Fishing Bundles – The Fish Tank
There is something relaxing about fishing, isn’t there? In real life and in Stardew Valley, there’s something about it that puts you at ease. While, in the game, you are not afforded the same sights and sounds as real life, it is balanced by the notification that the game gives you that you have a “Hit!” and provides an indicator how well you’re doing at reeling that fish in.
To no one’s surprise, in Stardew Valley, there is also a set of bundles that revolve around fishing. These bundles are grouped by geographic location, rather than season, like the crop bundles. However, time of year, time of day and weather are all major factors that come into play when hunting for specific fish to complete your bundles. Like other bundles for the Community Center, these challenges are required by the Junimos to repair a specific portion of the Community Center – the Fish Tank. These bundles are unlocked after completing one bundle. When you come into the Community Center, it is in the Main Room, at the top of the room, near the back right, and looks like t his:
Ooof, that’s seen better days. Before we go any further, if you’re struggling finding a fish, keep your eyes out for the Traveling Kart. If it appears there, it will likely not come cheap, but it could mean the difference between completing the Community Center in one year or five years (especially at lower fishing skill levels!). Below, we will go over the individual bundles the Junimos require before repairing the Fish Tank.
River Fish Bundle
The River Fish Bundle requires one of each of four different fish that can be found in rivers throughout the area of Pelican Town. Examples of these rivers are the two that run north-south on the East side of town South of the mountain lake and mine, or the river that runs east-west in the southern portion of town and continues west through the Cindersap Forest south of Marnie’s Farm. The fish that are required for this bundle are the following fish:
- Sunfish
- Catfish
- Shad
- Tiger Trout
The Sunfish can be found during the “daytime hours” “of 6 AM to 7 PM on any day in Spring or Summer. Tiger Trout can be found during the same hours but only during the Fall and Winter seasons. The Catfish and Shad can be found at any time but will only come out on days that it is raining. For Catfish, it is in the Spring and Fall (or Summers in the Secret Woods) and for the Shad it is the Spring, Summer and Fall. The reward for this bundle is 30 pieces of bait.
Lake Fish Bundle
The next bundle is the Lake Fish Bundle. Similar to the Lake Fish Bundle, this has four fish that are all required to complete this bundle. These fish are:
- Largemouth Bass
- Carp
- Bullhead
- Sturgeon
The Carp can be caught in any lake, any time, and season (probably one of the easiest fish to catch!). The Bullhead can also be found at any time and any season, but only in the Mountain Lake, near the entrance of the Mine. The Largemouth Bass can also only be found in the Mountain Lake in every season, but only during the “daylight hours.” The Sturgeon can only be found in the Mountain Lake, during the “daylight hours” and only in the Summer and Winter Months. The reward for this bundle is a dressed spinner, which is used to decrease the time before a bite occurs on any line that is currently cast. These will break after a few casts, but it seems to depend and is not a set number of casts before it breaks.
Ocean Fishing Bundle
The third bundle we will focus on is the Ocean Fishing Bundle. As above, this is a set of 4 different fish that can only be fished at the Beach that is south of Pelican Town. These fish are the following:
- Sardine
- Tuna
- Red Snapper
- Tilapia
The Sardine and Tuna are ostensibly the easiest to catch of this group. The Sardine can be caught during the “daylight hours” during the Spring, Fall and Winter. The Tuna can be found during the same hours, but only during the Summer and Winter. The Red Snapper can be found during daylight hours in the Summer and Fall but only on days when it is raining. The Tilapia can be found in the Summer and Fall but only during the hours of 6 AM to 2 PM. The reward for this bundle are 5 Beach Warp totems, which will let you warp from any location directly to the totem that is located at the tree line on the Beach Map. After each use, the totem is consumed.
Night Fishing Bundle
The next bundle is the Night Fishing Bundle. While the other fishing bundles have focused on fish that are predominately found during the daylight hours, these fish can ONLY be found during the evening. There are only three fish in this bundle and they are:
- Walleye
- Bream
- Eel
Bream can be found in any season, from 6 PM to 2 AM in Rivers. Eels can be found in the Ocean from 4 PM to 2 AM in the Spring and Fall and only when it’s raining. Similarly, Walleye can only be found in rain, in Rivers, Lakes and Forest Ponds, from 12 PM to 2 AM. The reward for this bundle is a Small Glow Ring, which emanates a bit of light for a small area around the player and is very useful at later hours and in some levels of the mine.
Crab Pot Bundle
Ugh. This bundle is a real pain. The bad news? You’ll either have to buy some stuff from the Traveling Cart or craft/buy and bait crab pot with religious fervor (and pray for luck). The good news? The list is pretty long, with 10 possible options, and you only need 5. And 4 of those can be foraged on the beach! The whole list is:
- Lobster
- Crayfish
- Crab
- Cockle
- Mussel
- Shrimp
- Snail
- Periwinkle
- Oyster
- Clam
All of these can be caught in a crab pot (but so can junk!), but the Clam, Oyster, Mussel and Cockle are all fairly common on the Beach as forage items. In addition, you can find crabs being dropped by Rock Crabs or Lava Crabs in the Mine. It is nice that you don’t have to worry about season for this bundle, but it isn’t very easy to find some of these items.
Specialty Fish Bundle
The final bundle needed is the Specialty Fish Bundle. If you know what you’re doing, this bundle isn’t particularly difficult! They all have very specific conditions so you just need to know where to look and when. In addition, there are only four fish that you need to find to complete this bundle:
- Pufferfish
- Ghostfish
- Sandfish
- Woodskip
The Woodskip can only be found in the Secret Woods but can be found at any time in any season. In order to catch the Sandfish, you must have access to the Bus, as it can only be found in the Desert. It can be found in any season from 6 AM to 10 PM, so if you’re trying to complete the Community Center in one year, you can save this for near the end! The Ghostfish can only be found in the Mines. You can either fish in the ponds that are in the Mines or you can – on rare occasion – find them as loot dropped by Ghosts. If fishing, they can be found at any time in any season. Finally, the Pufferfish can be found in the Ocean in Summer, only from Noon to 4 PM. All these fish are fairly common in the Traveling Cart as well, if you’re struggling finding one, you may luck into being able to purchase it. The reward for this bundle is 5 “Dish o’ The Sea” meals. This heals 125 Energy and 56 Health with the added benefit of granting a +3 to Fishing for 5 minutes and 35 seconds.
Once you complete all 6 bundles required for the Junimos to repair the Fish Tank. Once repaired, you will see that the Fish Tank now looks like this!
Additionally, once you go to sleep, you will see that the Junimos have now removed the Glittering Boulder that was immediately to the left of the Mine Entrance and North of the Mountain Lake. If you go up to the area, you be met by Willy, who will grant you a copper pan that you can use to “pan” for various types of ore, gems, minerals or other items that are typically only found mining. The player must be keen-eyed to spot the glittering patches in the water and have the pan in their inventory to take advantage of this. Despite the name, the copper pan cannot be upgraded like other tools.
