides you may enjoy
- Stardew Shad Guide
- Stardew Void Salmon
- Stardew Lingcod Guide
- Stardew Rainbow Trout
- Is Stardew Valley Cross Platform?
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.