Target catch → correct bait → correct fillet

Graveyard Keeper 2 Fishing Guide

For Frogs, fish in the Swamp with no bait. The community table lists a 100% Frog catch selection there by day or night while stock remains. For Mysterious fish fillet, target Goldfish, Silverfin or Swamp Ghost and process them at the Kitchen Table under Mysterious fish dishes, Farming mastery 6. Eel is a Sea fish in the catalogue, not a Mysterious fish.

Scope: targeted fishing routes, bait and fillet recipes from Wikily's fishing database and its station records, checked October 17. These findings have not been independently game-tested and are not official or all-platform instructions. Percentages below describe full-stock catch selection, not guaranteed successful reeling; stock and player execution still matter.

Start fishing: rod, mastery and the bite

1. Get a rod and meet Farming mastery 1 or higher. The fishing overview lists both as requirements. Its rod catalogue lists Basic Rod at Woodworking Workbench I, with a +1 line bonus. Amateur Rod has +2, Advanced Rod +4 and Pro Rod +6. The Fish Stand sells Amateur, then Advanced from trader level 2 and Pro from level 3.
2. Pick a spot for the fish you need. The six listed spots are Inquisition Base, Village, Port Area, Forest, Swamp and Sewers. Not every species lives at every spot.
3. Select the correct bait, or no bait. The bait window only offers options that something at the spot takes. One bait is spent per cast; no bait is a valid choice for certain fish.
4. Strike when the bobber dips. The bite window varies by fish; the catalogue lists Swamp Ghost among the shortest. A good catch-selection chance does not remove the need to strike and reel successfully.
5. Manage the fight. Farming mastery and rod line bonus matter when reeling. If the fish repeatedly breaks the line, improve the rod or mastery rather than changing a bait that already hooks the intended species.

Frog route: go to the Swamp and leave the hook empty

The Swamp table lists Frog: 100% with no bait, day or night; full stock 5. Frog also takes Breadcrumb and Insect Bait, but those baits add other candidates: the full-stock Frog share falls to 38.5% with Breadcrumb Bait and 45.5% with Insect Bait. Do not spend bait to improve a no-bait-only Frog pool.

If the spot is empty, let it restock rather than interpreting “100%” as infinite Frogs. Keep the Frog whole when a cooking recipe asks for Frog; it is not a substitute for Mysterious fish fillet.

Mysterious fish: three real targets, not a guessed category

The fishing catalogue's category records identify Goldfish, Silverfin and Swamp Ghost as the three Mysterious fish. The Kitchen Table recipes separately confirm that each produces Mysterious fish fillet. Eel's Swamp habitat does not put it in this category: its catalogue category is Sea fish.

Other Goldfish route: the Port Area has Goldfish with Insect Bait at 16.7% by day or 20% at night, full stock 1. The Forest row above is an alternative, not its only location.

Turn a catch into the ingredient your recipe wants

1. Unlock Mysterious fish dishes and meet Farming mastery 6 at the Kitchen Table.
2. Select the row for your actual fish: Goldfish yields 1 Mysterious fish fillet, Silverfin 2, and Swamp Ghost 3 before Fish Filleter. The perk doubles those outputs.
3. Use the fillets in the requested dish rather than handing over a whole fish or a different fillet category.

Each of those fillet recipes lists 7 ticks at 2 energy per tick. For a concrete next step, the Kitchen Oven lists 2 Mysterious fish fillet + 2 Frog + 20 Fuel → 1 Fisherman's pie, or 2 with Cook II, under Mysterious fish dishes at Farming mastery 6. A Silverfin supplies the base fillet amount for that recipe; the Frogs are separate inputs. See the cooking guide for oven repair and Fuel.

Make the bait at the Kitchen Table

The Kitchen Table catalogue and bait overview give these recipes:

• Breadcrumb Bait: 1 Bread → 4 bait; Fishing II, Farming mastery 2; 4 ticks at 1 energy per tick.
• Insect Bait: 4 Firefly → 4 bait; Fishing III, Farming mastery 4; 4 ticks at 1 energy per tick.
• Live Bait: 1 Lacquer + 1 Flesh → 4 bait; Fishing IV, Farming mastery 6; 4 ticks at 1 energy per tick.

The bait recipe's mastery is not a claim that every fish requires that exact mastery to reel in. For Lacquer, see alchemy ingredient production. For Bread and the table repair, see cooking unlocks.

Legendary fish use Live Bait, not the mysterious-fillet route

The legendary entries list four targets, all taking only Live Bait:

• Mythic Carp: Village.
• Kraken Jr: Port Area.
• Celestial Salmon: Forest.
• Elder Catfish: Swamp.

Their full-stock tables list 100% selection with Live Bait, one fish stocked per spot. They still need to be hooked and reeled, and the source says legendary fish restock 5–10 times more slowly than ordinary fish. No trader buys these four according to the catalogue; the first catch unlocks a corresponding special dish recipe. Do not pursue them as replacements for Silverfin or Swamp Ghost fillets.

Fishing troubleshooting

• Bait option missing: something at the current spot must take that bait. Check the location, not only your inventory.
• Only Roach: unbaited Inquisition Base and Village pools heavily favor Roach. Move to the target spot and use a matching bait rather than expecting an even species roll.
• Wrong Swamp catch: no bait targets Frog; Breadcrumb Bait can select Catfish or Silverfin; Insect Bait can select Eel or Swamp Ghost as well as Frog.
• Line snaps: rod bonus, Farming mastery and fish fight strength matter. Fisherman reduces fight strength; Fish Filleter changes processing output instead.
• No fish left: each species has finite local stock and restocks individually. The listed full-stock odds change as fish are removed.

Fishing FAQ