The Season of the Deep has introduced a new activity to Destiny 2: fishing. To unlock fishing, you’ll have to complete the first week of the seasonal questline, culminating in the mission “Operation Thunderbolt.” Once you’ve done that, you’ll get a quest called “Gone Fishin’,” which you begin by talking to Hawthorne in the Tower.
How Fishing Works in Destiny 2
Fishing itself is pretty simple — you just press and hold E to cast your line, then wait for a fish to bite and press E again when you see the bobber go underwater. Try to press E again as soon as the bobber disappears to get a Perfect Catch, which increases your odds of catching a quality fish.
There’s also a mechanic in fishing called “Focused Fishing.” As you and other nearby players fish in a pond, the quality of the fish you’re likely to catch increases. That means your best bet for catching the rarest fish is to fish in a fireteam. You’ll know the bonus is active if you see fish jumping out of the water and the message “Nearby fish have begun to take notice.”
So what do you do with fish once you’ve caught them? You place them in the aquarium in the H.E.L.M. Doing so will provide various rewards, like gear and Sonar Station reputation, depending on the rarity of the fish. Catching various fish will also unlock aquarium decorations. Finally, there are a couple of fishing-related Triumphs required for the Aquanaut title.
How to Complete the Gone Fishin’ Quest
Hawthorne will instruct you to gather Bait after you first talk to her. You can earn Bait by completing Salvage, Deep Dive, playlist activities, public events, patrols, or by collecting destination materials. You can fish without Bait, but it increases your chances of catching higher quality fish. Once you’ve got enough Bait, the next step in Gone Fishin’ is to catch 5 fish in the Outskirts of the EDZ. Note that the fishing pond will not appear in the area if there is a Public Event active.
Head to the EDZ and look for a Fishing Pond on the waterline. If you don’t see one, try reloading the area and looking again. After you’ve caught five fish in the EDZ, the next step of the Gone Fishin’ quest is to catch five fish on Nessus. Head there and look for another Fishing Pond, again reloading the area if you can’t see one. Lastly, head to the Miasma on Savathun’s Throne World and look for one final pond. Once you catch five fish there, return to the H.E.L.M. and deposit your fish. After that, go back to Hawthorne to complete the Gone Fishin’ quest.
What do you think of fishing in Destiny 2? Personally, we like the introduction of these kind of side activities, which provide a nice break in between running missions.
