Fishing in Family Farm Seaside

I suppose that it is only logical that the 'Seaside' version of Family Farm would introduce a Fishing option and expand it to include a Seafood House where items caught by the player can be processed.

I have to confess that I did not enjoy the fishing option much with the original free rod.   It does require a lot of 'bait' which the player can make by trading items produced on his/her farm.  It requires TIME and PATIENCE.  With the original rod,  in many cases, after playing the 'fish' or whatever is on the line for what appears to be a veritable eternity, the creature manages to escape, leaving one with an empty hook and lost bait.

What my own relationship with the fishing option might have been had it not been required for a quest I cannot say but it has been made a requirement in a new time-limited sequence of Quests entitled 'The Farm Beauty Contest'.   Three new recipes that require items caught while fishing have been added to the Kitchen.  One must produce three of each to complete one of the steps in the Quest.  I therefore had to make a valiant attempt to succeed at fishing.

The items that need to be caught for the quest mainly are Octopi.  One needs a total of 6 Octopi as they are ingredients in two of the three seafood recipes.  Octopi are fast-moving, cunning creatures as I know from other games...  In Animal Crossing, New Leaf, Octopi are caught while diving but they are one of the more difficult creatures to catch as they tend to move quickly beyond the barrier, thus earning safety from the player's clutches.  In Family Farm Seaside, they apparently can be caught only if one uses a hook that requires 200 Bait per throw.  In six attempts, I caught only one Octopus.  I then decided that I would use my valuable RC to skip that particular step in the Quest.  For a total of 9 RC, I bought an end to frustration and peace of mind.  Probably one of my better FFS investments, in all honesty.

NOTE THAT THIS EXPERIENCE WAS WITH THE ORIGINAL WOODEN FISHING ROD.  AFTER I WAS ABLE TO UPGRADE MY FISHING ROD FOR 12,000 COINS, I WAS ABLE TO CATCH ITEMS WITHOUT TAPPING OVER 300 TIMES ON THE HOOK!

I strongly urge players to invest 12,000 Coins in the Carbon Fibre Rod.  Fishing obviously is going to be an important part of Family Farm Seaside and it is not fun at all if the player uses the original rod.  My own experience has been echoed by player after player.

It is the HOOK that determines the type of fish or item you can catch.   ALL Items can be caught theoretically with any rod, but using the Carbon Fibre Rod allows the player a far greater chance of success with any 'hit' as well as drastically lowering the number of taps needed to 'reel it in'.    The Octopus that took over 300 taps to catch with the original rod took only 9 taps to catch with the Carbon Fibre Rod.

There is a third fishing rod that must be purchased with RC.   I personally do not see the point as I have done very well with the 'medium accuracy' rod.  Again, it is the HOOK that determines which items can be caught.  Regrettably, there are quite a few items that require a hook that uses bait that must be purchased with 1 RC.  If you intend to spend RC to fish, it is better to spend it on the bait for items that cannot be caught otherwise.

The types of Hook are:

Squid Hook:  Requires 10 Bait per catch
Bone Fishhook:  Requires 50 Bait per catch
Treble Hook:  Requires 200 Bait per catch
Colourful Hook:  Requires 1 RC per catch

If you wish to complete your Fish Book, you MUST use every type of Hook, including the Hook that costs 1 RC per catch.  Tap on the round icon of the Hook at the end of your Fishing Rod to access or change it.  The colours are:

Squid Hook: Blue
Bone Fishhook: White
Treble Hook: Red
Colourful Hook: Striped

You can access your Fish Book by tapping on the little closed book in the bottom right corner of your screen once you reach your Pier.    Here is a list of the Items in your Fish Book with the Hook required for each:

There are seven categories of Items.  Each has its own icon.

Fish Icon:

Yellow Croaker:
  Use Squid Hook

Tilapia:
  Use Squid Hook

Hairtail:
  Use Squid Hook

Flatfish:
  Use Squid Hook

Butterfish:
  Use Bone Fishhook

Merhaden:
  Use Bone Fishhook

Ray Finned Fish:
  Use Treble Hook

Sardine:
   Use Treble Hook

Salmon:
  Use Treble Hook

Mackerel:
  Use Treble Hook

Flower Horn Cichlid:
  Use Colourful Hook

Carp:
  Use Colourful Hook

Scallop Icon:

Scallop:
  Use Squid Hook

Janthinan Sea Snail:
  Use Bone Fishhook

Natica Sea Snail:
  Use Treble Hook

Sondylus:
  Use Colourful Hook

Shrimp Icon

Crayfish:
  Use Squid Hook

Mantis Shrimp:
  Use Bone Hook

Opossum Shrimp:
  Use Treble Hook

Coral Shrimp:
  Use Colourful Hook

Crab Icon

Mud Crab:
  Use Squid Hook

Blue Swimmer Crab:
  Use Bone Fishhook

Red Frog Crab:
  Use Treble Hook

King Crab
  Use Colourful Hook

Coral Icon

Coral:
  Use Squid Hook

Starfish:
  Use Bone Fishhook

Jellyfish:
  Use Treble Hook

Octopus:
  Use Treble Hook

Seahorse ?
  Use Colourful Hook

Seaweed Icon

Gulfweed:
  Use Squid Hook

Seaweed:
  Use Squid Hook

Wakame
  Use Bone Fishhook

Sea Lettuce:
  Use Bone Fishhook

Bottle Icon

Old Boot
  Use Squid Hook

Message in a Bottle
  Use Bone Fishhook

Bag of Sea Sand
  Use Treble Hook

Treasure Chest
  Use Colourful Hook

Completing your Fish Book CAN be expensive in terms of premium Cash, but do note that, when I caught the Treasure Chest, I received 5 RC with it!  That basically reimbursed me for the cost of using the special Colourful Hook.

Items caught while fishing now can be processed in the new Seafood House as well.  The Seafood House must be built from an unfinished structure purchased in the Market.  It requires 15 Blue Tiles, 15 Bricks and 1 Red Crab.  The Blue Tiles and Bricks can be requested from Neighbours but the Red Crab has to be purchased with 4 RC, as I recall.  (Correct me if I am wrong about the name of that material... it is a Crab, in any case and appears to form the sign above the door of the House when it is completed.)

A completed Seafood House allows the player to process one item at a time.  Upgrades can be made however, to unlock more processing slots.  The first upgrade requires 10 Blue Tiles and 10 Bricks.

The Items caught when fishing all require different amounts of time to process.  For example, a Wakame piece of seaweed is processed in 12 minutes but a Scallop takes only 3 minutes.  In some cases, there is only one possible item to be made from the original ingredient but in others, there are probabilities that in rare cases allow the player to obtain more valuable items.

An example of this is the Coral.  When processed, the most probable result will be 8 bags of Coral Powder.  Less likely is a polished Coral Twig.  Even more remote is the possibilitiy of receiving a Coral Slice.  These processed items can be sold.  The Coral Powder is worth 6 Coins.  The Polished Coral Twig is worth 10 Coins and finally, the Coral Slice is worth 20 Coins.  Not much of a profit if one considers the value of the items one traded for bait!    One Cheddar Cheese makes only 5 Bait.  One Sugar makes 33 Bait.  One Sugar when sold from the barn is worth 138 Coins, a fairly hefty price.  One Cheddar Cheese is worth only  23 Coins but that still is more than the value of some of the  items that can be caught if one trades enough Cheddar Cheese to produce 50 or 200 Bait. 

Fishing, as for most people in real life, basically must be considered a labour of love rather than a viable business option, especially when one looks at the number of items that must be caught using bait that costs 1 RC.

As previously stated, success in fishing very much depends on the player's choice of Fishing Rod.  For 12,000 Coins, you can upgrade your original Wooden Rod.  It makes an incredible difference and is worth the cost!

The Wooden Fishing Rod is the default and is free.  It has a Low Fishing Accuracy.

The Carbon Fishing Rod costs 12,000 Coins and has a Medium Fishing Accuracy

The Panda Bamboo Rod coast 15 RC and has a high Fishing Accuracy.

When you receive Stars for a Catch, that appears to depend on the number of taps needed to catch that item.  I caught only one Message in a Bottle but received three stars (the maximum) because it took only 2 taps.

Here are some of the items one can catch with their values:

Opossum Shrimp: 847 Coins
Yellow Croaker: 22 Coans
Ray-Finned Fish: 907 Coins
Wakame: 159 Coins
Coral Shrimp: 200 Coins
Starfish: 204 Coins
Janthinan Sea Snail: 184 Coins
Sardine: 689 Coins
Mud Crab: 37 Coins
Salmon: 803 Coins
Nautica Sea Snail: 856 Coins
Tilapia: 41 Coins
Old Boot: 25 Coins
Octopus: 1056 Coins
Mackerel: 744 Coins
Sack of Bait: 1 Coin
Red Frog Crab: 588 Coins
Hairtail: 33 Coins
Mud Crab: 37 Coins
Bag of Sea Sand: 200 Coins
Mantis Shrimp: 192 Coins
Menhaden: 170 Coins
Seaweed: 53 Coins
Gulfweed: 20 Coins
Jellyfish:  542 Coins
Butterfish: 155 Coins
Message in a Bottle: 200 Coins
Crayfish: 44 Coins
Blue Swimmer Crab: 176 Coins
King Crab: 200 Coins
Spondylus: 200 Coins
Sea Lettuce: 209 Coins
Treasure Chest: 200 Coins
  Gave me 5 RC when I caught it.
Flower Horn Cichlid: 200 Coins
Carp: 200 Coins



Processed:
Smoked Yellow Croaker: 60 Coins
Steamed Opossum Shrimp: 190 Coins
Sack of 200 Bait: 1 Coin
Dried Wakame: 89 Coins
Steamed Blue Swimmer Crab: 180 Coins
Crab Roe: 250 Coins
Cooked Sea Lettuce: 231 Coins
Cooked Red Frog Crab: 601 Coins
Dried Scallop: 10 Coins
Coral Powder: 6 Coins
Pearl: 15 Coins
Conch: 103 Coins
Raw Sea Snail: 221 Coins
Sea Snail Shell: 103 Coins
Steamed Mantis Shrimp: 216 Coins
Dried Starfish: 210 Coins
Polished Coral Twig: 10 Coins
Steamed Mud Crab: 40 Coins
Crab Stick: 10 Coins
Brined Seaweed: 55 Coins
Algae Clay: 50 Coins
Octopus Meat: 351 Coins
Squid Ink: 200 Coins
Salted Jellyfish: 193 Coins xx
Algae Powder: 9 Coins
Shrimp Meat: 46 Coins
Shrimp Ball: 4 Coins

The original raw items with the possible processed products include:

Gulfweed: Makes Algae Powder x 3, with a low probability of obtaining 1 bag of 25 Organic Fertiliser and 1 Bag of 6 Super Fertiliser


Wakame:  Makes 2 Dried Wakame

Seaweed: Makes 1 Brined Seaweed with a low probability of obtaining 1 Algae Clay

Octopus: Makes 3 Octopus Meat with a low probability of obtaining 1 Squid Ink

Jellyfish: Makes 3 Salted Jellyfish

Nautica Sea Snail:  Makes 4 Raw Sea Snail with a low probability of obtaining 1 Sea Snail Shell as well

Mud Crab: Makes 1 Steamed Mud Crab with a low probability of obtaining a Crab Stick as well.

Opossum Shrimp:  Makes 1 Steamed Opossum Shrimp with a low probability of obtaining 1 Sack of 200 Bait as well

Starfish:  Makes 1 Dried Starfish with a low probability of obtaining 3 Starfish Spawn as well

Blue Swimmer Crab: Makes 1 Steamed Blue Swimmer Crab with a low probability of obtaining 2 Crab Sticks and 1 Crab Roe as well

Crayfish: Makes 1 Shrimp Meat with a low probability of obtaining 3 Shrimp Ball as well

Coral; Makes Coral Powder x 8 with a low probability of obtaining one Coral Twig and one Coral Slice

Gulfweed: Makes 3 Algae Powder with a low probability of obtaining 1 bag of 25 Organic Fertiliser and 1 bag of 6 Super Fertiliser.

Sea Lettuce: Makes Cooked Sea Lettuce

Red Frog Crab: Makes Cooked Red Frog Crab with a small probability of obtaining 1 Crab Roe as well

Janthinan Sea Snail:  Makes 2 Conch Shells

Scallop:  Makes 4 Dried Scallop with a low probability of obtaining 1 Pearl

 Coral:  Makes 8 Coral Powder with a low probability of obtaining Polished Coral Twig and Coral Slice


Note that only some of the items that you catch when fishing can be processed in the Seafood House.  Those Items that can be processed will appear in the Seafood House Menu.

I would be much surprised if all edible items do not appear as Recipe ingredients in the near future.  I therefore strongly would suggest that players store them rather than selling them.  At present, many of the processed items from the Seafood House ARE included in Kitchen Recipes.

Meanwhile, there is another 'Machine' in the form of the Smoke House that allows Players to make Smoked Seafood and Fish of various types.  I had thought the Smoke House would be classified as a Building but it is a Machine.

Smokehouse Items:

Smoked Yellow Croaker: 60 Coins
Smoked Hairtail: 77 Coins
Smoked Tilapia: 84 Coins
Smoked Flatfish: 106 Coins
Smoked Butterfish: 265 Coins
Smoked Menhaden: 275 Coins
Smoked Ray-Finned Fish: 1101 Coins
Smoked Sardine: 1080 Coins
Smoked Salmon: 1093 Coins
Smoked Mackerel: 1088 Coins

Please see my Kitchen Page for all Recipes, including those that use raw and processed Seafood.

Although many Seafood Items, both processed and unprocessed, now are ingredients in Recipes, there are a few that neither can be processed nor smoked.  These, including the King Crab, probably will appear as Recipe ingredients in the near future.

One reason I suspect that all the Seafood items will be needed is the fact that one cannot store nor sell the Seafood House.  Some one wrote to the developers asking if this could be changed and received a response to the effect that the Seafood House would become extremely significant making it counter-productive to give players an ability to dispose of it.

In January 2014, a new option was added to the game in the form of a Beauty Shop.  You can find all Recipes for Items made in the Beauty Shop in my post that deals with the topic, but the items that are used in those Recipes that are processed in the Seafood House are as follows:


Conch (Janthinan Sea Snail)
Pearl (Scallop)
Sea Snail Shell (Nautica Sea Snail)
Coral Slice (Coral)
Polished Coral Twig (Coral)
Algae Powder (Gulfweed)
Algae Clay (Seaweed)