Food is a major part of Valheim, and there is a real push in the mid-game to find sustainable supplies of three high-quality types of food to maximise HP and stamina. Take a look at our guide to food for more discussion around this, but this article is about how to obtain raw fish which can then be converted into cooked fish and fish wraps for maximum effectiveness.
Fishing Rod
Fish can be caught using a Fishing Rod. The fishing rod is not a craftable item, and can only be found at the Black Forest trader, Haldor. It can be purchased for 350 gold coins, and 50x bait can be purchased for 10 coins. See our guide to finding Haldor for more tips on how to find the trader in the Black Forest.
Fishing
Fishing in Valheim is very similar to fishing in real life. It involves finding an area with fish, and a lot of patience. When it is calm you can see the fish swimming around in the water, so find a large river or coastline and search for an area with lots of fish. You will need to have your fishing rod selected, and then press and hold LMB to power up for casting. Once you have reached the power you desire, release LMB and you will cast the hook out a certain distance. The longer you hold LMB the further it will cast out, but be warned that this can make it more difficult to land a catch.
Next comes the patience. You will need to wait a while for one of the multitude of fish to take the bait. You should see the float bob under the water when a fish takes a nibble, at which point you need to hook it. To hook your fish press and hold RMB until you get a message saying HOOKED. You can then work the fish toward you using RMB to reel it in. This uses up your stamina, so take your time and work with the fish to gain maximum distance for minimum effort. Tap RMB when the fish moves towards you to take in the slack, and when it moves away from you hang tight until it turns round and comes back towards you. If you run out of stamina the fish will escape, so you may want to make sure that you have some high stamina food beforehand. Another tip is to have somebody on hand in the shallow water ready to grab the fish as you pull it past them. This can reduce the stamina drain needed to reel it all the way in.
Fish as Food
The fish come in three different sizes, Perch, medium Pike and Tuna. Each of these gives you either 1, 2 or 4 Raw Fish respectively when you land it. We aren’t sure, but it does appear that fish caught in the ocean from a boat all appear to be the largest fish, although they aren’t as easy to hook.
Cooking raw fish over the cooking station will give you Cooked Fish. This provides +45 max HP, +15 max stamina, and +2HP / 10 sec healing. It lasts for 20 minutes, so a decent meal. Later in the game you will find Barley in the Plains and be able to create Fish Wraps in the Cauldron, providing +70 max HP, +23 max stamina, +4HP / 10 sec healing and lasts 25 minutes. This is one of the best foods in the game at present.