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Skyrim Fishing Locations and Complete Fish List

"X" marks the spot when you're looking for the fishing locations in Skyrim.

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.

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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.

Belethor's inventory containing Fishing Map - The Rift.
Screenshot by GameSkinny

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:

Windhelm fishing locations map.
Screenshot by GameSkinny

Falkreath Fishing Locations

Below, you’ll see a map of the fishing locations in Falkreath:

Falkreath fishing locations map.
Screenshot by GameSkinny

Solitude Fishing Locations

The city of Solitude is your main landmark here:

Solitude fishing locations map.
Screenshot by GameSkinny

Hjaalmarch and Morthal Fishing Locations

The town of Morthal is your main landmark on this map:

Morthal fishing locations map.
Screenshot by GameSkinny

The Pale Fishing Locations

The settlement of Dawnstar is your main landmark for this map:

Dawnstar fishing locations map.
Screenshot by GameSkinny

The Reach Fishing Locations

The city of Markarth is your main landmark here:

Markarth fishing locations map.
Screenshot by GameSkinny

The Rift Fishing Locations

The city of Riften is your main landmark here:

Riften fishing locations map.
Screenshot by GameSkinny

Whiterun Fishing Locations

Below, you’ll see a map of the fishing locations in Whiterun:

Whiterun fishing locations map.
Screenshot by GameSkinny

Winterhold Fishing Locations

Below, you’ll see a map of the fishing locations in Winterhold:

Winterhold fishing locations marked on map.
Screenshot by GameSkinny

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.

Northern Solstheim fishing spot map locations.
Screenshot by GameSkinny

Finally, these are the fishing locations found in the south where you initially land:

Solstheim fishing spot map locations.
Screenshot by GameSkinny

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.


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Jason Rodriguez
Jason Rodriguez is a game reviewer and guides writer from the Philippines. With around 5,000 published articles, he's freelanced for numerous outlets, including GameSkinny, GameSpot, Polygon, IGN, PCGamesN, PC Invasion, and more.
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Ashley Erickson
Ashley, otherwise known as Glitchiee, is an avid gamer of RPGs, TTRPGS, farming sims, and survival crafting games. Playing since she can remember, she started on the SNES, GameBoy Color, and collection 1st gen Pokemon cards. Using her passion for gaming, she's written about games for a combined total of 2 years.