5 Best Fishing Rods in Minecraft

Although plenty of Minecraft’s more fundamental aspects are based on activities involving combat and building, many of its survival aspects rely on crafting and enchantments. Players can craft a ton of useful items in the game, including fishing rods, which can be used to acquire all sorts of awesome loot and even special items. Still, it will take much more than a standard fishing rod to get the best gameplay experience possible.

Fishing Rods In Minecraft

Players can use fishing rods to acquire some amazing items in-game, ranging from raw consumables like food and resources to special or unique items. All it takes is 3 sticks and 2 strings (resources that are accessible very early in the game) to create a fishing rod in Minecraft, but players will need to get their hands dirty to upgrade their fishing rods to enhanced and durable variants.

Since there are so many awesome and fun things to keep players occupied in Minecraft, it’s understandable that the fishing activity is often underestimated. To be fair, fishing does take a lot of time that players could be spending elsewhere – and, since fishing is generally based on luck overall, it may not always be worth the effort.

Still, the odds of receiving some of the more rare items may very well be worthwhile – especially if you enjoy more passive Minecraft activities. Below is a simplified list of items that players could acquire by fishing in Minecraft, with drop rates thanks to 10roar:

It is important to note that – similar to fishing in real life – fishing in Minecraft is generally more rewarded in certain weather conditions. Specific weather or natural influences in Minecraft can increase the odds of catching fish.

Although, the weather may not necessarily increase the odds of catching Treasure items, or decrease the odds of catching junk items. Below are the weather conditions that players should look out for in order to obtain more fish overall:

• Rainy weather: This can increase the odds of catching fish by around 60%.
• Exposure to the sun or moon: Increases the speed of catching fish or items, while underground conditions will double the average waiting time.

Acquiring fish is the primary reason for fishing in most cases, as fish can be one of the best sources of food if you spawn in a more barren area such as Mesa. As seen above, the odds of getting your hands on the Treasure items are fairly minimal, although it does make fishing one of the best ways to acquire top-tier enchantments at earlier stages.

5 Best Fishing Rods In Minecraft

There is only one main type of fishing rod in Minecraft, and players will need to use enchantments to upgrade their fishing rod’s capacity and capabilities. There are 5 enchantments that can be incredibly advantageous when used on fishing rods, although players may need to spend time grinding in order to acquire these enchantment books and upgrade them to max level.

Below are all of the Enchanted Fishing Rod options as well as their primary benefits, ranked according to their popularity and benefits:

However, it is important to note that the ‘best’ enchanted fishing rod will rely on the preferences of each player since each variant offers different benefits. Still, all of these enchanted fishing rod types can prove to be advantageous to players, depending on the context and the chosen game mode.

5. Curse of Vanishing

The Curse of Vanishing enchantment takes the last spot since it is only really useful for certain game modes. While the Curse of Vanishing may be useful for weapons in PvP, using it on a fishing rod is only recommended when playing in Creative mode since players will lose their fishing rods if they die in Survival or Hardcore.

While it is listed as a possible enchantment option for fishing rods in Minecraft, it has very limited use. It’s not the best idea to use this enchantment at all – unless you’re really trying to roleplay while playing the game.

4. Mending

The Mending enchantment has already gained a ton of notoriety for its awesome benefits on just about any tool, armor piece, or weapon. But, it can also work really well on fishing rods – especially for players who love AFK fishing or passive and easy gameplay experiences.

Automatic Fishing Farms are probably the best and most efficient way to gather fish in Minecraft, and there are quite a few designs for players to use. However, Mending seems to be a staple throughout many of these designs, as this enchantment greatly increases these farms’ effectiveness.

Since immeasurable time is necessary for fishing farms, many players prefer to use the Mending enchantment on their fishing rods simply for the sake of convenience. Using this enchantment will allow players’ fishing rods to mend themselves while gathering XP and loot, rather than forcing players to replace them every so often.

Mending is an incredibly useful enchantment overall, and it can be worthwhile if you have extra Mending enchantment books lying around. The main reason why it’s lower on this list is since fishing does not reward much XP, which is necessary for the enchantment to work, and the enchantment is much better suited to other items like weapons.

3. Unbreaking

The Unbreaking enchantment has been viewed as the best enchantment for general fishing purposes as well. Although, it may be more suited to players who want to get their hands on anything available from the fishing activity.

Below is an image of an Unbreaking enchanted fishing rod, thanks to a Minecraft player’s post on Reddit:

It will not affect the chances of gathering certain items from fishing. But, the Unbreaking enchantment will significantly affect the fishing rod’s durability and longevity. Extended longevity is the primary reason for this enchantment’s popularity on plenty of Minecraft items like tools or armor.

The main reason why unbreaking is so popular is that it is not that hard to acquire in the game. It saves time and resources, especially at lower levels or earlier stages of the game, while extending players’ fishing rods’ lifespans without costing XP orb points as Mending would.

2. Lure

The Lure enchantment is possibly the second-best option for players, flaunting a very straightforward yet highly effective benefit that focuses on the primary purpose of fishing – getting bites on those lines. All this enchantment will do is increase the odds of players catching fish or items, by increasing the rate at which they bite the hook.

It is a great option for players who fish primarily for food or for fish that can be used in potion-making. It not only increases the overall catch rate to amount to more food and items to take back to base, but it greatly reduces the waiting time between bites – to be specific, time is reduced by approximately 5 seconds per level.

Time is essential in Minecraft, especially when you’re playing in modes like Hardcore where every second out of your survival base puts you at risk. Maxing this enchantment out will result in players getting an almost guaranteed catch each second, which equates to between 52 and 62 fish per minute on average.

1. Luck of the Sea

The Luck Of The Sea enchantment has often been dubbed as the best enchantment option for fishing rods overall, offering an amazing yet simple advantage to players. This enchantment will increase the odds of catching more significant items from the fishing activity while decreasing the odds of collecting junk items.

These benefits and effects make this enchanted fishing rod great for players who want to get their hands on more fish (like Pufferfish that can be used to make potions) or Treasure items. But, one of the most notable benefits is the increased odds of gathering enchantment books from fishing, which would otherwise be fairly tricky to acquire at earlier stages of the game.

Overpowered Fishing Rods In Minecraft

It’s also worth mentioning that players can actually acquire some really overpowered fishing rods, which include the best of the abovementioned enchantments (other than the Curse of Vanishing).

Having a fishing rod with Luck of the Sea, Lure, Unbreaking, and Mending all at max upgrade levels will forge the most powerful fishing rod that exists in Minecraft. A few players have shared their successes on Reddit, as seen below:

Fishing is quite an underrated activity in Minecraft, as it can take plenty of time out of your gaming sessions without guaranteed rewards. But, there are tons of ways to make the activity more enjoyable and rewarding, whether you’re AFK or enjoying the ocean view – after all, it’s no surprise gamers love to fish, fishing is great!