Fishing
When you first start the game you will not own a Fishing Rod. To get a free Fishing Pole you need to visit Galen.
- If you are playing Harvest Moon DS, visit his house on Saturday between 12:00 pm and 2:00 pm, and Galen will present you with a fishing rod.
- If you are playing Harvest Moon DS Cute, visit his house any day after 10:00 pm or on Saturday between 12:00 pm and 2:00 pm to receive Galen's old fishing rod.
Just make sure that you don't have a tool equipped in the red slot of your Rucksack or you won't activate the event. Remove the equipped tool and go back inside his house to try and trigger the event again. Nina also must be inside the house since she is involved in the event, and you must remember to introduce yourself to both people.
Fish species and Fishing locations
1 - Goddess Pond
2 - Waterfall
3 - Upstream (bridge to Waterfall)
4 - Downstream (bridge to Ocean)
5 - Turtle Pond
6 - Ocean
7 - Island
There are 7 areas to fish in. Each area has a little different variety of fish living there. The fish available also change with the season. You will find small, medium, and large fish. Your game will record the fish species you catch and store them in your Farm Assets screen. There are 51 fish to catch and 7 non-fish items that can appear in your fishing section. The higher you upgrade your Fishing Pole's level, the more variety of items it can catch.
To catch fish, equip the fishing pole and stand next to one of the available water areas. Press Y to toss your bobber into the water, and wait until you see a ! above your head. When you do, press Y again to reel in your line. You might catch a fish, some junk, or perhaps nothing at all.
Small Fish |
All seasons | 50 G |
Medium Fish |
All seasons | 120 G |
Large Fish |
All seasons | 200 G |
 Fish Bones |
All seasons | 1 G |
Empty Can |
All seasons | 1 G |
 Boot |
All seasons | 1 G |
Branch |
All seasons | 1 G |
Bottled Message |
Spring only, ocean | 1 G |
Pirate Treasure |
Summer only, ocean | 10,000 G |
Fish Fossil |
Fall only, ocean | 5,000 G |
The Pirate Treasure and Fish Fossil are only obtainable if you use a level 6 (Cursed / Blessed) or level 7 (Mythic) fishing pole. The Bottled Message is tied to Leia's Yellow Heart event and will only appear when she reaches that heart color. You only need a level 5 (Mystrile) Fishing Pole or higher to catch the bottle. The Bottled Message is also part of the shipped items list so you can catch more than 1.