Ah, summer rain fishing in Stardew Valley. Everyone goes on about it, don’t they? Like it’s some sort of magical cheat code for the game. I remember when I first really got into Stardew, that was the big tip I kept seeing everywhere. “Fish in the rain during summer! You’ll get rich!”
So, naturally, the first summer it started pouring, I grabbed my trusty Bamboo Pole – yeah, I was still pretty new back then – and sprinted down to the beach. I’d heard the ocean was a good spot. I pictured myself hauling in endless valuable fish, my pockets overflowing with gold. That was the dream, anyway.
The reality? Well, it was a bit different. I stood there for hours. My little pixel farmer, getting absolutely drenched. And what did I catch?
- Sardines. So. Many. Sardines.
- Herring. Occasionally.
- A bit of Seaweed. Always the Seaweed.
- Oh, and the odd Joja Cola, because of course.
It wasn’t exactly the treasure trove I was expecting. I mean, sure, Catfish were supposed to be in the river during rain, and Pufferfish in the ocean on sunny summer days at specific times. But the general advice was just “summer rain, good fishing.” It felt a bit vague.
I spent a good few in-game days like that, dutifully fishing every time it rained in summer. My fishing skill went up, which was something, I guess. But the big money hauls? Not so much. I started to think maybe I was doing it wrong, or maybe the game just hated me. You know that feeling when you’re following all the advice but it’s just not working out? Yeah, that was me, with my bucket full of not-very-valuable fish.
It’s Kinda Like Real Life, Isn’t It?
It reminds me of this one time I tried to fix a dripping tap in my kitchen. I watched a bunch of those do-it-yourself videos online. All these chipper folks, making it look so easy. “Just unscrew this, pop that washer out, put a new one in, and you’re golden!” they’d say. Seemed straightforward enough. I bought the new washers, got my wrench out, feeling all confident.
Well, let me tell you. An hour later, water wasn’t just dripping; it was spraying. I’d somehow made it ten times worse. My kitchen floor was starting to look like a paddling pool. I had water in places water should not be. The videos never mentioned what to do if the whole assembly was rusted solid, or if you accidentally cross-threaded something. They just showed the perfect scenario.
That’s what my early summer rain fishing felt like in Stardew. The guides gave you the headline: “Summer Rain = Good Fish!” But they kinda glossed over the specifics, like exactly where to fish for what, or that you still needed a decent fishing level and maybe some bait or tackle to really make it worthwhile for certain catches. Or that sometimes, “good” just means a higher chance of specific, valuable fish, not that every single cast will be a winner.
Eventually, I figured it out. I learned to check the wiki for specific fish, like the Catfish in the river or the Eel in the ocean when it’s raining, especially in Spring and Fall for the Eel. Summer rain in the ocean can still be decent, but it wasn’t the instant jackpot I’d been led to believe without targeting something specific. It took a lot of just… doing it. And catching a lot of less-than-exciting stuff in the process. So yeah, summer rain fishing? It can be good. But you gotta put in the work, just like figuring out which end of the wrench actually tightens things.
