Graveyard Keeper 2 Fishing Guide — Rods, Bait and Spots

How does fishing work in Graveyard Keeper 2?

Rods gate what you can catch and bait gates what bites. Four rods climb from Basic to Pro, four baits climb from nothing to Live Bait, and each bait tier draws a new set of species. Pottery I (10 red + 5 green) is the research entry to the fishing line, and the rods themselves are woodworking crafts, not purchases — except through the Fish Stand’s top stock.

Rod	Recipe	Notes
Basic Rod	3 Stick + 2 Bronze Detail + 2 Flax Thread at Woodworking Workbench I	Entry rod
Amateur Rod	2 Wooden Plank + 2 Polished Bronze + 4 Flax Thread at Woodworking Workbench I	Needs Polished Bronze
Advanced Rod	1 Oiled Beam + 2 Advanced Detail + 8 Flax Thread at Woodworking Workbench II	Mid-tier upgrade
Pro Rod	2 Special Wood + 2 Engineering Details + 16 Flax Thread at Woodworking Workbench II	Base price 10,000 bronze; Fish Stand level 3 stock; feeds Fish Stand III restoration

If the Amateur Rod is greyed out, the missing piece is almost always the Polished Bronze rather than the planks — the troubleshooting page above covers the exact inputs.

Which bait catches which fish?

Four baits, strictly tiered. Higher tiers do not replace lower ones for every species, so keep all four in stock rather than throwing the cheap ones away.

Bait	Recipe	Draws
No bait	—	Crucian, Frog, Gudgeon, Roach
Breadcrumb Bait	1 Bread → 4 at the Kitchen Table	Anchovy, Bream, Carp, Catfish, Herring, Frog and 3 more species
Insect Bait	4 Firefly → 4 at the Kitchen Table	Eel, Frog, Goldfish, Salmon, Swamp Ghost, Trout and 1 more species
Live Bait	1 Lacquer + 1 Flesh → 4 at the Kitchen Table	Celestial Salmon, Elder Catfish, Kraken Jr, Mythic Carp

Firefly is the bait-circuit ingredient: Gunter sells it from the start, and each Insect Bait batch costs 4. Lacquer brews in Laboratory I from exactly 2 blue runes — the paint and lacquer guide covers that recipe. Where each species swims is the one gap on this page: no public source currently maps species to fishing spots, so treat any spot list you read as unverified until it is confirmed against the live game.

What do you do with raw fish?

Fillet it at the Kitchen Table first — species convert to three fillet types at different rates — then cook the fillets at the Kitchen Oven.

Fillet	Species to fillet ratio
River fish fillet	1 Roach or Gudgeon → 1; 1 Crucian or Herring → 2; 1 Bream or Carp → 3; 1 Pike or Catfish → 4
Sea fish fillet	1 Anchovy or Mackerel → 1; 1 Tuna or Salmon → 2; 1 Eel or Trout → 3
Mysterious fish fillet	1 Goldfish → 1; 1 Silverfin → 2; 1 Swamp Ghost → 3

Dish	Recipe at the Kitchen Oven	Why cook it
Fish nuggets	1 River fish fillet + 1 Seed oil	Early cooked food (3 per craft)
Baked fish	2 River fish fillet	Early cooked food (3 per craft)
Fish soup	2 Sea fish fillet + 2 Carrot	Mid-tier meal (5 per craft)
Baked salmon	1 Sea fish fillet + 1 Salt	Mid-tier meal (3 per craft)
Fisherman’s pie	2 Mysterious fish fillet + 2 Frog	80 energy and 30 of each tech point on use
Elder’s meal	1 Elder Catfish + 1 Chicken Egg	120 energy and 90 of each tech point on use
Fried golden carp	1 Mythic Carp	60 energy; direct-use tech source

Fisherman’s pie and Elder’s meal understate their payouts by a factor of three: dishes pay once per colour listed, so the pie’s printed 10 becomes 30 and the meal’s printed 30 becomes 90. The full payout table is in the science and blue points guide, and the energy math is in the energy and insanity guide.

Is fishing worth it for money and Gratitude?

For Gratitude, yes: river fish fillets convert at 5 fillets to 2 Gratitude points, capped weekly, which makes a fishing run one of the cheapest sermon-attendance sources. The full rate table is in the Gratitude guide.

For money, fillets sell through Herm from trader level 2, but merchant purses cap volume — Herm is not the Trademaster’s 50 silver. Read the item prices and selling guide before planning a bulk-fish economy, and the beginner first week guide for where fishing fits in the opening days.