Catching a sturgeon in Stardew isn’t as easy as going out to the water, casting a line, and kicking back with a Seafoam Pudding while you wait for the bites to start. To catch your fish, you’ll have to wait for the right moment, weather, and location until you have a fishing pond stocked with sturgeon.
While sturgeon aren’t used as items for any specific quest, they’re still quite valuable for the game. They are a favorite item of Willy and can also be used to complete the lake fish bundle, create a fishing vest, or as an ingredient in Sashimi, Quality Fertilizer, or the Maki Roll.
Sturgeon Fishing in Stardew Valley
You’ll have to head out to Mountain Lake to get your first sturgeon. Ensure you have a fishing rod in your inventory and equipped. If you don’t have one yet, visit the dock by the ocean and talk to Willy to get one.
- Check the season to be sure a sturgeon will even be present in the waters of Stardew Valley for you to catch. They aren’t as elusive as some other fish but will only appear during summer and winter. It isn’t possible to get one in spring and fall without using Magic Bait. So make sure that you only go out for sturgeon in those seasons.
- Find the right hunting grounds. Sturgeon in Stardew is native to Mountain Lake and no other water source—unless you own the wilderness farm, which will be discussed below in the tips and exceptions section.
The mountain lake is east of Robin’s cottage and south of the Mine and the Adventurer’s Guild. You can fish into the mountain lake from any location around it with the same probability of catching your quarry.
- Fish in Stardew don’t only appear based on the season but also the time of day and the weather. There is a better chance of finding Sturgeon during summer’s rainy days. You will not have luck catching a sturgeon at night as it appears from 6 AM to 7 PM. If you aren’t content to wait for a rainy day, you can use a Rain Totem to make it rain which will raise the chance of finding sturgeon from the Mountain Lake Waters.
- Prepare to cast your line. With your fishing rod equipped, look into the lake and hold down the tool button to cast your line.
- When you press the button to cast, a meter that shows how far you throw the line will appear. You want to hold it down until you will be casting far out to raise your chances of catching the sturgeon. It is more likely to be attracted to lines thrown into the deeper water than those near shore.
- Wait for a fish to bite. You’ll get audible feedback and see a little symbol above you when a fish has clamped onto the line. Click the Use button to start the mini-game that will let you catch the fish.
- Try to keep the fish icon inside the green rectangle on the meter. It will bounce and dart up and down, with the motions changing depending on what kind it is. Sturgeons have mixed behavior and will probably move slowly at times and then dart at others. Be cautious. If you let the fish stay outside of the shaded area for too long, you’ll lose it. If you successfully hold it in place, you’ll catch the fish – and hopefully, it will be your sturgeon.
- Keep fishing until the sturgeon appears. As long as the time of year, weather, and location are correct, you’re only at the mercy of time until the right fish appears, and you catch it after completing the mini-game.
Remember, you can use upgraded fishing rods or bait to increase your chances of nabbing the sturgeon. It must be used with the Fiberglass Rod or the Iridium Rod because the basic fishing pole cannot take bait attachments.
There are a few kinds of bait to consider to catch your prey.
- Standard Bait will make the fish bite faster, which can be very useful when capturing a fish with such specific requirements. Rainy days leave quickly and don’t always come on very often. Even plain Bait will enhance your chances by supplying more nibbles from the fish in the pond.
- Wild Bait is more useful than plain Bait because instead of reducing the delay between nibbles by 50 percent, it reduces it by almost 63 percent. It makes things go just a bit faster. However, the recipe for Wild Bait is harder to attain since you don’t get it until you raise Linus to four hearts and have the corresponding event.
- Magic Bait will allow you to catch the sturgeon even when it isn’t the right season or weather. However, you can also catch much other potential fish with this bait, so the entire process could end up taking longer.
Whatever you do, don’t use a Magnet attachment on your rod. It increases the chance that you’ll get treasure but makes fish more likely to bite. You may want to take advantage of a Dressed Spinner, however.
Using Fish Pond to Collect Sturgeon
If you want to farm sturgeon, you can catch one manually and place it in a Fish Pond. The sturgeon will reproduce in the pond so that you can have multiple fish on your property. When you need a sturgeon, just cast your rod and pluck one from the pond. You don’t even have to complete the mini-game.
The fish pond can’t create higher-quality fish even if you only add quality fish to it. So don’t count on it if you hope to get a high-quality Sturgeon. Otherwise, the fish in the pond will reproduce and create Roe or other goods.
