Fishing

Fishing is the second great AFK gathering loop — slower than Woodcutting per action, deeper in its ladder of fish tiers. Cast your line, wait, pull a Trout. Cast again. Most players Fish into the night for the food supply that keeps every other combat skill running. A maxed Fishing inventory is the difference between AFK that lasts an hour and AFK that lasts the full 24-hour offline cap.

How Fishing works

Each fishing spot has a level requirement, a tool requirement (small fishing net, fly rod, lobster pot, harpoon, etc.), and a fish-tier output. The tool tier and the spot type determine what fish you catch. Spots are usually multi-fish — a "Fly fishing" spot at Fishing 20 catches Trout (level 20) and Salmon (level 30) in proportion to your level above each.

Fishing rate is rate-limited by the catch roll (level vs spot difficulty) and the spot itself. Some high-tier spots only have one slot — first player there gets it. In Tideward's single-player game that never matters, but offline progression assumes you have continuous access.

Fish are raw until cooked. Higher-tier raw fish can be fed to a high-Cooking character for top-tier food (Sharks heal 200, Anglerfish 220, Manta Ray 220 with a special active boost). Some rare drops while Fishing — the fishing-spot specific oddities like the "leaping mudskipper" at Fly spots — go directly into your bank without needing cooking.

Tips for training Fishing

1. Train Fishing alongside Cooking — a Fishing AFK session that produces raw food is wasted if you can't cook it into healing food.
2. Barbarian fishing (after a brief unlock quest) trains Fishing AND Strength simultaneously. Highest XP-per-hour method.
3. Anglerfish (Fishing 82) are the AFK food champion — high heal, easy catch rate, no special tool.
4. Some spots give Strength XP as a bonus (harpoon spots in particular). Useful for hybrid combat builds.
5. A Crystal harpoon at Fishing 75 is the last tool upgrade. Worth the unlock effort.

Skills that pair with Fishing

The 23 trades aren't isolated. Fishing works best alongside these:

Frequently asked about Fishing

What's the best food for AFK combat?

Anglerfish (Fishing 82, Cooking 84) heal a huge chunk and stack well. Sharks (Fishing 76, Cooking 80) are more accessible and nearly as good for most players.

Do I need to be at a specific spot to Fish?

In Tideward, fishing spots are scattered across the world map. You travel to the spot once, train there, then move on when the level cap of that spot is below yours.

Can I AFK Fish overnight?

Yes. Fishing is one of the most AFK-friendly skills in the game. Set a high-tier spot, leave the app, return to a full inventory and several levels of XP.