No idea why this has been overlooked. It''s not like when actually fishing you could not pull in a weapon sometimes or some other cool item to keep it inline with real life. I got my master angler and promptly quit fishing due to the sheer repetitive boringness of see junk over and over again along with a few colored fish. Shoot maybe fish up a whole entirely new armor set that buffs fishing somehow.

Not sure what's junk for you, but i get a good amount of furnishings while fishing. Actually in every zone.
All that's listed under "other items" on this side -> https://en.uesp.net/wiki/Online:Fishing
Especially in Solstice atm.

Of course, things always can get better. Not sure about a whole armor set, wouldn't that be corroded too much then?
On the other side... maybe a fun set? Something like "5 pieces: all animals flee from you, because you stink like a puma. Except cats, they smell you from wide away and love you to bits (right term?)."

Edit: oh and btw, the gunny sacks can contain even a lead, if you open them in a corresponding zone, where such can drop.

save your gunny sacks for antiquity leads. as far as the game is concerned, a gunny sack is a "treasure chest," so any of those leads that drop from chests can drop from gunny sacks. it does not matter where you caught it, or who caught. it only matters where you open it

Apocrypha has the Abyss Drenched Folios. Solstice has the Algae Laden Sunport Packs. Those drop nice goodies.

smallhammer wrote: »

Doing a lot fishing. Have the Master Angler, of course. And now fishing for perfect Roes. But the amount of rubbish that you get, when fishing is too much.

About one of every five is either bait for some other fishing waters, or those annoying wet gunny sacks, that contains only rubbish.

Do you have any of the fishing/loot perks in the green CP tree active? 1 in 5 sounds high to me - I'm consistently running closer to 1 in 10 for (bait + container). The common fish needed for filleting are running at ~80%, then another 10% for the uncommon/rare trophy fish. Some perks shift that ratio so you got more of the latter (presumably at the expense of the common ones needed for perfect roe).

smallhammer wrote: »

Didn't know that about gunny sack, but that shows how rare those leads drop. Have never had one, that I can remember.

Just about fell off my chair when I got a legendary antiquities lead from fishing the other day. That's 1 in 3000 for me!

Chapter fishing can drop plans. They can sell for a lot. Base game fishing is meh.

Versalium wrote: »

I hope, I'm not the only one who hates that there's no fishing minigame. Not only the loot is very bad, but also no minigame. The laziest fishing I've ever seen in a video game.

They could at least make it possible to see the actual fish you catch, like a character holding it after catching it. But no it's just an icon and sometimes a furnishings item.

Red Dead Online hands down has the best fishing minigame out of any online game I've ever played.

smallhammer wrote: »

LootAllTheStuff wrote: »

smallhammer wrote: »

Doing a lot fishing. Have the Master Angler, of course. And now fishing for perfect Roes. But the amount of rubbish that you get, when fishing is too much.

About one of every five is either bait for some other fishing waters, or those annoying wet gunny sacks, that contains only rubbish.

Do you have any of the fishing/loot perks in the green CP tree active? 1 in 5 sounds high to me - I'm consistently running closer to 1 in 10 for (bait + container). The common fish needed for filleting are running at ~80%, then another 10% for the uncommon/rare trophy fish. Some perks shift that ratio so you got more of the latter (presumably at the expense of the common ones needed for perfect roe).

smallhammer wrote: »

Didn't know that about gunny sack, but that shows how rare those leads drop. Have never had one, that I can remember.

Just about fell off my chair when I got a legendary antiquities lead from fishing the other day. That's 1 in 3000 for me!

---

I don't have any of the perks active, as I have the Master achievment, I use it for other. Maybe I should.

If you're fishing to fillet for roe, the only perk you really want is the one that speeds up the fishing process. Don't get the one that boosts the rate of trophy fish.

I do a lot of fishing. Its lucrative for me.
I get 7-10 Perfect Roe a week from filleting around 400-500 fish.

1. Fishing Leaderboards

Introduce global or zone-based fishing leaderboards, similar to those for Trials or PvP. Players could compete for the most fish caught, rarest catches, or total weight in weekly or monthly events. Top players could earn unique rewards like:

Exclusive titles (e.g., "Sea Emperor")
Cosmetic items (e.g., a glowing fishing rod skin)

2. Rare, Unique Fish
Add extremely rare fish that can be caught in specific water types (saltwater, river, lake, foul) but aren’t tied to specific zones. These could have a low drop rate and come with exciting rewards:

Examples:
Saltwater: White Marlin, Gigantic Squid
Lakes: Golden Sturgeon, Crystal Pike
Rivers: Ember Eel, Sapphire Salmon

Rewards: Achievements, unique titles (e.g., "Squid Slayer"), mount skins (e.g., a fish-themed guar), or housing decorations (e.g., a trophy fish for your home).

3. Message-in-a-Bottle Quests
Occasionally, players could fish up a "Message in a Bottle" that starts a unique, instanced treasure hunt quest. These quests could involve:

Exploring hidden locations across Tamriel
Solving puzzles or fighting enemies to unlock treasure
Rewards like rare crafting materials, gold, or exclusive cosmetics

4. Surprise Boss Encounters
Add a chance to hook a powerful enemy instead of a fish, similar to public dungeon or overland world boss difficulty. These could be unique aquatic-themed mobs with special loot:


Examples: A massive Dreugh in saltwater or a corrupted Water Spirit in foul water.
Mechanics: Players might need to team up to defeat the boss, adding a cooperative element.
Rewards: Rare gear, unique furnishing items (e.g., a Dreugh claw trophy), or special alchemy ingredients.

I spent a couple of hours fishing in Murkmire today, to get the "Fish: Black Marsh" furnishing. Unique furnishings like that are a good idea, and could be added to zones that don't currently drop anything.

Otherwise, they should add randomised furnishing plans or treasure maps to all zones. Make the hours-long boredom worthwhile.