Fishing is a minigame in Persona 4 and Persona 5.
Contents
Appearances[edit | edit source]
Profile[edit | edit source]

Fishing the Samegawa in Persona 4.
Persona 4[edit | edit source]
The protagonist is able to spend his time by fishing at the Samegawa Flood Plain. He can gain access to the mini-game by talking to the old man facing the riverbed from May 1st onward. If the protagonist tells him he enjoys fishing, he'll be given ten fish bait as a starter, and teaches him the technique of fishing.
The protagonist's Diligence Social Stat plays an important role during the fishing mini-game, as his Diligence level determines how many fishing attempts he can do, with a maximum of 5. Fishing also takes up the whole Afternoon or Evening, depending on the time. Fishing requires bait, which can be obtained from cooking meals at the kitchen or from the housewife outside Dojima's Residence. More bait may also be obtained by trading with the old man, with the fish required varying by month.
To fish, the "O" button should be pressed whenever the fish hook sinks, and continue mashing the "O" button to bring it in. The fish will generate different vibration intensities of the controller before pulling on the line: the lightest pulses will be from the Red Goldfish, Amber Seema, or Inaba Trout. Moderate pulses will be generated by the Genji Ayu and Huge Fish. And the largest, unmistakable pulse will be generated by the Guardian. If looking for a particular fish, the "O" button can be pressed before the float sinks to try again, without wasting bait or fishing attempts. Larger types of fish will randomly generate another button to be pressed during the catch, indicated by a prompt on the screen.
Different types of fish appear depending on the weather as well as the month. Chances of larger fishes appearing are higher on rainy days.
Name | Effect | Weather | Month |
---|---|---|---|
Red Goldfish | Heals 10 HP of an ally | Sunny, Cloudy, Rainy | From April onwards |
Genji Ayu | Heals 25 HP of an ally | Sunny, Cloudy, Rainy | From April onwards |
Amber Seema | Heals 50 HP of an ally | Sunny, Cloudy, Rainy | From April onwards |
Inaba Trout | Heals 100 HP of an ally | Sunny, Cloudy, Rainy | From April onwards |
Huge Fish | Heals 200 HP of an ally | Cloudy, Rainy | From August onwards |
Guardian* | Recovers SP of an ally | Cloudy, Rainy | - |
Note:
- The Guardian can only be caught with the Angler Fish set obtained from the old man during "Quest 48".
Persona 4 Golden[edit | edit source]

Capturing the Hachiro Octopus at Shichiri Beach
Elements such as Diligence, baits and button presses are retained in Golden, albeit with several changes. The protagonist does not need to enter a quest to get a fishing rod, instead he may obtain a River Rod from the old man by presenting him with a hook. This hook can be obtained by talking to the Shiroku hostess and giving her a gem from the Midnight Channel and a Tatsuhime Ladybug from the shrine.
Baits now come in the form of bread crumbs and bugs. These baits determine the type of fish that can be caught. Bread crumbs are received from the Shiroku hostess by exchanging them with a Tatsuhime Ladybug, while bugs can be caught at the shrine with the bug catching net. These fishes may then be exchanged for gems with the Lady in White at the shrine.
To fish, the protagonist should select their bait, then press the "O" button whenever the fish hook sinks. One bait may attract two different types of fish, but the type of fish it would reel in can be determined by looking at the ripples. For example, strong white ripples indicate a Guardian. Weather conditions also determine the type of fish, with stronger ones appear in rainy conditions.
Pressing the "O" button will generate a multicolored gauge of blue, yellow, orange and red. A cursor slides along the gauge, and the protagonist must aim to hold the "O" button over the blue bar to reel the fish in. Holding the button on other colors will reset the reeling, and holding the button on red will result in failure.
Name | Effect | Bait 1 | Bait 2 |
---|---|---|---|
Red Goldfish | Restores 10 SP to an ally. | Bread Crumbs | - |
Genji Ayu | Restores 25 HP to an ally. | Bread Crumbs | Tatsuhime Ladybug |
Amber Seema | Restores 50 HP to an ally. | Tatsuhime Ladybug | Yaso Locust |
Inaba Trout | Restores 100 HP to an ally. | Yaso Locust | Meiou Cricket |
Huge Fish | Restores all of one ally's HP. | Meiou Cricket | Inaba Jewel Bug |
Guardian | Restores all of one ally's SP. | Inaba Jewel Bug | - |
The protagonist is also able to fish at Shichiri Beach, provided he has unlocked the location by "Taking a Long Ride" on his scooter 3 times, and has caught the River Guardian from the Samegawa Flood Plain, allowing him to receive the Deep-Sea Rod by talking to the old man. Quest 15: The Shichiri Beach Guardian can be unlocked from granting a quest from the Fox.
Name | Effect | Bait 1 | Bait 2 |
---|---|---|---|
Hachiro Octopus | Recovers 10 SP of an ally | Daimyo Grasshopper | Heike Stag Beetle |
Meguro Tuna | Heals all HP of an ally | Heike Stag Beetle | Genji Beetle |
Sea Guardian | Recovers all SP of an ally | Genji Beetle | - |
Persona 5[edit | edit source]
『ペルソナ5』ショートムービー【市ヶ谷で釣り編】
Fishing in Ichigaya in Persona 5.
The fishing pond takes place in Ichigaya, which needs to be unlocked by reading the book "Fishpond Spotter." Otherwise, Ryuji Sakamoto will invite the protagonist to visit on July 6th.
When the protagonist travels to Ichigaya, he'll need to pay ¥3,000 to fish during the day. However, there is a discount during the evening, costing ¥1,000 yen instead. Once he pays, he'll also be granted with 7 Small Boilies.
When the protagonist starts fishing, he'll have to choose the bait he wishes to use: depending on the size, the protagonist will be able to reel in different types of fish. Afterwards, the protagonist will have to shift the direction of their casting, before having to time the power of his throw he wishes to use, which determines the distance. The protagonist is able to start the process over at any time.
The number of attempts the protagonist has at fishing per session is 2 by default, and is further boosted by the rank of his Proficiency Social Stat (Rank + 2). Successfully reeling in a fish rewards him with a single point of Proficiency. The protagonist is also limited to how many times he can fail reeling in. If he does so too many times, he'll no longer be able to fish for the rest of the session. However, he can expand that number by buying stronger fishing rods.
If the protagonist has gone fishing at least once, he'll be able to buy the book "Essence of Fishing". Reading it will unlock his Third Eye while fishing. Using it helps the protagonist determine which fish will grant him more points.
Catching fish grants the protagonist points according to the type and size of their catch. Certain fish is tagged with double the points. Those points can be used to buy more bait and fishing rods. On rainy weather, those kinds of fish are more common. Additionally, the rarest fish, the Ichigaya Guardian, is more likely to appear.
In New Game+, the fishing rod upgrades can be carried over, although the points earned cannot be.
Item | Effect | Price |
---|---|---|
Medium Boilie | Medium fish | 60 pt |
Large Boilie | Large fish | 250 pt |
Top-class Boilie | Any Fish | 400 pt |
Casual rod | Fishing can fail 3 times | 300 pt |
Powerful rod | Fishing can fail 4 times | 2,000 pt |
Miracle rod | Fishing can fail 5 times | 10,000 pt |
Boilie | Fish | Size | Reward |
---|---|---|---|
Small | Benikin | <10cm | 20 pt |
=10cm | 30 pt | ||
>10cm | 40 pt | ||
Sarabuna | <15cm | 30 pt | |
=15cm | 40 pt | ||
>15cm | 50 pt | ||
Miyabitanago | <20cm | 40 pt | |
=20cm | 50 pt | ||
>20cm | 60 pt | ||
Medium | Nanairomasu | <30cm | 100 pt |
=30cm | 150 pt | ||
>30cm | 200 pt | ||
White Carp | <40cm | 200 pt | |
=40cm | 250 pt | ||
>40cm | 300 pt | ||
Otakaramasu | <50cm | 300 pt | |
=50cm | 350 pt | ||
>50cm | 400 pt | ||
Large | Delish Bitterling | <50cm | 600 pt |
=50cm | 700 pt | ||
>50cm | 800 pt | ||
Musou Bee | <80cm | 800 pt | |
=80cm | 1000 pt | ||
>80cm | 1200 pt | ||
Top-Class | Ichigaya Guardian | <120cm | 4500 pt |
=120cm | 5000 pt | ||
>120cm | 5500 pt |
Persona 5 Royal[edit | edit source]
In Persona 5 Royal, a new rod has been added, which allows the protagonist to fail at fishing 6 times. It costs 28,000 points.
The Ichigaya Guardian is no longer lured by the Top-Class Boilie: instead, the protagonist needs to buy Unidentified Boilie for 1,200 points, which can only lure the Ichigaya Guardian, alongside a new kind of Guardian, the Ichigaya Kingpin.