nina's very official and totally objective ranking of various video game fishing minigames

as an introduction, i originally started compiling this ranking list years ago half as a joke after noticing just how widespread fishing in particular seems to be in video games, especially ones that ostensibly should not have fishing.
to establish a couple things up front: i am far from an acclaimed fisherwoman in real life, but i have experience with the hobby. That being said, accuracy to real-life fishing is Not the main criteria by which these are ranked, instead they are mainly being ranked in how fun they are as gamified abstractions of fishing, and how well they fit into their game.
in addition, the ranking is of fishing MINIgames. games where fishing is the main/only way to interact with the game will not be included here, eg: Big's campaign in Sonic Adventure or any Bass Pro Fishing simulator. these are not fishing minigames, they are just fishing games, and as such it would be unfair to rank them against the others.
lastly i am only ranking fishing games i have personal experience with (i.e. have played the game myself, or watched alongside a friend playing it)
with all that said, here are the categories in which i will be grading these fishing minigames.
Ranking Criteria:

• Waiting (how long for a fish to bite? Unless the game is attempting hyper-realism in its fishing, it shouldn't take That Long to get a fish.)
• Baiting (are there baiting mechanics? How much depth does the bait system have?)
• Reeling (how do you reel in the fish? Are there challenges when reeling in stronger fish? Is there literally any engagement besides just pressing a button one time?)
• Variety (how many fish can you catch? Are there multiple fishing holes with their own unique fish to be found?)
• Necessity (should this game have a fishing minigame? Does it fit in to the games themes? And how does it interact with its other mechanics?)
• Bonus (extra points that I give at my discretion that don't particularly fit one of the above categories)

Stardew Valley - 24/25 - Very Good, the Exemplar of Fishing Minigames

• Waiting: 4/5 waiting is there, but it only takes a while if you don't use bait.
• Baiting: 3/5 there is a very simple bait system, as well as multiple different tackles with unique effects.
• Reeling: 4/5 the reeling minigame is engaging and has many difficulty levels, but many fish either sit there doing nothing or wiggle erratically making reeling annoying. this can be helped with different tackles, though
• Variety: 5/5 the valley has multiple different fish that can be found based on location, season, time of day, weather, fishing level, etc. there are many different places to fish with unique effects, like the pools in the mine, oasis in the desert, and deep-sea fishing in the submarine.
• Necessity: 5/5 fishing is one of the game's 5 major skills, and many fish are used for cooking, gifting, crafting, or just selling for money.
• Bonus: 3/5 crab pots are a fun alternative fishing method, the bonus treasure you can find sometimes is pretty good, and the legendary fish 'quests' are a fun challenge.

Minecraft - 5/25 - This sucks so bad. The peasant of fishing minigames

• Waiting: 2/5 you have to wait anywhere from 5 to 30 seconds to catch a fish. Can speed up w/ enchants.
• Baiting: 0/5 there is no baiting mechanic at all.
• Reeling: 0/5 there is no reeling mechanic at all, unless you count 'pressing right click when the fish bites'
• Variety: 1/5 there are very few fish varieties, and all fish live everywhere, even a man made 2x2 pool.
• Necessity: 2/5 fishing is expected from a survival simulator, but fishing does not really interact with any other of the games systems beyond surface level, anything accomplished by fishing can be done easier by other means.
• Bonus: 0/5 the addition of physical fish swimming around in the water and the ability to scoop them up in buckets is fun. bizarrely though, using a fishing rod doesn't interact with the physical fish and instead summons new item-ified fish from nowhere so any bonus points it would gain from this are negated.

Terraria - 10/25 - Not terrible, but wasn't really needed

• Waiting: 3/5 despite the frankly too large amount of fishing stats and accessories, there is no way to speed up the too-long waiting process.
• Baiting: 1/5 there is a bait mechanic, but the bait has a simple linear effect of increasing your fishing stat by some percent.
• Reeling: 0/5 there is no reeling mechanic, unless you count 'pressing left click when the fish bites'
• Variety: 4/5 there are a lot of fish to be found, and each biome in the game has its own set of unique fish to be found, plus there are numerous unique quest fish to be found.
• Necessity: 1/5 Terraria does not need fishing. it played totally fine for years without fishing. the fish are all used to create functionally identical food items, with the rare use in potion brewing being the only interaction with the rest of the game.
• Bonus: 1/5 Terraria gets bonus points for the idea of fishing quests, and the bosses summoned by fishing.

Pokemon Series - 12/25 - Oh joy another Magikarp!

• Waiting: 4/5 it does not take very long to get bites on your fishing hook, although if you're looking for a specific pokemon it can sometimes take super long to find it slogging through a billion magikarp.
• Baiting: 1/5 there are 3 different fishing poles that affect which pokemon you can catch.
• Reeling: 0/5 there is no reeling mechanic, unless you count 'pressing A when the pokemon bites'
• Variety: 3/5 there is a decent amount of pokemon to be found fishing, but most fish can be found across the entire region, and a lot of water pokemon aren't even found fishing but by surfing or diving.
• Necessity: 3/5 with so many fish pokemon and a series based on catching every creature out there, the fishing fits in very well, but the distinction between Fishing pokemon and Surfing pokemon is arbitrary at best, and you could probably cut out fishing and have just surfing and not much would change. (editors note, 1/14/2024: they did! fishing is removed as of Scarlet and Violet, and i honestly forgot it even existed until reading this back and realizing "hey wait did i ever fish in scarvio?")
• Bonus: 0/5 debating giving a bonus point for the ability to shiny farm with chain fishing but tbh its kinda convoluted and not even the best method of non-egg shiny farming, and it's only good for the small amount of pokemon that can be fished up so net gain of zero here.

Tower Unite 19/25 - Does it need a fishing minigame this good? No. does it have one? Hell yes.

• Waiting: 5/5 there is basically no waiting period between casting and catching a fish. You have direct control over moving your hook to connect with fish.
• Baiting: 4/5 there are multiple different baits/tackles that attract different sizes of fish and treasures.
• Reeling: 5/5 fun reeling mechanic where you have to spin your mouse around different directions, mimics actual reeling in a way.
• Variety: 3/5 there's only one place to go fishing, but there's a ton of stuff to fish up there, from actual fish to disco ducks and comically large shell coins. (edit: i think they have since added more fishing holes but im not sure how much that changes things)
• Necessity: 2/5 in a collection of various mini games like golf and racing and apartment building, fishing isn't really necessary, but it's a good way to fill out aquariums to decorate your house.

Phantom Hourglass - 15/25 - A surprisingly good fishing game for Zelda. Probably their best, even

• Waiting: 5/5 you go fishing by actively seeking out a fish shadow on the overworld, no waiting around.
• Baiting: 1/5 there's an unlocked item that lets you catch bigger fish, and that's it.
• Reeling: 5/5 pretty much the entire fishing minigame is reeling it in, with lots of mechanics like the sliding tension meter, pulling back to tire out the fish, letting go when it jumps, etc.
• Variety: 1/5 there's only a small handful of fish, and they all show up equally across the 4 sea charts.
• Necessity: 4/5 being a pirate-themed game on the open seas, a fishing minigame is only expected. the fishing also ties in to a sidequest with the Old Wayfarer.

World of Warcraft - 13/25 - It probably doesn't need to be here, but its too late now to remove it

• Waiting: 3/5 you have to wait for fish to bite, but it doesn't usually take too long.
• Baiting: 1/5 there are various items that can give temporary increases to your fishing skill, but they're negligible boosts and you really never need bait items to fish.
• Reeling: 1/5 there is a simple reeling mechanic, where you must click on the bobber when the fish bites, and your bobber appears in a random location each cast so you have to pay attention.
• Variety: 3/5 there are a lot of fish, but there are only like 5 types of fish per expansion and you can fish them up pretty much anywhere regardless of the zone you're in, with maybe a freshwater/saltwater split.
• Necessity: 2/5 fishing is a secondary profession and the stuff you get from fishing is only really used in cooking which is another secondary profession which is only really used at Really high levels for the well fed buffs. so fishing is like a percentage of a percentage of useful for regular mmo combat. they do try to weave it in to other systems through Nat Pagle and his Angler's faction, but adding rep farms to fishing isn't a great fix.
• Bonus: 2/5 for the secret boss in Serpentshrine Cavern you summon by fishing, and for the absurdity of Legion's artifact fishing pole questline.

Animal Crossing - 18/25 - A core part of Animal Crossing. Now just make reeling fun next time

• Waiting: 5/5 fish are shown by shadows in the water, and after throwing your lure nearby and catching their attention you will usually have a bite within seconds.
• Baiting: 1/5 older games in the series had no bait at all, but New Horizons added chum that you can throw into water to summon a random fish shadow.
• Reeling: 0/5 there is no reeling mechanic, unless you count 'pressing and holding A when the fish bites'
• Variety: 5/5 there's quite a lot of fish to be found across town, with many different areas to find them. different fish are found in rivers, ponds, and the ocean, in addition to some fish appearing only at certain times of day, in certain weather conditions, or in certain seasons.
• Necessity: 5/5 fishing has been a part of Animal Crossing's identity since the start, and it fits well into the chill daily loop of the series. much of Animal Crossing's longevity is built on collecting things and seeing how your town changes over time, and fishing exemplifies both of these qualities. an Animal Crossing game without fishing is not an Animal Crossing game.
• Bonus: 2/5 Animal Crossing gets some bonus points both for the museum aquarium that showcases all of your catches in a very nice way, as well as the deep-sea diving added in later games which, while not exactly fishing, does entail scooping up sea creatures from the depths and i like it.

Hades - 11/25 - Not what i'm here for, but it's quick and rewarding.

• Waiting: 5/5 i think the longest it has taken for a fish to show up is 10 seconds. this game knows you aren't here for fishing and doesn't waste your time with it.
• Baiting: 1/5 fishing spots show up pretty much at random, but there are boons and purchasable items which give a higher chance of finding fish in a given room or a guaranteed chance to find a fish spot next room. not bait in the traditional sense, but Zagreus makes do.
• Reeling: 1/5 there is a slight reeling mechanic. Its a simple "press the button when the fish bites" but if you reel it in fast enough you can get a 'perfect catch' to get higher rarity fish.
• Variety: 3/5 there is a decent amount of fish variety, each area of the game has 3 fish that can show up, each with a different rarity, including places like Chaos and the lakes on the Greek surface.
• Necessity: 2/5 the fishing isn't really needed, but it fits decently well in the world (there are a Lot of rivers flowing through the underworld), and has some meaningful interactions with the other game systems; you can sell the fish you get for various currency rewards, and there are some items and boons you can get during runs that help you find more fish in return, making it an alternate way to build resources. there are also codex entries for each fish, and some fated prophecies regarding them.

Mario Party Superstars - 15/25 - It's a Mario Party Minigame.

• Waiting: 5/5 the 'fish' are constantly floating into your fishing area, and if you land your shot you instantly catch your target.
• Baiting: 0/5 you have one 'hook' which is a giant cartoon hand.
• Reeling: 3/5 reel in your catch by spinning your joystick, now with 70% less hard plastic scraping your palm off! yippee!
• Variety: 1/5 you can fish up a single coin, a coin bag (5 coin), or a treasure chest (10 coin).
• Necessity: 4/5 Mario Party needs minigames, so a fishing minigame only makes sense, at least as much as any other kind of thing that they could make a minigame out of. a lot of Mario Party minigames are based on mundane things like eating pizza or cleaning windows, so fishing fits right in.
• Bonus: 2/5 all of my friends are very bad at this minigame so i usually get tons of coin advantage from it, earning it 2 bonus points. (tip: how far you cast isn't based on the speed of your joystick pullback but instead how far from neutral it is.)

Final Fantasy XIV - 23/25 - So much content it's maybe too much?

• Waiting: 4/5 there is some amount of waiting involved for fish to bite, especially when searching for a particular fish, but its not so long as to be completely boring.
• Baiting: 5/5 there is an insane amount of bait to be used for fishing, each suited to a specific level range as well as environment such as freshwater vs saltwater, as well as baits for all the types of other weird fishing holes. there is also a notable difference between live bait that is used up whenever you make a catch vs artificial lures which can be used and reused as long as a fish doesn't break your line. there are even some fish which can only be caught by catching a smaller fish and keeping it on the hook as bait.
• Reeling: 2/5 the reeling is a simple 'press Hook when the fish bites', with the tiniest bit of variety as you have 2 alternate reeling actions geared toward easily reeling in strong and small fish respectively (Powerful Hookset and Precision Hookset which despite the name are actions used when you reel in).
• Variety: 5/5 there is a frankly insane amount of fish and places to catch them in the game, and as you level up your fisher you are constantly unlocking new insane places to go fishing such as sand dunes, floating island clouds, boiling magma, and the depths of space.
• Necessity: 3/5 while some amount of crafting/gathering is to be expected in an MMO, i think fishing is a kind of out of place gatherer compared to the other 2 (mining and botany). items found through fishing are usually only used by Culinarians, another very specific crafter which doesn't really interact with others. Some fish have zero use besides being printed on canvasses or put in aquariums inside player housing, which is an even less necessary feature that causes heavy discourse in the playerbase.
• Bonus: 4/5 on top of the normal method of fishing, there is also the alternate method of spear fishing (which i admittedly do not have any experience with) and the group-based instanced Ocean Fishing content that is like a timed co-op fishing extravaganza. there are enough things to do with fishing in this game that there are many people who consider themselves a Fishing main over any combat-based content. just for that i have to give bonus points.

Fortnite - 15/25 - Fortnite Fishing? It sounds stupid but it actually is solid!

• Waiting: 5/5 fishing is overall pretty quick. in regular water it sometimes takes a while to get a bite, but in fish pools its very quick, and using a harpoon gun lets you fish up things instantly from fish pools.
• Baiting: 1/5 there is no baiting, but there are 2 tiers of fishing rod, with the higher tier Pro fishing rod offering more potential catches
• Reeling: 1/5 there is no reeling mechanic besides 'clicking when the fish bites', but i will give it one point for the harpoon gun which auto-reels and the fact that you can reel in players if you hit them with it.
• Variety: 3/5 there is a rotation of various fish which change slightly in each season of the game, usually 5 or so 'genus' of fish with a variety of different reskinned 'species' in each. some fish are universal, while others can only be caught in certain biomes, at night, or with a pro rod. in addition to actual fish, you can catch trash, ammo, and entire guns.
• Necessity: 3/5 does Fortnite "need" fishing? i would say no, but Fortnite is a game that has everything, so it might as well have fishing. it's integrated fairly well, there are bodies of water to fish in all over the map, rods are easy to find especially near those areas, and almost anything you fish up will be useful to the player in fighting as either a health/shield boost or a gun.
• Bonus: 2/5 you can spend an entire match fishing and have better equipment than people who were out there blasting faces on the battlefield, and just the concept of peacefully fishing in a battle royale is hilarious and led to a running joke between my friends of the "beach vacation run" where we just land on a beach and see how long we can peacefully fish and hang out before conflict or the storm forces us to actually Play Fortnite.

Wargroove - 9/25 - Fishing? ok???? sure why not

• Waiting: 5/5 its very fast, as soon as you activate fishing it pulls up the fish within a few seconds.
• Baiting: 0/5 there is no baiting mechanic at all.
• Reeling: 0/5 there is no reeling mechanic at all, not even a 'press A when the fish bites' type thing.
• Variety: 1/5 there are about 15 different fish in the game, but they are all just random finds in any water tile.
• Necessity: 0/5 there is absolutely no reason to have fishing in a turn based strategy game, and having it as a commanders super move makes them hilariously bad, leading on to...
• Bonus: 3/5 it is infact hilarious and stupid that a character in this game activates their super move solely to go fishing for a turn instead of doing anything actually productive, enough that i have to give 3 points just for raw comedy factor. if you pull this off in a match against someone they have already lost mentally.

Shovel Knight - 5/25 - Arguably doesn't even qualify as a minigame

• Waiting: 5/5 fishing is very fast.
• Baiting: 0/5 there is no baiting mechanic at all.
• Reeling: 0/5 if you don't find a fish it auto-reels, otherwise its 'press A when something bites'.
• Variety: 0/5 i think you can count the fishable items on one hand and they all show up in any bottomless pit regardless of level or climate.
• Necessity: 0/5 do i really need to tell you after reading the above lmao.

Wii Play - 17/25 - A fun fishing game that doesn't really fit these qualifiers

• Waiting: 5/5 once you get your bobber in front of a fish's mouth it will only take a few seconds to bite.
• Baiting: 0/5 there is no baiting mechanic at all.
• Reeling: 1/5 there is no reeling mechanic besides 'pull up on the wii remote when the fish bites', but that is a fun physical emulation of pulling up on a rod so it gets a point
• Variety: 1/5 there is one fishing hole, with 6 types of fish in it, with all fish acting mostly the same barring a few variables.
• Necessity: 5/5 Wii Play is a game based around showcasing the wii remote's pointer and motion controls, and the fishing minigame does a good job of both by having you position your rod/lure with the pointer and pulling up to reel in fish.
• Bonus: 5/5 rather than focusing on the act of casting a line and waiting for a bite, Wii Play's fishing is more like competitive sport angling where your objective is to pull up a lot of fish quickly, with each species having a point value, and bonuses for pulling up certain fish at certain times. this basically goes in a completely different direction than most games on this list and thus doesn't really make sense to be judged on the same criteria, so i'm just giving it 5 bonus points here to compensate for it falling outside of the box.