Fishing in The Long Dark has seen major changes, transforming from a niche food source into an essential strategy for long-term survival. Thanks to new mechanics and the introduction of tip-ups, fishing can now provide consistent access to calories, oil, and vitamin C — especially vital on higher difficulties.

This comprehensive guide will cover the best fishing techniques, optimal fishing spots, pros and cons of tip-ups, and more — all aimed at helping you maximize your yield efficiently.

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🐟 Why Fish? More Than Just Food

Fishing offers multiple renewable benefits:

• Calories: A steady supply of energy.
• Lamp Oil: Extracted from fish.
• Vitamin C: Currently the best renewable source, essential for avoiding scurvy in long runs.

With tip-ups, the volume of fish you can catch skyrockets. Let’s break down the systems.

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🎣 Fishing Spots: Not All Ice Is Equal

Fishing Huts:

• Faster catch rates.
• Tip-ups decay slower.
• Ice freezes slower.

Best Hut: The broken hut in Ash Canyon — fastest catch rates in the game.

Zone of Contamination:

• Lowest catch rates.
• Built around food scarcity, so fishing is intentionally inefficient here.

Game Difficulty:

• On Pilgrim, Voyager, and Stalker: Fishing remains consistent.
• On Interloper: Catch rate eventually slows to half of early-game speed.

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🧲 Lures & Bait: Worth It?

Fishing Lures:

• Increase rare fish chance.
• Also increase maximum time to catch fish.
• Not worth it overall — less efficient calories and oil per hour.

Fishing Bait:

• Harvested from raw fish (3 bait per 1kg, rounded down).
• Raises minimum fish weight by 50% — better quality catch.
• Spoils over time and smells (attracts predators).
• Consumed with every catch attempt (even if line breaks).

✅ Use bait sparingly. It’s helpful but risky and time-sensitive.

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🧵 Tackle Fishing (Old School Style)

Still viable early-game or with minimal resources:

• Tackle condition doesn’t matter — feel free to use damaged ones.
• Randomized catch time between a min/max window.
• If you fish in 1-hour intervals, you might catch nothing (too short). Know the max catch time for your setup.

Use a calculator or test to ensure you fish long enough. Short sessions can waste time.

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📐 Tip-Ups: Game-Changing Tools

Tip-ups allow multiple simultaneous fishing attempts, making them by far the most efficient method.

Pros:

• Fish while doing other things (cooking, resting).
• Catch rates faster than tackle when used correctly.

Cons:

• Decay passively at 1% per hour, even without catching anything.
• Lose 10% per line break.
• No skill XP or fishing bonuses apply.
• Ice freezes between visits, requiring time/tools to clear.

✅ Use tip-ups above 15% condition. Below that, break them down for materials.

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🎣 Tip-Up Best Practices

• Max of 6 tip-ups before penalties apply.
  • Overfishing limits catch rates per hole beyond 6.
  • Zone of Contamination is the exception (limit is 40).
• Huts bypass the overfishing penalty (inside hole only).

🔥 Optimal Setup:

• Place 5 tip-ups just outside a fishing hut.
• Place 1 tip-up inside the hut.
• Maintain the holes (re-break every 10 in-game minutes to avoid freezing).
• Rotate nap, cook, and clear ice in rhythm.

You can easily pull 50,000 calories/day with this strategy — equivalent to two bears, without the danger.

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🧊 Ice Breaking & Tools

Best Ice Breaking Tool: Heavy Hammer

• Low decay, easily repaired with hardwood.

Alternative: Pry Bar

• Works fine but is not renewable and can’t be repaired.

Prevent ice from fully freezing by checking holes often. Save time and reduce tool wear.

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🛖 No Fishing Hut? Use Snow Shelters

Some regions lack huts but allow snow shelter fishing:

• Viable Regions: Hushed River Valley, Mountain Town, Desolation Point, Broken Railroad, Zone of Contamination.
• Strategy: Build shelter near 3–4 holes. Requires precise placement.
• Crumbling Highway and Winding River: Fishing possible, but no good shelter spots yet found.

Place holes smartly:

• Start with rightmost hole, align with shelter edge.
• Place others as close as possible.
• Don’t finish breaking ice until you’re sure of positioning.
• If you let a hole fully refreeze (and avoid loading screens), you can reattempt placement.

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🎯 Fishing Summary Checklist

• Use up to 6 tip-ups at a time (no more).
• Fish from huts when possible — faster and safer.
• Bait: helpful but risky and limited.
• Lures: Not recommended — reduce overall efficiency.
• Tackle: fine early on or for XP.
• Heavy Hammer = best for ice.
• Stay proactive: clear holes every 10 minutes.
• Maximize returns with multi-tasking: fish, nap, cook, repeat.

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Final Thoughts

Fishing is no longer an afterthought in The Long Dark — it’s a sustainable, safe, and incredibly efficient method of long-term survival. With proper setup and rhythm, you’ll never lack calories, oil, or vitamin C again.

Set your tip-ups, keep the ice clear, and remember: two bears’ worth of food per day is just a hut and hammer away.

Stay warm, stay smart, and happy fishing.