Ice Fishing

Ice Fishing is the Skill to catch fish in The Long Dark. It is performed at fishing holes, which are cut in the ice of fish-bearing bodies of water.

Overview

Fishing hut outside — A fishing hut is one of the safest and simplest locations to ice fish.

Ice Fishing is the skill to catch fish for food, lantern oil and source renewable Vitamin-C to avoid Scurvy. It is performed at any fish-bearing body of water, at hole(s) cut in its ice. These holes are found inside all Fishing Huts, and can also be made manually with any Tool (via the Radial Menu). The Survivor can fish manually with a Fishing Tackle, or semi-automatically with Fishing Tip-Ups (crafted fish traps). When choosing to fish the survivor can select to use bait, lures and how long to fish for. While fishing time is accelerated, and the task may be canceled early (ESC or "Cancel").

There are two methods of Ice Fishing:

Manual Ice Fishing: requires Fishing Tackle(s) and accelerates time while fishing. Catching fish manually both increases and benefits from Ice Fishing Skill. Manual Fishing is versatile and simple. needing few materials to do.
Fish Trapping: requires Fishing Tip-Up(s) and is semi-automatic. Deployed Tip-Ups catch fish independent of the survivor, but lose condition while deployed and require regular ice-clearing in their holes to prevent re-freeze. Deploying more than 6 Fishing Tip-Ups in the same Region will cause 'overfishing', resulting in diminishing returns (4 for Zone of Contamination). Trapping fish with Tip-Ups does not increase or benefit from Ice Fishing Skill. Deploying 6 Tip-Ups and actively maintaining them will yield a substantially higher amount of calories per hour (around 3.7x) compared to manually fishing (level 5), however this requires more resources and effort from the player.

Fishing Requires:

Fishing Tackle or Fishing Tip-Up
Tool to cut hole, or break ice on an existing hole
Hole cut in the ice (survivor-made, or inside of a Fishing Hut)

Fishing Optionally Requires:

Fuel and a lit Fire for warmth
Fishing Bait: increases weight of caught fish
Fishing Lure: increases odds of catching rare fish and increases bite times
Cooking Pot/Cooking Skillet/Recycled Can for boiling water
Water/Bedroll for sleeping on-site
Travois for hauling fuel to a fishing site, or fish away
Snow Shelter if using a cut hole near a snowy bank

Each fishing session is treated separately, so longer sessions will likely catch more fish than the same time broken into multiple sessions. Fishing for less than the "maximum bite time" will result in no fish ever being caught. Overfishing is caused by using more than 6 Tip-Ups in the same region (more than 4 in Zone of Contamination)

There are two types of fish: saltwater and freshwater, and four rarity: common, uncommon and two rare types. Fishing Lures only increase the odds of "rare" fish (at the cost of increase bite wait times).

Name	Rarity	Type	Minimum weight	Maximum weight	Raw caloric density	Odds
Lake Whitefish	Common	Fresh water	1.50 kg (3.3 lb)	2.30 kg (5.06 lb)	250 cal/kg	70
Rainbow Trout	Common	Salt water	0.50 kg (1.1 lb)	2.30 kg (5.06 lb)	250 cal/kg	70
Coho Salmon	Uncommon	Salt water	2.80 kg (6.16 lb)	5.50 kg (12.1 lb)	300 cal/kg	30
Smallmouth Bass	Uncommon	Fresh water	1.80 kg (3.96 lb)	5.00 kg (11 lb)	300 cal/kg	30
Goldeye	Rare	Fresh water	0.50 kg (1.1 lb)	2.10 kg (4.62 lb)	300 cal/kg	5
Burbot	Rare	Fresh water	3.90 kg (8.58 lb)	6.00 kg (13.2 lb)	325 cal/kg	2
Rockfish	Rare	Salt water	1.80 kg (3.96 lb)	5.00 kg (11 lb)	300 cal/kg	5
Red Irish Lord	Rare	Salt water	1.50 kg (3.3 lb)	3.10 kg (6.82 lb)	300 cal/kg	2
Big Bass*	Unique	Fresh water	15.00 kg (33 lb)	15.00 kg (33 lb)	300 cal/kg	Scripted

*Big Bass is found only in Wintermute

Equipment

Fishing Tackle and a tool to cut hole(s) in the ice are required for fishing. Optionally Bait and/or Lures can be used to increase bite-rate, or the odds of catching rare fish. Fishing on the ice for hours is very cold, so a lit fire with fuel and/or Snow Shelter is often required.

Fishing Tackle

Fishing Tackle are the primary tool for fishing. They are crafted from a Hook and Line. Tackle lasts until they break during fishing, and only degrade condition when used to Repair clothing (Tackle durability has no effect on break rate).

Ice Breaker

Ice breakers are any tool used to clear ice holes. Fully clearing a hole takes the full break time, with a partially frozen hole taking much less. Prybar and Heavy Hammer take longer to clear than bladed tools, but sustain less condition loss when doing so. Prybars are non-renewable or repairable, but Heavy Hammers may be repaired sustainably (but not replaced if ruined).

	Break rate (minutes to clear ice)	Tool decay
Prybar	45.0 min	2.0%
Heavy Hammer	45.0 min	2.0%
Hatchet	20.0 min	5.0%
Hunting Knife	40.0 min	5.0%
Improvised Hatchet	30.0 min	10.0%
Improvised Knife	50.0 min	8.0%

Fishing Tip-Ups

Fishing Tip-Ups are tools to trap fish at Fishing Holes (including those inside of Fishing Huts). They can be fitted with Lures or Bait, and function similar to Snares, but unlike Snares are not effective when used passively: as they require regular ice-clearing to function, and will lose condition while deployed.

After clearing an ice hole and placing the Tip-Up in the water the tool will auto fish. As time passes and a fish bites the tackle, the tool will "Tip-Up" and fall upright with a metallic jingling sound. Tip-Ups lose condition when deployed (1% per hour outside, 0.5% per hour inside a Fishing Hut). Catching fish with Tip-Ups does not yield Ice Fishing Skill or benefit from it.

Any number of Tip-Ups may be deployed in a region, but deploying more than 6 results in the 'overfishing penalty', yielding diminishing returns (4 in Zone of Contamination).

Fishing Bait

Fishing Bait are an optional tool to catch larger fish. Using Bait increases average fish size by +30%, but one piece of Bait will be consumed for each fish caught. Bait is crafted by harvesting any raw fish and takes 30 minutes regardless of fish weight. Heavier fish yield more Bait when harvested (3 Bait per 1kg of Raw Fish weight).

Fishing Lures

Fishing Lures are an optional tool for catching rare fish. Using lures increases the odds of catching a rare fish by 5-10x, but increases the maximum possible wait time for a fish to bite by +20%-75%. Lures are crafted at a Work Bench and do not lose condition when used, but will be lost if a Fishing Tackle breaks while fishing. All fishing lures weigh 0.01kg.

Lure	Rare Fish Bonus	Maximum Wait Penalty	Materials	Creation Time
Simple Fishing Lure	+500%	+20%	1 Scrap Metal	30 min
Fishing Lure (Acorns)	+800%	+50%	1 Acorns 1 Crow Feather 1 Scrap Metal	50 min
Fishing Lure (Casing)	+800%	+50%	1 Revolver Shell Casing 1 Crow Feather 1 Scrap Metal	50 min
Fishing Lure (Wire)	+1000%	+75%	1 Wire Bundle 1 Crow Feather 1 Scrap Metal	50 min

Fishing Holes

Ice Fishing by the survivor or their Tip-Ups requires holes cut in the ice of fishable bodies of water. These holes may be found inside of all Fishing Huts (small green structures found on the ice in many Regions), or cut manually by the water with any Tool. Holes will gradually re-freeze, and must be manually cleared periodically to continue use.

Fishing on Pilgrim, Voyageur and Stalker have the same fishing rates. Fishing on Interloper begins at the same rate, but increases the bite-times to twice as long on average (starting from Day 10, reaching maximum effect at day 50).

Fishing inside of Fishing Huts is more efficient than survivor-cut holes. The Fishing Hut in Bitter Marsh (Ash Canyon) is unique and grants a further bonus to fishing rate.

Fishing Holes
	Custom Holes	Fishing Huts	Fishing Hut (Ash Canyon)
Time to Catch*	30-120 minutes	10-90 minutes	10-70 minutes
Tip-Up Decay	1%/hour	0.5/hour	0.5/hour
Ice Hole Freeze	12.5/hour	4.16%/hour	4.16%/hour

*Time to Catch on Interloper mode progressively increases up to a maximum of twice as long at Day 50, while beginning at the same value as Pilgrim/Voyageur/Stalker.

Fishing Huts

Fishing Huts are small structures on the ice which provide protection from the elements and wildlife. All fishing huts contain a pre-cut hole in the ice for fishing. Huts also contain a Pot Belly Stove to keep warm, cook or boil water, and some have door and provide a warmth bonus in their interior. Wildlife cannot enter a fishing hut even when the door is open.

All fishing holes inside Fishing Huts are more efficient than survivor-made ones outside, with all Fishing Huts being identical except for Ash Canyon's which has a higher bite-rate

Free-Form Ice Fishing Holes

The survivor can cut holes in the ice to fish from with any tool on fishable ice (deep blue ice, not white ice). Without a Fishing Hut for protection, fishing manually at a cut hole runs the risk of exposure or wildlife attacks. It is also impossible to place holes in areas designated as Weak Ice areas. Cutting Ice Fishing Holes was added as part of the free update for Part 3 of the Tales from the Far Territory.

Fishing at cut Ice Fishing Holes are less efficient and have higher Tip-Up condition loss than holes inside of Fishing Huts, but can may be made anywhere on appropriate ice surfaces.

Holes can be cut in the following areas:

Region	Hut Present?	Location	Water type
Ash Canyon	Yes	Bitter Marsh	Fresh Water
Ash Canyon	No	Long Falls	Fresh Water
Bleak Inlet	Yes (east side)	The entire ocean areas to the south	Salt Water
Broken Railroad	No	Pond north of Maintenance Yard	Fresh Water
Coastal Highway	Yes	The entire ocean area	Salt Water
Desolation Point	No	The entire ocean area	Salt Water
Forsaken Airfield	Yes	Shoulder Lake	Fresh Water
Forsaken Airfield	No	Pond near Final Approach and Surveyor's Memory	Fresh Water
Hushed River Valley	No	Monolith Lake	Fresh Water
Keeper's Pass South	Yes	River area near Mirthless Fork	Fresh Water
Mountain Town	No	Milton Basin	Fresh Water
Mystery Lake	Yes	Mystery Lake	Fresh Water
Mystery Lake	No	Unnamed Pond	Fresh Water
Crumbling Highway	No	The entire ocean area	Salt Water
Pleasant Valley	Yes	Pensive Pond	Fresh water
Pleasant Valley	No	Various points on the large main river (See below map)	Fresh water
Timberwolf Mountain	Yes	Crystal Lake	Fresh Water
Sundered Pass	Yes	Ambler's Lake	Fresh Water
Sundered Pass	No	Giant's Thumbprint	Fresh Water
Sundered Pass	No	Seedling Spring	Fresh Water
Winding River	No	River area in front of Carter Hydro Dam	Fresh Water
Zone of Contamination	No	Unquenched Extraction	Fresh Water

Pleasant Valley Ice Fishing Spots — The Free Form Ice Fishing spots on the river in Pleasant Valley

Skill Levels

Players can increase their Ice Fishing skill by catching any fish.

A limited increase can be obtained from the Research Book The Frozen Angler, which increases the Ice Fishing by 10 skill points with 5 hours of research. This means that you can reach level 2 directly by reading your first book.

Level	Skill points	Effects
1	0	Basic ice fishing skill
2	10	Fishing time reduced by 5% 8% chance of line break on catch
3	50	Fishing time reduced by 10% 5% chance of line break on catch
4	150	10% to average fish weight Fishing time reduced by 20% 3% chance of line break on catch
5	250	25% to average fish weight Fishing time reduced by 30% 1% chance of line break on catch

Trivia

Cooked Fish yield a small amount of Lantern Oil when picked up. This is automatically added to existing oil containers in the survivor's inventory. Jerry Cans hold fuel more efficiently than "Lantern Fuel" bottles.
Fish have a much poorer calories:weight ratio than other meat types, especially while raw. Cooking improves this rate, but even Rabbit/Ptarmigan meat is more efficient for travel food.
Three recipes use fish: Trout Stew, Dockworker's Pie and Coastal Fishcakes.