If you want to know where to find Catfish in Stardew Valley, the direct answer is the rivers of Pelican Town and Cindersap Forest during rainy weather in Spring and Fall, between 6:00 AM and midnight. There are two further locations that ignore the weather requirement entirely — the pond in the Secret Woods and the Witch’s Swamp — and knowing about them turns Catfish from a seasonal frustration into a fish you can farm on demand. Here is the complete breakdown, plus the gear and buffs that make its difficulty rating manageable.
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| Game | Platform | Genre | Why It’s Great | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stardew Valley | PC, Switch, PS4/PS5, Xbox, Mobile | Farming sim / RPG | A one-developer masterpiece with fishing, mining, combat and romance layered into one loop | 9.8/10 |
| Animal Crossing: New Horizons | Nintendo Switch | Life sim | Real-time seasons and a museum-filling fish collection that rewards daily visits | 9.1/10 |
| Story of Seasons: Friends of Mineral Town | Switch, PC, PS4, Xbox | Farming sim | The classic that inspired Stardew, remade with modern quality-of-life features | 8.4/10 |
| Rune Factory 4 Special | Switch, PC, PS4, Xbox | Farming RPG | Blends dungeon crawling and monster taming into a full farming sim | 8.8/10 |
| My Time at Portia | PC, Switch, PS4, Xbox | Crafting sim | Workshop-focused progression with a genuinely charming post-apocalyptic town | 8.0/10 |
| Coral Island | PC, Switch, PS5, Xbox Series X|S | Farming sim | Adds diving and ocean restoration to the Stardew formula with gorgeous art | 8.3/10 |
| Dave the Diver | PC, Switch, PS4/PS5, Xbox | Adventure / management | The most inventive fishing game in years, wrapped around a sushi restaurant sim | 9.0/10 |
| Graveyard Keeper | PC, Switch, PS4, Xbox | Management sim | A darkly funny inversion of the cosy farming formula with deep crafting chains | 7.9/10 |
Where to find Catfish in Stardew Valley: every location
Catfish appear in four distinct places, and each has its own rules. Understanding which one to use depends entirely on where you are in the game.
Rivers in Spring and Fall during rain
The standard location is any river water in Pelican Town or Cindersap Forest, including the stretch that runs past your farmhouse if you chose the Riverland or Forest farm layouts. The conditions are strict: it must be Spring or Fall, it must be raining or storming, and the time must be between 6:00 AM and midnight. Miss any one of those and the Catfish will not appear in the spawn pool at all.
Because rain is random, this is the least reliable approach in the early game. The television weather forecast the night before tells you what tomorrow brings, so check it and plan your fishing day accordingly rather than hoping. Later on, a crafted Rain Totem lets you force rain the following day using hardwood, truffle oil and pine tar, which turns Catfish hunting into something you can schedule.
The Secret Woods pond — no rain required
The single most useful piece of Catfish knowledge is the Secret Woods. Reach it through the gap in the north-west corner of Cindersap Forest, which you open by smashing the fallen log with a Steel Axe. The small pond inside spawns Catfish across Spring, Summer and Fall regardless of the weather, which removes the rain dependency entirely and adds a season the rivers do not cover.
The pond is tiny, so cast toward the middle and expect a lot of repeat catches from the same limited pool. Even so, being able to walk in on a clear Summer morning and reliably pull Catfish is a huge advantage over waiting for a rainy Spring day.
The Witch’s Swamp — the all-year option
Once you have completed the Dark Talisman quest and gained access to the Witch’s Swamp, that water becomes the most flexible Catfish source in the game. It spawns Catfish in every season and in any weather, which makes it the go-to location if you are chasing the Catfish in Winter or simply do not want to wait for the right conditions.
The swamp is a late-unlock area, so treat it as the endgame solution rather than the answer for a first-year player. If you are still in Year 1, the Secret Woods is your practical target.
Beating the Catfish’s difficulty rating
Catfish carry a difficulty of 75 with mixed movement, which means the fish icon darts unpredictably in the minigame rather than following a smooth pattern. That combination makes it one of the harder catches available before the endgame, and hooking one with a starter Bamboo Pole is genuinely punishing.
Three things fix this. First, raise your Fishing skill — each level widens the green bar and directly increases your success rate. Second, upgrade to the Fiberglass Rod and then the Iridium Rod so you can attach bait and tackle. Third, equip a Trap Bobber or Barbed Hook, both of which slow the loss of progress when the icon escapes the bar. Eating a food item with a fishing buff, such as Trout Soup or Dish O’ The Sea, stacks on top of all of that.
Long fishing sessions are also where controller comfort starts to matter, since the minigame is a constant series of small button presses. Our controller buying guide for cosy and simulation games covers pads with responsive face buttons that hold up to repetitive input, and the handheld gaming device buying guide compares the portable options that suit a game most people play in short daily sessions.
What Catfish are actually used for
Catfish are not just a collection entry. They are one of the four fish required for the River Fish Bundle in the Fish Tank of the Community Center, alongside Sunfish, Shad and Tiger Trout, so you need at least one to progress toward restoring the building. They also unlock the Fish Casserole recipe, which Jodi mails you once your friendship with her reaches seven hearts, and the dish itself requires a Catfish and milk.
Beyond that, Catfish carry a healthy base value of 200g and count toward the Master Angler achievement, which requires catching every fish in the game. Placing one in a Fish Pond produces roe over time, giving you a renewable secondary income once you have a spare.
An efficient Catfish farming route
Here is the routine that works best in practice. Check the weather forecast on your television each evening. If rain is coming in Spring or Fall, spend that day working the river bend just south of the Pelican Town bridge, where the water is wide enough for long casts. If it is a clear day in Spring, Summer or Fall, walk to the Secret Woods instead and work the pond.
Bring Deluxe Bait or Wild Bait to shorten the wait between bites, and carry a fishing buff meal. If you have unlocked the Witch’s Swamp, ignore all conditions and go straight there. Layering a Curiosity Lure onto your rod improves your odds of pulling rarer entries from the same spawn pool, which is useful when you are hunting several river fish at once.
Playing Stardew Valley comfortably
Stardew Valley runs on almost anything, which is part of why it is played on so many different devices. That means the meaningful upgrades are about comfort rather than raw power — a good display, decent audio for the game’s excellent seasonal soundtrack, and an input device that does not fatigue your hands during a two-hour session.
If you play at a desk, our gaming monitor buying guide covers panels that render the game’s pixel art crisply at integer scaling, and the gaming headset buying guide explains what to look for in audio if you value soundtrack quality over competitive positional cues. For anyone running multiple saves or modded installs, the SSD and storage buying guide is worth a read, and a comfortable seat matters more than most players admit — see our gaming chair buying guide for options built around long sessions.
Frequently Asked Questions
Where do I find Catfish in Stardew Valley during Winter?
Winter Catfish are only available in the Witch’s Swamp, which you unlock by completing the Dark Talisman quest after gaining access to the Sewers. The rivers and the Secret Woods pond both stop spawning Catfish once Winter arrives, so the swamp is the sole option during that season.
Can I catch Catfish in the ocean or at the mountain lake?
No. Catfish are strictly a freshwater river and pond fish in Stardew Valley, so casting at the beach or at the mountain lake near the mines will never produce one. Stick to the river water in town and Cindersap Forest, the Secret Woods pond, or the Witch’s Swamp.
Why can I not hook a Catfish even though it is raining?
Check the season and the clock first, because Catfish only spawn in rivers during Spring and Fall between 6:00 AM and midnight. If both conditions are met, the likely issue is the difficulty rating of 75 combined with erratic movement, which a low Fishing level and an un-upgraded rod make extremely hard to overcome.
Is a Fish Pond worth using for Catfish?
Yes, if you have a spare after completing the River Fish Bundle and the Fish Casserole recipe. A Catfish pond slowly produces roe that you can process for additional value, turning a single hard-earned catch into a renewable income source rather than a one-off sale.
