Sea of Thieves Hunter's Call Guide: How to fish, use bait, and get all the rewards

The Sea of Thieves (SoT) anniversary update brought with it a lot of amazing content. The coolest part of the update, in my opinion, was with the addition of The Hunter's Call. This was an update that added fishing and cooking to SoT. In this section of the game, you work directly with an NPC named Merrick who tasks you with catching the best fish, hunting the scariest monsters, and cooking the best food.

Related: Where to find all of the fish, meat, and fruit in Sea of Thieves

Whenever something like fishing is added to a game there is usually a ton of new systems to learn. Which types of fish go for the highest price, how to cook them, and what you need to do to catch each type. If you're looking for instructions for how all of this works, instead of figuring out with a trial by fire, we've put together this guide to give you all the answers.

Here's how to catch a fish, what each fish requires to be caught, how to cook your fish, and which fish sell for the most amount of money!

What we have in store for you

• Call of the Hunters in Sea of Thieves
• How to fish in Sea of Thieves
• How to bait your line in Sea of Thieves
• Casting and hooking tips for fishing in Sea of Thieves
• Bait options in Sea of Thieves
• All fish and rewards for fish in Sea of Thieves
• How to cook fish in Sea of Thieves
• Grades of commendations for selling cooked animals in Sea of Thieves
• Titles you can earn in The Hunter's Call for Sea of Thieves

Call of the Hunters in Sea of Thieves

An NPC by the name of Merrick runs The Hunter's Call Trading Company in Sea of Thieves. The more you hunt and fish the more rewards you get. The more rewards you get, the higher you score on the leaderboards they keep to mark your progress. You earn both gold and reputation points for completing quests or selling them items from your hunting and fishing trips.

How to fish in Sea of Thieves

Make sure you don't press any extra buttons or you might end up casting the line early!

1. Press the LB on your Xbox controller to open your inventory wheel.
2. Press X to open the second wheel.
3. Select the fishing rod by hovering over it and releasing the button. You don't need to press any buttons, just let go and it will automatically equip.
4. Walk over to a body of water.
5. Press the right trigger to cast the line.

You will not be able to cast your line at your own port or on the Ferry of the Dead. You also don't need bait to fish, but it will help you catch certain types of fish you can only catch with bait.

How to bait your line in Sea of Thieves

Make sure you don't press any extra buttons or you might end up casting early and losing your bait!

1. Press the LB on your Xbox controller to open your inventory wheel.
2. Press X to open the second wheel.
3. Select the fishing rod by hovering over it and releasing the button. You don't need to press any buttons, just let go and it will automatically equip.
4. Press LB on your Xbox controller again to open your inventory wheel.
5. Press Y to see your bait options.
6. Hover over which bait you want to use. You don't need to press any buttons, just let go and it will automatically equip the selected bait.

There are three bait options in Sea of Thieves. Each comes with their own benefits and different types of fish they can catch.

Casting and hooking tips for fishing in Sea of Thieves

• Do not click when you hover over the bait. It won't bait your line and will instead cast your line.
• You can not walk while the line is cast. If you want to stop fishing press the trigger button again.
• You won't lose your bait the first time you redraw the line after not catching anything, but you will after a few tries.
• DO NOT press the casting button to hook the fish, it will only redraw your line.
• Waiting is the only thing you can do when you're trying to catch the attention of a fish. Making sure your line is cast to a school of fish and leaving it set is your best option.
• ONLY reel in your fish when the line goes slack.
• If the fish goes left, go right. If the fish goes right, go left. Play with the directions instead of continuously pulling to one side or the other by going left, but releasing the tension at times before going back left again. This will prevent the line from breaking as fast.
• If your rod starts to shake or make noises like it's breaking you're doing something wrong. This could mean you're going the wrong direction, pulling too hard, etc.
• Search all the barrels. They often have fish, cooked fish, and bait inside of them now.
• You MUST have room in your inventory to hold the fish or you won't be able to put it away. You can hold up to five food items in your inventory at any given time. If your food inventory is full open your item wheel and eat something! Pressing any buttons besides the storing button will cause the fish to disappear, so make sure you have room before you start fishing.

Bait options in Sea of Thieves

There are three different types of bait options in Sea of Thieves, and each of them has their own set of fish they can catch.

• Earthworms: Can catch Plentifins, Wildsplashes, and Wreckers.
• Leeches: Can catch Ancientscales and Stormers.
• Grubs: Can catch Devilfish and Battlegills.

There is still plenty of fish you can catch without using bait at all. Check it out below to see the full list!

All fish in Sea of Thieves

There are 50 different types of fish in the Sea of Thieves, all separated into 10 different types of species. Here are all the different species, where to catch them, and what bait is needed.

There are also commendations for each of the categories of fish. Each time you sell one of every type of said category you earn one Grade in that category, along with a prize. There are up to 5 Grades to earn per category.

Related: More information on cooking and finding fish in Sea of Thieves

• Ancientscales: Found in the Ancient Isles. Caught by using Leeches Bait. The Grades of commendations earns you Sovereign, Royal Sovereign, and Imperial Sovereign rods at The Hunter's Call Seapots.
• Battlegills: Found by Skull Forts and Skeleton Ships. Caught by using Grub Bait. The Grades of commendations earns you the Bone Crusher rod.
• Devilfish: Found in the Devil's Roar Water. Caught by using Grub Bait. The Grades of commendations earns you the Forsaken Ashes rod.
• Islehoppers: Found near islands. No bait required to catch. The Grades of commendations earns you the Hunter rod.
• Pondies: Found in lakes/pools on islands. No bait required to catch. The Grade of commendations earns you the Parrot rod.
• Splashtails: Found everywhere. No bait required to catch. The Grades of commendations earns you the Bilge Rat, Castaway Bilge Rat, and Scurvy Bilge Rat rods.
• Stormers: Found during storms inside of the storm area. Caught by using Leeches Bait. The Grades of commendations earns you the Kraken rod.
• Wildsplashes: Found in The Wilds**. Caught by using Earthworm Bait. The Grades of commendations earns you the Sea Dog, Ruffian Sea Dog, and Royal Sea Dog rods.
• Wreckers: Found near Shipwrecks. Caught by using Earthworm Bait. The Grades of commendations earns you the Oceancrawler rod.

Head over to any of The Hunter's Call Seaposts to turn in all of your fish. As you continue to turn more and more in Merrick will hand out your rewards.

How to cook fish in Sea of Thieves

Trophy fish take longer to cook than regular fish. These fish sell for higher prices to Hunter Call posts, even more so if they're cooked. Sell them the same way you sell chests and skulls. Hold them in your hand when you talk to the vendors.

1. Find a frying pan. There are stoves and skillets below decks in every pirate ship.
2. Sometimes islands and outposts have frying pans as well. You can easily find them, just look for the campfire!
3. Press the LB on your Xbox controller to open your inventory wheel.
4. Hover over your food wheel and release the button to pull the fish from your inventory.
5. Approach the frying pan with the fish in your hand.
6. Press X.
7. PAY ATTENTION.
8. There is a VISUAL notification when the fish is finished cooking, in a small puff of white smoke. The sound of the frying also begins spitting loudly, sounding a little fattier.
9. If you cook the fish too long it will burn, too short and it will make you puke. You want to pull the fish when it's either white or a light brown.

Tip: If the fishes eyes are entirely white, it's done cooking. If it's not, leave it in the frying pan. The eyes will turn white and the fish will turn a light brown when it's cooked perfectly. This helps it sell for a better price. When you're cooking an animal you want to follow the same process of waiting until it turns a light brown before removing it from the frying pan and selling it.

Grades of commendations for selling cooked animals in Sea of Thieves

There are also Grades of commendations for selling cooked animals to The Hunter's Call Trading Companies. There are up to five grades to earn and each category of fish comes with a different set of rewards.

• Chicken: Chicken Tattoo.
• Kraken: Kraken Facepaint.
• Pig: Pig Tattoo.
• Shark: Shark Tattoo.
• Snake: Snake Tattoo.
• Megalodon: Megalodon Facepaint.

Keep turning in all of your achievements to Merrick at any one of The Hunter's Call Trading Company Seaposts to redeem your prizes.

Titles you can earn in The Hunter's Call for Sea of Thieves

Merrick also rewards players with titles for completing specific goals crafted from The Hunter's Call. Here's how to earn each of the titles from Merrick.

• "Captain of the Killer Whale": Buy all seven parts of the Killer Whaleship.
• "Hunter of Trophy Fish": Sell 25 Trophy Fish.
• "Master Hunter of Trophy Fish": Sell 50 Trophy Fish.
• "Legendary Hunter of Trophy Fish": Sell 100 Trophy Fish.
• "Hunter of the Sea of Thieves": Complete 15 Grade 5 Hunter's Call commendations.
• "Master Hunter of the Sea of Thieves": Complete 35 Grade 5 commendations.
• "Legendary Hunter of the Sea of Thieves": Complete 57 Grade 5 commendations.

You can find traders of The Hunter's Call at Seaposts, not Outposts. Complete your voyages per normal because The Hunter's Call does not give out voyages as other Trading Companies do. This is only a place to sell your fish and cooked meats.

Have any more questions or requests?

Are you stuck on something you're trying to complete in The Hunter's Call? Is there a rumor mill you're trying to solve? Let us know in the comment section below! Otherwise, enjoy your fishing, mateys!

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If you're a Sea of Thieves fan, show off your piracy with these great gift ideas.

Sea of Thieves: Athena's Fortune (From $7 at Amazon)

Athena's Fortune charters the infamous pirate Ramsey and his quest to find the legendary treasure stash, fraught with peril, plunder, and plenty of piracy.

Tales from Sea of Thieves ($20 at Amazon)

Tales from Sea of Thieves is essential reading for any fan, granting a huge amount of background lore on the game and hints of possible future content.

Official Sea of Thieves keychain ($10 at Amazon)

Show off your love of the open ocean with this epic keychain (not real silver... sadly.)