You’re stuck. It’s the second night in a new Minecraft world, your hunger bar is shaking, and you haven't found a single cow or pig to turn into dinner. We’ve all been there. Most players immediately think about mining or building a massive dirt hut, but they’re overlooking the most broken tool in the early game. Learning how to make a fishing pole on Minecraft isn't just a basic crafting step; it’s basically a cheat code for survival and high-tier loot if you know how to use it right.
Fishing is boring. Or at least, that’s what people say until they pull a Mending enchanted book out of a random pond.
Honestly, the recipe is one of those things you might forget if you’ve been away from the crafting table for a while. It’s not symmetrical. It feels a little lopsided when you’re placing the items in the grid. But once you have that rod in your hand, the game changes from a stressful survival sim into something a lot more relaxed and, weirdly, more productive.
The Raw Materials: Sticks and Spiders
Before you can even think about the crafting table, you need two specific items. You need three sticks and two pieces of string. Sticks are easy. You probably already have a chest full of them from breaking down oak logs.
String is the annoying part.
You’ve got to hunt spiders. Usually, this means waiting for nightfall and looking for those glowing red eyes in the dark. It’s risky if you don't have armor yet. You’ll need to kill at least two spiders because each one typically drops 0 to 2 string. If you’re lucky, you find a cobweb in a cave or a mineshaft and snip it with shears, but for most starters, it’s spider hunting or nothing.
Some players try to find string in desert temple chests or dungeon loot. Sure, that works. But if you’re trying to figure out how to make a fishing pole on Minecraft right now, you probably don't want to trek across three biomes just to find a chest. Just find a spider. Whack it with a stone sword. Move on.
Putting It All Together
Open your crafting table. You need that 3x3 grid.
Place the three sticks in a diagonal line. Start from the bottom-left corner, put one in the middle, and one in the top-right. Now, take your two pieces of string. These go in a vertical line directly underneath that top-right stick.
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It looks like a diagonal line of wood with a little tail of string hanging off the end. If you’ve done it right, the fishing rod icon pops up in the output slot. Grab it.
Why the Fishing Pole is Actually Your Best Friend
Most people think fishing is just for cod and salmon. They’re wrong.
While you're sitting there watching the little splashes in the water, the game is running a loot table in the background. In Minecraft, "Junk" and "Treasure" are actual categories. If you’re fishing in "Open Water" (which the game defines as a 5x5x5 area of water source blocks), you have a chance to catch Treasure.
This includes:
- Enchanted Books (The holy grail of Minecraft)
- Bows (often already enchanted)
- Nametags (literally the only way to get them besides trading or chests)
- Saddles
- Lily Pads
Think about that for a second. You can get a Power IV bow without ever touching an anvil or an enchantment table just by clicking a button when the bobber goes under. It’s low-effort, high-reward. It’s the ultimate "lazy" strategy that actually works.
Understanding the Open Water Mechanic
In the 1.16 update, Mojang changed everything. They got tired of people making "AFK Fish Farms" that were only one block wide. Now, if you want the good stuff—the treasure—you need a big enough pond.
The game checks the area around your bobber. Each block in a 5x5x5 area around the bobber must be water. No solid blocks. No lily pads right on top of the bobber. If you’re fishing in a tiny 1x1 hole you dug in your basement, you are only ever going to catch fish and junk. You’ll never see a Mending book.
Go to an ocean. Or a big lake. It makes a massive difference.
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How to Make Your Fishing Pole Unstoppable
A plain fishing rod is okay. An enchanted fishing rod is a god-tier item.
There are four main enchantments you want to look for. Unbreaking III and Mending are the obvious ones. A Mending rod basically lasts forever because the XP you get from catching a fish immediately repairs the rod. You literally never have to craft another one.
Then there’s Lure. This reduces the wait time between bites. With Lure III, you’re pulling things out of the water every few seconds.
Finally, Luck of the Sea. This is the one you really want. It increases your chances of catching "Treasure" and decreases the chance of catching "Junk." If you combine Luck of the Sea III with Lure III, you’re basically printing enchanted books and saddles.
The Carrot and the Fungus
A fishing pole isn't just for fishing.
If you combine a fishing pole with a carrot in the crafting grid, you get a Carrot on a Stick. This is how you control pigs. You put a saddle on a pig, hop on, and hold the carrot. The pig follows the carrot. It’s not the fastest way to travel, but it’s hilarious and surprisingly useful if you haven't found a horse yet.
In the Nether, you can do the same thing with a Warped Fungus on a Stick. This lets you ride Striders across the lava lakes. This is actually a legitimate strategy for navigating the Nether without dying in a fire. Without that fishing pole base, you're stuck walking the long way around or burning through stacks of cobblestone to build bridges.
Common Mistakes People Make
Don't cast your line into a waterfall. It doesn't work well.
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Don't forget to watch the particles. When you cast your line, you’ll see a trail of bubbles heading toward your bobber. That’s your signal. As soon as the bobber splashes down under the surface, right-click. If you wait even half a second too long, the fish gets away.
Also, durability matters. Every time you reel in a fish or an item, it costs 1 durability point. If you accidentally hook a block (like the ground or a tree), it costs 2 points. If you hit a mob with it, it costs 3. People often break their first rod because they start hooking zombies for fun. It’s a great way to pull a Ghast closer in the Nether, but it’ll eat your rod’s health fast.
The Strategy for Your First 30 Minutes
If I’m starting a new world, my priority list is: wood, stone, bed, fishing pole.
I’ll spend the first night safely tucked away near water, just fishing. By sunrise, I usually have enough cooked fish to last three days, and occasionally, I’ve already pulled an enchanted bow or a better fishing rod out of the water. It bypasses the need for a furnace and fuel early on because you can eat the fish raw if you’re desperate (though it’s better to cook it).
It’s about efficiency.
Most people overcomplicate how to make a fishing pole on Minecraft by thinking they need a massive setup. You don't. You need sticks and a couple of dead spiders.
Actionable Steps for Your World
Go find a swamp or a dark forest. Spiders spawn more frequently there. Kill two of them. Craft your sticks. Follow the diagonal pattern in your crafting table.
Once you have the rod, don't just stand by a 1x1 puddle. Find a deep river or an ocean. Fish until you get your first few levels of XP. If you find an anvil, prioritize putting Mending on that rod as soon as you find it.
Seriously, stop ignoring the water. The best loot in the game might just be floating a few blocks away from your front door, waiting for a hook. Take ten minutes, craft the pole, and see what happens. You'll probably end up with a better kit than the guy spent three hours mining for diamonds.