Fishing in Skyrim can serve as a pastime or be an important part of staying alive in Survival Mode. No matter how you’re playing, you’ll need to know where to find fish. This guide shows you where all of the Skyrim fishing locations are and the complete fish list.
All Skyrim Fishing Locations
As noted in our main guide on fishing in Skyrim, you can’t fish in every body of water in the province. As such, you need to look for the correct areas first. Fishing maps are the best way for you to find the angling locations in Skyrim, whether they be lakes, rivers, or other bodies of water. General Goods vendors tend to sell at least a couple of these.
Once you read fishing maps, you’ll notice that they only have landmarks (mountains, hills, or rivers, for example) and not the names of actual places. Similar to treasure maps, you need to figure out where the best fishing holes are.
Thankfully, we’ve included the full maps below, with all area fishing spots marked. Even if you don’t have the related map in your inventory or have read it, you’ll still be able to cast your line at these locations.
Eastmarch Fishing Locations
The city of Windhelm is your main landmark here:
Falkreath Fishing Locations
Below, you’ll see a map of the fishing locations in Falkreath:
Solitude Fishing Locations
The city of Solitude is your main landmark here:
Hjaalmarch and Morthal Fishing Locations
The town of Morthal is your main landmark on this map:
The Pale Fishing Locations
The settlement of Dawnstar is your main landmark for this map:
The Reach Fishing Locations
The city of Markarth is your main landmark here:
The Rift Fishing Locations
The city of Riften is your main landmark here:
Whiterun Fishing Locations
Below, you’ll see a map of the fishing locations in Whiterun:
Winterhold Fishing Locations
Below, you’ll see a map of the fishing locations in Winterhold:
Solstheim Fishing Locations
Added by the Dragonborn expansion, you can travel to the large island of Solstheim by boarding the Northern Maiden ship in the harbor at Windhelm. These are the fishing locations in the northern area of the map.
Finally, these are the fishing locations found in the south where you initially land:
Complete Skyrim Fish List
Below are the kinds of fish that you can catch in Skyrim. Certain species require specific weather conditions or rods to appear. Once you start pulling them in, the Fishing minigame will begin.
- Abacean Longfin: Found in Freezing waters and Temperate lakes.
- Caught using a rod or hands.
- Angelfish: Found in Temperate lakes regardless of weather and Ancestor Glade.
- Caught with the Alik’ri Fishing Rod.
- Angler Fish: Found in Freezing waters and Pilgrim’s Trench.
- Caught with the Argonian Fishing Rod.
- Angler Fish Larvae: Found in Freezing waters, especially around the College of Winterhold.
- Arctic Char: Found in Freezing waters, Hela’s Folly, and Pilgrim’s Trench.
- Arctic Grayling: Found in Freezing waters and Pilgrim’s Trench.
- Brook Bass: Found in streams regardless of weather and at Mixwater Mill.
- Carp: Found at the East Empire Company Warehouse and Dragonsreach.
- Catfish: Found in Temperate lakes and streams during clear weather and near Geirmund’s Hall.
- Cod: Found in Freezing waters, at Anga’s Mill, and Bronze Water Cave.
- Cyrodilic Spadetail: Found in temperate lakes regardless of weather.
- Caught using a rod or hands.
- Direfish: Found in Underground locations, at Broken Oar Grotto, and Embershard Mine.
- Glass Catfish: Found in Underground locations, in Blackreach, Lost Knife Hideout, and Reachwater Rock.
- Glassfish: Found in Temperate lakes regardless of weather and at Half-Moon Mill while it’s raining.
- Goldfish: Found in Temperate lakes during clear weather, at Clearpine Pond, Clearspring Tarn, Mara’s Eye Pond, and Stony Creek Cave.
- Histcarp: Found in streams regardless of weather and underground.
- Caught using a rod or hands.
- Juvenile Mudcrab: Found near Mudcrab areas near streams, lakes, and Freezing waters regardless of weather.
- Caught using a rod or hands.
- Lyretail Anthias: Found in streams regardless of weather.
- Caught with the Alik’ri Fishing Rod.
- Pearlfish: Found in temperate lakes streams, as well as near Riverwood and Orphan’s Tear, all while raining.
- Pogfish: Found in streams regardless of weather.
- Pygmy Sunfish: Found in temperate lakes while raining, Ancestor Glade and Steamcrag Camp Lake.
- River Betty: Found in streams regardless of weather.
- Caught using a rod or hands.
- Salmon: Found in Riften Fishery, as well as lakes, streams, and ponds regardless of weather.
- Caught using a rod or hands.
- Scorpion Fish: Found underground and in Darkfall Cave.
- Caught with the Argonian Fishing Rod.
- Silverside Perch: Found in temperate lakes during clear weather or underground.
- Caught using a rod or hands.
- Slaughterfish: Found in streams while raining, and in temperate lakes regardless of weather.
- Spadefish: Found in streams regardless of weather.
- Caught with the Alik’ri Fishing Rod.
- Tripod Spiderfish: Found underground, in Blackreach, Broken Oar Grotto, Embershard Mine, and Reachwater Rock.
- Vampire Fish: Found underground at Castle Volkihar, Lost Knife Hideout, and Reachwater Rock.
Don’t forget that some of these, as well as other aquatic creatures, can be added to your Fish Hatchery.
Other Fishing Loot
Fish aren’t the only thing that can hook your line. There’s a variety of items you can reel in, including Dwemer items or rare enchanted armor. Notably, the rarest items are:
- Denstagmer’s Ring
- Mentor’s Ring
- Ring of Kynareth
- Ring Phynaster
- Ring of the Wind
- Enchanted Dwarven Boots
- Enchanted Dwarven Helmet
- Enchanted One-Handed Dwarven weapon
- Random enchanted ring
- Random enchanted boots up to Daedric material
- Random enchanted One-Handed weapon
- Random enchanted helmet up to Daedric material
Those are all of the fishing locations in Skyrim, as well as a full list of the fish you can catch. Remember that some areas can be overfished; if that happens, wait a few days and return to find the areas naturally restocked. For more on Skyrim, such as quest walkthroughs and builds, consider heading over to our official guides hub here.
