How fishing works in Hotel MS (and where the rare fish turn up)

In short: In Hotel MS, fishing happens in three steps: you cast the rod, wait two to six seconds for a bite, and pull within a window of just over a second. The farther from shore you fish, the rarer what you catch can be: on the shore a mythic fish shows up only once in a blue moon, while out on the open sea — reachable only by boat — is where they turn up most.

By Miguel Arechaga

Of everything in Hotel MS, fishing is the most addictive part, and the one people ask about most. It isn't a button that hands out random prizes: you have to show up, pick your spot, and pull at exactly the right moment.

Here's everything you need to know so you're not left standing there with your line in the water.

Where to fish

It happens at the North Beach, a public room you reach from the hotel menu. It has a curved shoreline, sea at several depths, a rocky outcrop with its own lighthouse, and a wooden pier that runs out into the water.

Scattered around it are fourteen fishing spots grouped into four zones, and the zone matters a lot:

The rod's three timings

Fishing always works the same way, so you learn it in one cast:

  1. You cast. At that instant the server has already rolled which fish is on your hook, based on the zone you're in.
  2. It bites two to six seconds later. You don't know exactly when, so you have to keep watching.
  3. You pull within a window of just over a second. Jump the gun or miss it, and the fish gets away — and the cast is used up either way.

That narrow one-second window is the whole challenge, and it's what makes landing a rare fish feel like something.

Rarities: why the zone changes everything

Fish come in five rarity tiers, from common to mythic, and each zone has its own odds. The difference isn't minor: a mythic fish on the shore is rare enough to show up only once in thousands of casts, while out in the open sea it's genuinely within reach if you're patient.

Above all of them is the open sea, the most generous zone in the game, and you can't walk there: you have to take a boat from La Barquera and head out through the channel mouth.

And there are joke fish scattered around — the Sudoku Fish, the Billiard Fish, the Shark in a Hat, the old boot — which aren't worth much but are worth talking about.

The collection, scales, and framed pictures

Every species you catch for the first time enters your collection with its number, its artwork, how many times you've caught it, and your size record. First catches pay out double scales, so the first time you land each fish is the most rewarding.

The scales 🐚 are a separate currency: they're good for exactly one thing, redeeming framed pictures. And those pictures are real furniture: they land in your backpack, and you hang them in your room through the same Decorate mode as always, with the frame changing based on the fish's rarity. To redeem a fish's picture, you obviously need to have caught it first.

If you want to see a whole collection hanging on the wall, stop by the Angler's Gallery.

Seasons: fish that only bite for a few months

On top of the regular fish, there are three seasons that rotate month by month:

Each one brings its own fish and changes the light on the beach: a warm sunset, a dark night with moon and stars, or golden flashes. With three seasons and twelve months, the calendar repeats identically every year — that's on purpose, so you know exactly when the one that got away will come back around.

Outside its month, a seasonal fish won't bite, but it stays in your collection, locked, and anything you've already caught is never wiped.

La Barquera: where the tide calls the shots

La Barquera is a fishing village with its own estuary, an arched bridge, a hamlet perched on the crag, and a lighthouse. And it has something no other spot in the hotel has: the ground moves.

The tide genuinely rises and falls, a full cycle every hour, and it's not just for show: every tile has its own height, so the sandbank that sits underwater at high tide is solid ground at low tide. For about twenty-eight minutes of every hour, shellfishing opens up there: there are no fixed spots, you gather wherever you're standing as long as it's dry.

The estuary holds fourteen species that never show up at the beach, and from a jetty you can climb aboard a boat: from there the world flips — you walk on water and not on land — and you can cross the channel mouth out to the open sea.

The big moment, and the anglers' leaderboard

When a legendary or mythic fish bites, the whole screen throws a party: streamers, spinning rays, the fish huge in pixel art, your rarity stars, and how many people already have it — or whether you're the first in the hotel to land it. It even puts together a shareable image for you, in both story and square formats.

And there's an anglers' leaderboard: it ranks whoever has the most different fish, not whoever has caught the most overall. Your row shows up at the bottom even if you're in three-hundredth place.

The limits, so you're not caught off guard

To keep the hotel's economy from spiraling, there are a few limits, and it's worth knowing them:

None of this gets in the way during a normal session; it's there so nobody camps the pier with a macro.

Frequently asked questions

How many times can I fish per day?

Around forty casts a day, with a second and a half between each one. Your collection and scales have no cap: what's limited is the MS Coins fishing pays out.

If a season ends, do I lose the fish I caught?

No. Anything you've caught is never erased. Seasonal fish stop biting outside their month, but they stay in your collection, and you can still redeem their picture.

Do I need to pay to fish well?

No. The rod, the zones, the seasons and the framed pictures are all earned by playing. Scales, on top of that, are a closed currency: you can't buy them or convert them into MS Coins.

The beach is open right now, and the tide at La Barquera won't wait for anyone.

🎣 Enter Hotel MS →

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