Although they were bugged at early access launch, the fish traps in Sons of the Forest have now been fixed. At last, dinner is a little easier to catch. Finding a reliable food source is one of my first objectives in any survival game and slapping together a few fish traps is an easy enough way to stockpile. Personally, I'd still recommend asking Kelvin to fish for you. The same game patch that fixed the traps has made it so that he won't just catch fish infinitely, but he's still amazingly effecient.
How to fish in Sons of the Forest
- Build a fish trap in water with 25 sticks (catches every 5-10 minutes)
- Carve a stick into a spear and use it in water
- Ask Kelvin to fish for you (he's great at it)
When placing a fish trap, I'd recommend a spot that's at least partially submerged in water. Since the game update that fixed the fish traps, my existing trap at the top of a salmon spawning stream still hasn't had any success but the one further down the stream and half submerged has produced at the expected rate. Check the image gallery down below for other examples of spots I've tried. You'll see a fish wiggling around inside that you ran remove with E when ready.
Even without investing in a fishing operation, you can scrape together a fair few in just minutes by working alongside my best friend Kelvin (opens in new tab). If you want to catch fish on your own, use your inventory to combine two sticks, duct tape, and your knife to make a spear. This won't consume your knife; it's just for carving. Stab your new spear into any water spot where you can see fish swimming. My reliable location thus far has been the top of a stream leading into a lake where I can see salmon jumping upstream out of the water. It takes quite a few attempts to get a fish each time though, in my experience.
The even easier option is asking Kelvin to fish for you. In his command menu, tell Kelvin to "get fish and" either "drop here" or "give to me" and he'll begin fishing them out by hand from a nearby stream or pond. That's been the winning ticket to free dinners for me so far, because Kelvin manages to grab five or six in just a few minutes. That makes it easy for me to fry them up and hang on a drying rack while he works his magic.
Once you have your hunger meter under control, you can start taking on the bigger mysteries of the island by hunting down the rebreather location (opens in new tab) and rope gun location (opens in new tab) before going to uncover that elusive shovel location (opens in new tab) too.
