Fishing is the quietest way to make scrap in Rust. You need no gun, no workbench and no risky monument run: just a rod, a handful of worms and a stretch of water. A good evening on a dock can feed you for the whole wipe and pay for your first boat.
This Rust fishing guide covers everything: how to get a fishing rod, how casting and reeling work, every fish and where it lives, how bait stacking works since the 2024 fishing rework, what each fish guts into, what the Fish Exchange pays, and how to run a survival fish trap.
How to Get a Fishing Rod in Rust
There is one rod in vanilla Rust, the Handmade Fishing Rod. You have three ways to get one:
- Craft it: 200 wood and 2 rope, no workbench needed. Rope is the hard part early on, since it only comes from crates, barrels and recycling.
- Buy it: the shop keeper at any Fishing Village sells a rod for 80 scrap, and worms as bait.
- Earn it: the Fisherman’s “Tackle the day” mission at a Fishing Village asks you to bring back a tackle box from the beach, and pays a fishing rod and 15 grubs.
| Item | Craft cost | Workbench | Recycles into |
|---|---|---|---|
| Handmade Fishing Rod | 200 wood, 2 rope | None | 120 wood, 2 rope |
| Survival Fish Trap | 200 wood, 5 cloth | None | 120 wood, 3 cloth |
| Fish Trophy | 75 wood | None | 45 wood |
Recycling a rod is one of the few reliable ways to get rope back, which our recycler guide covers along with every other yield.
How to Fish in Rust
Fishing is a short minigame. Once you have done it a couple of times it becomes second nature.
- Add bait. Open the rod in your inventory and drag bait into its bait slots. You can fish with no bait, but you will only catch the smallest fish.
- Cast. Stand on a dock, a rock, a boat or the shore, hold right click to ready the rod and press left click to cast. Cast as far out as you can, since the bobber has to land over water.
- Wait for the bite. The bobber dips and the rod shakes, usually within a few seconds to about 45 seconds.
- Reel in. Hold S to reel, and use A and D to pull the rod against the direction the fish swims.
Every Fish in Rust and Where to Catch It
There are nine fish you can catch with a rod, plus minnows that only come from fish traps. They fall into three tiers. Which fish bites depends on three things: the type of water (fresh or ocean), how deep it is where your bobber lands, and how good your bait is.
| Fish | Tier | Where | Stack |
|---|---|---|---|
| Anchovy | 1 | Any water | 10 |
| Herring | 1 | Any water | 10 |
| Sardine | 1 | Any water | 10 |
| Small Trout | 2 | Ocean | 10 |
| Yellow Perch | 2 | Rivers, lakes and swamps | 10 |
| Catfish | 3 | Rivers, lakes and swamps | 5 |
| Salmon | 3 | Deep water, 4.5 m or more | 10 |
| Orange Roughy | 3 | Deep ocean | 5 |
| Small Shark | 3 | Deep ocean | 5 |
Light, shallow water near the beach gives small fish. Dark, deep water further out is where salmon, orange roughy and sharks bite, which is why serious fishers cast from a boat or the end of a long dock. Dawn and dusk are the best times, and catfish are more active at night.
Rust Fishing Bait Explained
Since the June 2024 fishing rework, bait has a value, and you can stack several of the same bait on the rod to add those values together. The total decides which tiers of fish can bite. Raw meat and raw fish meat no longer work as bait.
| Bait | Value each | Max stack on rod | Best total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Berries | 1 | 5 | 5 |
| Anchovy, herring, sardine | 2 | 2 | 4 |
| Worm | 2.5 | 3 | 7.5 |
| Grub | 3.5 | 3 | 10.5 |
| Small trout, yellow perch | High | 1 | Enough for tier 3 |
Tier 1 fish bite on anything. Tier 2 fish need a bait total of about 3, and tier 3 fish need about 5 or more. That gives you the classic Rust fishing ladder: worms or grubs catch small trout and perch, and those fish become the bait that catches catfish, salmon and sharks.
Gutting Fish in Rust
Any fish can be gutted: right click it in your inventory and choose Gut. You get raw fish to cook, animal fat for low grade fuel, and bone fragments. Bigger fish give a lot more.
| Fish | Raw fish | Animal fat | Bone fragments |
|---|---|---|---|
| Small Shark | 20 | 20 | 20 |
| Catfish | 18 | 18 | 18 |
| Orange Roughy | 18 | 18 | 18 |
| Salmon | 18 | 16 | 16 |
| Yellow Perch | 5 | 9 | 6 |
| Small Trout | 4 | 8 | 5 |
| Anchovy, herring, sardine | 1 to 2 | 1 to 5 | 1 to 2 |
Cook raw fish on a campfire or in a furnace before eating. Cooked fish gives about 60 calories and 15 hydration and heals a little, while raw fish can give you food poisoning. Raw fish also spoils after a few hours, so cook it soon. See how fish compares with every other meal in our Rust food guide. Catfish and orange roughy sometimes carry a bonus item in their stomach as well.
Fish Exchange: Selling Fish for Scrap
The Fish Exchange vending machine at every Fishing Village buys fish for scrap. It trades in batches of 2 or 5 fish, and its scrap restocks about every 10 seconds, so you can empty a full bag in one visit.
| Fish | Trade | Scrap per fish |
|---|---|---|
| Small Shark | 2 for 90 scrap | 45 |
| Orange Roughy | 2 for 75 scrap | 37.5 |
| Catfish | 2 for 65 scrap | 32.5 |
| Salmon | 2 for 55 scrap | 27.5 |
| Yellow Perch | 5 for 50 scrap | 10 |
| Small Trout | 5 for 30 scrap | 6 |
The maths favours fishing up the ladder. A small trout sells for 6 scrap, but used as bait it can land a catfish or a shark worth 32 to 45. Small tier 1 fish are not bought at all, so gut them or use them as bait.
Survival Fish Trap
The Survival Fish Trap fishes while you do something else. Craft it for 200 wood and 5 cloth with no workbench, place it at the water’s edge where it sits at least a third under water, and load it with bait.
- It uses the rod’s rules. Since 2024 traps pick fish the same way rods do, based on water type and bait value. Items with no bait value are not accepted, and a trap cannot catch the same fish you used as bait.
- Half the rolls fail. The trap rolls about once a minute. It has a 50% chance to fail, and the bait is used up either way.
- No sharks. Traps sit in shallow water, so deep water fish like the small shark are off the table. Minnows only come from traps.
- It wears out. Every catch does 10 damage to the trap. Repair it with a hammer before it breaks.
Rust Fishing Tips
- Fish up the ladder. Keep a few small trout or yellow perch as bait instead of selling them for 6 to 10 scrap.
- Get deep. Salmon, orange roughy and small sharks need the bobber over 4.5 m of water or more. A boat or a long dock helps.
- Fish from a safe zone. The docks at a Fishing Village are a no-shooting area, and the Fish Exchange is a few steps away.
- Keep the line out of the red. Losing a fish also loses your bait, which costs more than reeling slowly.
- Gut what you cannot sell. Tier 1 fish are worthless at the exchange but give raw fish, fat and bones.
- Mind the clock. Raw fish spoils within hours. Cook it, sell it or use it as bait before it turns.
Rust Fishing FAQ
How do you fish in Rust?
Get a Handmade Fishing Rod, add bait to its bait slots, hold right click and press left click to cast over water, wait for the bobber to dip, then hold S to reel in while steering with A and D. Stop reeling when the line turns red or it will snap.
How do you get a fishing rod in Rust?
Craft one for 200 wood and 2 rope with no workbench, buy one from the shop keeper at a Fishing Village for 80 scrap, or get one as the reward for the Fisherman’s “Tackle the day” mission.
What is the best bait for fishing in Rust?
Grubs are the best starter bait: 3.5 bait value each and you can stack 3 for 10.5. To catch catfish, salmon, orange roughy and small sharks, use a small trout or yellow perch as bait. Raw meat no longer works as bait.
Where is the best place to fish in Rust?
Deep, dark ocean water at least 4.5 metres deep, where salmon, orange roughy and small sharks bite. Cast from a boat or the end of a dock. Rivers and lakes are best for yellow perch and catfish.
How much scrap do fish sell for in Rust?
At the Fish Exchange: 2 small sharks for 90 scrap, 2 orange roughy for 75, 2 catfish for 65, 2 salmon for 55, 5 yellow perch for 50 and 5 small trout for 30. That is 6 to 45 scrap per fish.
How do you catch a shark in Rust?
Fish in deep ocean water, at least 4.5 metres deep, with tier 3 bait such as a small trout or yellow perch on the rod. Small sharks are the most valuable fish in the game at 45 scrap each.
How does the fish trap work in Rust?
Craft a Survival Fish Trap for 200 wood and 5 cloth, place it partly under water at the shore and load it with bait. About once a minute it rolls for a fish with a 50% chance to fail, using bait either way. It can catch up to catfish but never a small shark.
What do you get from gutting fish in Rust?
Raw fish, animal fat and bone fragments. A small shark gives 20 of each, catfish and orange roughy 18 of each, and salmon 18 raw fish with 16 fat and 16 bone fragments.
Sources and Further Reading
- Rod, trap and trophy craft and recycle costs, fish stack sizes: rustlabs item data
- Gutting yields and fish locations: RustClash, Small Shark and RustClash, Catfish
- Fishing rework, bait values and fish trap changes: Rustafied, A Seismic Update (June 2024)
- Fishing launch: Rustafied, The Rust Aquatic