If you haven’t heard yet, one of the next DLC’s to drop for Farming Simulator 2025 is the Highlands Fishing Expansion. This expansion/DLC is unlike anything we’ve previously had in the Farming Simulator series before, as it adds the brand-new mechanic of, you guessed it, fishing.
Along with adding fishing, it also adds a new Scottish based map, Highland Cattle, Ships, Fish, Onions and new machines.
In today’s latest updates from the farming simulator developers, we’ve got some new details on how the fishing features will work.
Where you can fish
First up is where you’ll be able to fish. To start fishing, you’ll need to go near a water source, such as a river or ocean. You can then equip a fishing rod, which can be purchased via the in-game shop and cast! There’s also some good news here, Giants has confirmed that you’ll be able to fish outside of the Scottish based Kinlaig map, and fish wherever there’s water. This should hopefully also mean that modded maps won’t require an update to add in the basic fishing functionality.
Additionally, there are hot spots where the fish are more likely to be found, and you’ll also sometimes end up with junk on your line, not just fish!
Casting
Next up is how you cast your fishing rod. It does seem like there’s some good functionality here, as it won’t just be a simple button to cast to a predefined location. Instead, the longer you hold the cast button, the further the line/bait will be thrown, just like in some other dedicated fishing games.
It’s then the waiting game for a fish to take the bait. When a fish does go for the bait, you’ll get a rather large image on the screen letting you know.
You then have to click a button (left mouse click by default) to hook the fish. Importantly, you’ll only have a limited time to hook the fish, though Giants haven’t specified how long this is yet.
Reeling
Last but not least, it’s onto reeling in your catch. The method for reeling in fish looks a lot like the stardew valley fishing implementation, in that you’ll need to keep a bar within the right area.
The bar has two components, the fish, which goes up and down, and the bait, which is controlled by the player by holding down a button, presumably left mouse click. You’ll have to keep raising and lowering the bait to keep it aligned with the fish to successfully reel in it.
All the images and trailers provided by Giants so far have only shown either salmon or trout, so it’s unknown exactly how many types of fish there will be, or if it will be only those two types. It’s also currently unknown if modders will be able to added in more fish types, although given the track record with Farming Simulator mods, I suspect we’ll see these within days.
Will you be picking up the Highlands Fishing Expansion? Let us know down in the comments! We’d love to hear your thoughts.
