Fishing Guide - Elder Scrolls Online - ESO

The Ultimate Fishing Guide for The Elder Scrolls Online. Types of Water & Bait, Secret Fishing Methods & Achievements.

Table of contents

8 Chapters

Four Types of Water

Chapter 2 / 8

In this part of the Fishing Guide we are going to take a look at the 4 different waters that exist in The Elder Scrolls Online and what they are used for. Depending on where you fish you will get different types of water, Foul, River, Lake or Saltwater. This is important because you will have to use different baits for different types of water that lets you catch a variety of different fish!

Type of Water Type of Bait Fishing Hole Location
Foul Crawlers, Fish Roe Near Corpses, Murky Pools, Close to Undead
River Insect Parts, Shad Any fresh water source that flows into a lake or ocean
Lake Guts, Minnow Any still water with deep holes
Saltwater Chub, Worms Coast areas, Coastal cities, docks

Technically there are 3 more types of water which are called Spawning, Mystic (Artaeum Zone) and Oily (Clockwork City) but they function the same as the first 4.

Foul Water Fishing Holes

Foul water fishing holes can be found at placed where undead or corpses are present or murky pools. For example, the fishing hole below was found in the Glenumbra zone at the "North Shore Point World Boss" location.Foul water baits are:

  • Crawlers
  • Fish Roe


River Water Fishing Holes

River water fishing holes can be found at any fresh water source that flows into a lake or ocean. For example, the fishing hole below was found in the Reaper's March zone directly on top of the Willow's Path Set crafting station.

River water baits are:

  • Insect Parts
  • Shad


Lake Water Fishing Holes

Lake water fishing holes can be found at lakes, anything that has still water with deep holes. For example, the fishing hole below was found in the Reaper's March zone close to the Willow's Path Set crafting station.

Lake water baits are:

  • Guts
  • Minnow


Saltwater Fishing Holes

Saltwater fishing holes can be found along coast areas, coastal cities or docks. For example, the fishing hole below was found in the Gold Coast zone close to the city of Anvil!

Saltwater baits are:

  • Chub
  • Worms


3 Special Types of Water

In addition to the 4 types of water you can also find 3 more. Though technically they are a copy paste version of the original 4 just with a different name tag on them.

Type of Water Type of Bait Location
Spawning Quest related fishing baits Quests
Mystic Chub, Worms Artaeum
Oily Crawlers, Fish Roe Clockword City

Spawning

Spawning fishing holes are quest related fishing holes, therefore you will only encounter these when you are on a fishing related quest.

Mystic Fishing Holes

Mystic fishing holes can only be found in the Artaeum zone. They work identical to saltwater fishing holes.

Oily Fishing Holes

Oily fishing holes can only be found in the Clockwork City zone. They work identical to foul water fishing holes.

Alcast

Alcast is a veteran gaming content creator with 15+ years of experience in MMORPGs, RPGs, and online games. Known for expert build creation, he’s a trusted voice in the MMO community—especially for his in-depth work on The Elder Scrolls Online (ESO).

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