Fishing in Minecraft: Everything players need to know

Fishing in Minecraft is often overlooked as a mundane way to catch food. However, at the bottom of oceans there lies secret treasures like enchanted books, mending bows, and much more.

On a new and unenchanted rod, the chances of fish are 85%, junk 10%, and treasure, a measly 5%. This means most of the time players will catch cod, salmon, pufferfish, and tropical fish.

This is great if players are looking for fish or a quick way to get XP. But most players are searching for treasures. There are many enchanted items players can catch such as books with up to 4 different enchantments or infinity bows. Besides enchanted items, players can also catch rare or hard to find goods like nametags and saddles.

Ironically, the best way to get these treasures is by enchanting a rod. There are four main enchantments for rods in Minecraft: Mending, Unbreaking, Luck of the Sea, and Lure.

Fishing in Minecraft

Use an enchanting table to enchant rods (Image via Minecraft)

Mending enchantment is one of the rarest and greatest enchantments to get on an item. Mending heals the player's tool each time they collect XP. This means players essentially have an unbreakable rod to use in gameplay. Players can catch a mending bow or fishing rod while fishing. The chances are low but not impossible.

The Luck of the Sea enchantment in Minecraft will increase the chance of treasure by 2% and greatly reduces the chance of catching junk with each level of Luck of the Sea obtained. This means that by Luck of the Sea 3 (the highest level) players have about an 11% chance of finding treasure.

Lure enchantment increases the frequency of catches. With each level of lure gained, the approximate wait time decreases by 5 seconds. On a rod without Lure the wait time is 5-30 seconds, on a rod with Lure 3 (the highest level) this reduces the wait time to 5-15 seconds.

All of these enchantments combined make treasure and XP normal in Minecraft. Players really can't go wrong with fishing, on the unlucky side they'll have chests full of fish, and on the lucky and enchanted side players will have arsenals full of mending bows and rods, as well as enchanted books to put on their armor and weapons.