Fishing in Palworld lets you pull Pals out of the water without ever throwing a Pal Sphere. The system arrived with the Tides of Terraria update, and once you have a rod and bait, you can work any lake, riverbank, or coastline that shows fish moving under the surface.
Quick answer: Craft a fishing rod and bait, stand at water that has fish shadows, cast your line, then reel in and keep the fish icon inside your green bar until the catch meter fills.
What you need before casting
Two items are mandatory. A fishing rod occupies a weapon slot when equipped, though it cannot be built at a Weapon Workbench. Bait is consumed to lure Pals in, and you pick which bait to use each time you cast.
There are three rod tiers, each tied to a Technology level and a specific workbench. Higher tiers widen the green bar in the minigame, which makes catches far easier.
| Rod | Tech Level | Workbench | Materials |
|---|---|---|---|
| Beginner Fishing Rod (Chillet) | 15 | High Quality Workbench | Fiber x8, Aquatic Pal Fluids x3, Ingot x8, Paldium Fragment x10 |
| Intermediate Fishing Rod (Cattiva) | 29 | Production Assembly Line | Fiber x30, High Quality Pal Oil x5, Paldium Fragment x30, Cement x10 |
| Advanced Fishing Rod (Pengullet) | 45 | Production Assembly Line II | High Quality Pal Oil x15, Paldium Fragment x70, Pal Metal Ingot x15, Carbon Fiber x10 |
Bait is unlocked through the Technology menu and crafted at a workbench. If you are away from your base, Merchants sell it too. Each type behaves a little differently.
| Bait | Effect |
|---|---|
| Simple Bait | Basic bait required to fish; lures Pals in |
| High Quality Bait | Makes Pals bite more readily |
| Deluxe Bait | Slightly enlarges the bar in the minigame |
| Alluring Bait | Enlarges the minigame bar and increases items obtained |
Find fish shadows before you cast
You can only reel in Pals where fish shadows appear beneath the surface. Empty water gives you nothing, so check for those moving silhouettes first. Each spot carries a difficulty level that shapes which Pals can bite, and the shadow size tells you the size class of the Pal underneath.
Most catchable Pals are Water element, their variants, and Pals modeled on marine animals. If a shadow sparkles, that spot is guaranteed to hold an Alpha Pal. Sparkling spots are one of the simplest ways to land an Alpha, since even Simple Bait works.
When a shadow sits too far out to reach from shore, ride a swimming mount such as Chillet, Surfent, or Azurobe. As long as your rod stays equipped, you can fish from the back of your mount.
Clear the reeling minigame
You know the attempt worked when the catch meter fills and the Pal is added to your team. The Beginner Fishing Rod makes this deliberately tough because its green bar is narrow, so upgrading to a higher tier is the most reliable fix if fish keep escaping.
Note: A caught Pal is always a Water type, but it can carry a second element that makes it more flexible on your team.
Skip the minigame with a Fishing Pond
If the minigame is too fiddly, build a Fishing Pond at your base. Unlock it from the Technology menu, then place it from the Build menu under Production. You do not need a rod here, and Pals with the Handiwork work suitability fish on your behalf.
The pond lets you set the shadow size that spawns, which controls the pool of Pals you get. The regular Fishing Pond offers small and medium shadows. The Large Fishing Pond adds large shadows on top of those. Anything caught, whether a Pal or an item, must be collected from the cooler box on the side of the structure. Fished Pals go straight into your Palbox once claimed.
Item rarity scales with shadow size. Small shadows might hand you a standard Pal Sphere, while larger shadows can produce an Ultra Sphere. A Large Fishing Pond can also drop Coralum Ore and Ancient Civilization Cores, but only from large fish shadows.
Pals you can catch by shadow size
The shadow you cast on decides the size group of the Pal you reel in, so check it before committing to a spot.
| Shadow Size | Pals |
|---|---|
| Small | Pengullet, Penking, Killamari, Celaray, Azurobe, Jelliette, Croajiro, Fuack, Jellroy, Turtacle |
| Medium | Polapup, Finsider, Pengullet Lux, Fuack Ignis, Killamari Primo, Celaray Lux, Surfent, Surfent Terra, Kelpsea Ignis |
| Large | Penking Lux, Croajiro Noct, Dumud Gild, Azurobe Cryst, Finsider Ignis, Ghangler Ignis, Whalaska Ignis, Gloopie, Ghangler |
Salvaging items from the ocean floor
Fishing is not only about Pals. Once you reach level 62, you can research the Powerful Fishing Magnet, a consumable that pulls items up from the seabed. Crafting one takes a single Hexolite, a Cryogenic Coolant, and one Bio Battery.
With the magnet and a rod in hand, swim up to the floating items scattered across the seas to collect them. Using a Water mount while you explore makes it much faster to gather salvage from the ocean floors as you travel.
From here it comes down to reading shadows and grinding casts. Sparkling spots for Alphas, the widest rod you can craft, and a stocked Fishing Pond back home will cover almost every Water Pal you want to add to the Palbox.
