Stardew Valley: Fisher or Trapper, Which Profession Is Better?

Skills are an indispensable part of Stardew Valley. Through professions, you can further upgrade your them and unlock powerful and valuable bonuses. Fishing, like any other skill, allows you to choose a profession after you reach a certain level. Those professions allow you to unlock a new bonus applied to the aspect of the skills that you want to focus on the most. In today’s guide, we’re going to discuss the choice between fisher and trapper. Both professions are useful, although one is more passive than the other. When it comes to fisher or trapper, which profession is better in Stardew Valley?

What is the fisher profession in Stardew Valley? Fisher profession is one of the choices you get to choose between as soon as you reach level 5 in fishing skills. This choice is among the most important when it comes to fishing since the chosen profession dictates what choices you will have as soon as you reach level 10. Choosing the fisher profession will make your caught fish worth 25 % more. Even though every level gained in fishing comes with its own “perks” and bonuses, level 5 is significant since it offers large bonuses that have the potential to improve your fishing profits by a large margin.

The bonuses at first might seem small, but over time, they will stack and add up, especially in the early game, where every bit of gold counts toward upgrading your farm and progressing through the game.

The only downside to the fisher profession is for players that don’t enjoy fishing at all, considering that most of your money will come from an active fishing mini-game.

What is the trapper profession in Stardew Valley?

Trapper profession is your other choice as soon as you reach level 5. If you choose the trapper profession, the materials needed to craft crab pots will significantly decrease. For example, in pre-level 5, you need 40x wood and 3x iron bars to craft a crab pot. After choosing the trapper at level 5, the materials needed are 25x wood and 2x copper bar.

As you can see, this is a significant improvement when it comes to the cost of materials.
To earn profit from crab pots a player doesn’t have to actively fish, all he has to do is interact with crab pots every day to collect the catches.
While prizes from crab pots are not worth as much as fish that are caught with fishing rods and fishing poles, the added bonus of not having to actively fish is worth it for some players.

Fisher or trapper which is better?

Objectively, the fisherman is a better profession than a trapper. Even though the bonus you get from selling fish is small, it eventually adds up to a hefty sum of profits. The bonus of decreased crab pot costs is, in the long run, useless for several reasons. The materials needed to craft pots are rare by no means; they might be hard to come by in the early game, but eventually, as you progress, they are not either expensive or rare.

Crab pots can be purchased as well for a small sum of 1500 gold, again, it might seem like a lot of money early-game, but in the late-game, this is a spare change that you will more than likely be able to afford.

Even though actively fishing for profit seems like a waste of time and energy, it might be an even bigger waste of time and energy to interact with every crab pot every day, considering the fact that the prizes are not that good. Most rare and expensive fish will also never spawn in the crab pot, which is another downside.

If you’re oriented toward profits and convenience, definitely go for the fishing profession. If you truly dislike actively fishing, then you should choose the trapper profession. The rewards won’t be as good, but you will be able to raise your fishing skills passively without the need to actively fish. In theory, both professions sound like good choices, but this is hardly the case, especially when it comes to late-game.

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