Stardew Valley: How, Where & When to Catch a Sturgeon Fish

• Catch a sturgeon during summer or winter in the Mountain Lake area between 6 AM and 7 PM.
• Level up your fishing mastery, equip an iridium rod, and use a cork bobber or trap bobber to increase your chances at success.
• Alternatively, check Krobus’s store on Wednesday or visit the Traveling Cart on Friday and Sunday for a randomized chance to buy a sturgeon outright.

How to Catch a Sturgeon

Wait until the in-game summer or winter seasons. Sturgeon only spawn in Stardew Valley during the in-game summer or winter seasons. If it’s currently spring or fall in your game, continue playing until the seasons change. Sturgeons are most likely to pop up during a rainy summer day, and less likely to pop up on a rainy winter day. Thankfully, rainy winter days aren’t even possible unless you craft and use a rain totem.

Go to the Mountain Lake area between 6 AM and 7 PM. As soon as you wake up in the morning, head toward the mountain area in the game, which is above (north of) your farm. The body of water just past Linus’s tent is known as the Mountain Lake area. Focus on fishing in the bottom right portion of the lake by standing on the center island or right-most riverbank.

Cast the line out as far as you can. Press and hold the “Use Tool” button on your device console to determine how far your line gets thrown out—ideally, try to let go of the button when the on-screen bar is filled up to throw the line out as far as possible. The further the line is, the better chance you’ll have of hooking a sturgeon. ”Use Tool” Controls: PC: Left-click Nintendo Switch: Y PS: □ Xbox: X

Use special fishing gear and enhancements when you fish. Upgrade to a fiberglass rod (requires Fishing Level 2) to unlock the ability to use bait or an iridium fishing rod (requires Fishing Level 6) to unlock the ability to use both bait and tackle. A cork or trap bobber may make it easier to reel in the difficult sturgeon, while bait makes fish bite your line more quickly. Eating fish dishes in-game (like Trout Soup, which you can buy at Willy’s) boosts your Fishing Level temporarily, which can be helpful. Equip your fishing rod with bait and tackle by hitting the tackle with the “Use Tool” control; then, hit the fishing rod with the “Do Action control” (A on Xbox, ✕ on PlayStation, A on Switch, and right-click on PC) to place the tackle. The same process applies for bait. Seafoam pudding, fish tacos, shrimp cocktail, lobster bisque, fish stew, maple bar, escargot, chowder, and dish o’ the sea can also give you a Fishing Level bonus. Tip: Catch a variety of fish in-game to help boost your Fishing Level. The higher your Fishing Level, the larger your bobber is and the greater proficiency score you have with a fishing rod.

Reel in any fish that bite until 7 PM in-game time. Feel free to dedicate an entire in-game day (or multiple!) to catching a sturgeon. Just keep in mind that sturgeon no longer spawn after 7 PM in-game, so you’ll have to stop your hunt at that point.

Other Ways to Get Sturgeon

Check Krobus’s store on Wednesdays for sturgeon. Each in-game Wednesday, there’s a 9% chance that Krobus will have a sturgeon in stock for 200 gold. Krobus’s shop is accessed by using the Rusty Key to unlock the Sewers. Donating 60 unique items to the Museum earns you the Rusty Key.

Visit the Traveling Cart on Fridays and Sundays to see if sturgeon is in stock. The Traveling Cart randomly stocks a variety of a grab-bag of items, including the sturgeon. While it’s exceedingly unlikely to find a sturgeon this way, it could be worth checking.

Speed up the fishing process by installing a mod. If you mod Stardew Valley (or are comfortable with modding your game), a special fishing mod (found on the NexusMods site) can help simplify or even automate the fishing process, like: Fishing Assistant Auto Fishing Fishing Made Easy Suite

How to Use Sturgeon

Donate it to the Community Center. If you haven’t finished the Lake Fish Bundle for the Community Center yet, do that first—simply head to the Center and submit your donation to the corresponding Bundle in the fish tank.

Put it in a fish pond on your farm to make caviar. Visit Robin and ask her to make a fishing pond on your farm—you’ll need 5,000 gold, 5 seaweed, 5 green algae, and 200 stone to make the request. After 2 days, Robin will be finished building the pond; at that point, drop your sturgeon into the pond, where it will eventually make sturgeon roe. When placed in a preserves jar, sturgeon roe becomes caviar after fermenting for 4 in-game days. For the population to increase in the pond, the fish will ask you to drop certain items into the pond, like 1 diamond; 1 jelly, 1 pickles, or 2 maple syrup; 3 omni geodes; and 1 nautilus shell. You’ll need caviar to unlock the movie theater later in the game.

Gift it to Willy to boost your friendship level. As the town’s resident fisherman, Willy is the only NPC in Stardew Valley that actually enjoys getting sturgeon as a gift. Every other NPC either feels neutrally about sturgeon as a gift or they dislike/hate it. Willy is the only character worth gifting this valuable fish to.

Use it in fish-centric recipes. Cooking certain recipes like sashimi, maki roll, and quality fertilizer require “any fish” as an ingredient, which includes sturgeon. You’re better off using more common fish for these recipes, since sturgeon is pretty tricky to catch.

Use it with the sewing machine to make a fishing vest. Head to Emily and Haley’s house and equip the sewing machine with the sturgeon. Thanks to the in-game magic, this somehow creates a fishing vest, a special clothing item that you can dress your character in.