Fishing is one of the many pastimes you can spend your time doing in Crimson Desert, and like some other mechanics, it has its own tutorial in the form of Annabella’s Request in Hernand. While the game shows you how to cast the line, it does not do a particularly good job of explaining how to reel in the catch once something takes the bait.
Here’s how to fish and properly reel in your catch, including the Tench needed to complete Annabella’s Request in Crimson Desert.
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How To Fish In Crimson Desert
First off, you need to be introduced to the fishing mechanic, which can be done after either acquiring your first Fishing Rod or observing a fisherman. This can be done right after the prologue when you awaken in Hernand, where you will find some fishermen by the river, and just beside them, a rod resting near some wooden crates.
If you happen to miss it, Annabella will hand you her own fishing rod during her quest, which you get to keep permanently. More on that later, as for now, we’ll focus on helping you get a grip on the basics of fishing first.
How To Use The Fishing Rod
While you can fish with your bare hands, which is surprisingly useful when you don’t know how to use the rod, we don’t want you doing that unless the water is shallow enough for you to stand in. For proper fishing, you’ll want to use a rod, and here is how to do it.
- Equip it from the Equipment Quick Slot radial menu, where it takes the bow slot.
- On a controller, hold LT or L2 to prepare the cast and aim at the body of water. On keyboard, press Q to bring out the rod and aim using the right mouse button.
- Release the input to cast the line into the water, and from here, you simply need to wait for a fish to take the bait.
- Once a fish bites, press the hook input, which is RT or R2 on controller, or the right mouse button on keyboard.
- After hooking the fish, do not immediately reel it in, as that’ll snap the line. Instead, you need to move the line in the opposite direction of the fish using the left thumbstick or WASD. For instance, if it moves left, you counter by pulling right.
- Keep at it until the fish tires, which you’ll notice when it stops struggling and the splashing water settles. Right after this, begin reelin it in by rotating the right thumbstick clockwise or using the mouse scroll wheel. The fish may start resisting again, in which case you will need to repeat the previous step before you can reel it in fully and catch it.
That is how fishing works in Crimson Desert. It takes a bit of practice to nail it down, but as you progress, you will find better rods that make the process smoother, sometimes letting you reel in a catch without having to tire it out multiple times.
How To Get A Tench For Annabella’s Request
It can take a while to receive this quest from Annabella, but for us it did after completing the Unexpected Gift quest. She can be found a little northeast of the Freesword Encampment, where she is looking to fashion a saddle using the shimmering scales of a fish specie known as the Tench.
To get the Tench for Annabella, you have a few options available. The easiest way, if you want to skip the hassle, is to buy one from Hailard at the Roadbel Fishing Dock, which is located west of Hernand. It costs an inexpensive 79 copper coins.
If you’d rather catch it yourself, then follow the quest marker to the lake. Here, you can fish it out using a rod, or, if you want to make things easier, scan (LB/L1 or ctrl) the water for the Tench, and grab it by hand when it closes to the shoreline.
If you have not discovered a species before, it will appear as ‘???’, which usually indicates something new, and in this case, it is very likely to be the Tench given the location.
Annabella’s Request Rewards
How you get the Tench comes down to your preference but we found buying one to be far more time-efficient. If you decide to catch it yourself, you will still need to deliver it, and not to Annabella directly, but to her assistant at Bloomwood Ranch southwest of Hernand.
Since that location is miles aways from the fishing point but relatively close to Hailard, the best approach is to grab the quest, purchase the Tench, and continue along the same road to Bloomwood Ranch to turn it in. You’ll get an inventory expansion and a Dried Fish for your troubles.