Russian Fishing 4 Beginner guide

This guide is based on guide created by Russian speaking streamer dobryi_tigra who is a very nice and friendly person, helps new players a lot each stream guiding them through the basics of the game, giving advises and this guide is what he uses to assist them. His channel on Twitch can be found at https://www.twitch.tv/dobryi_tigra . He has a nice channel on discord too where you can find information I used for this guide, systemized information about water bodies and fishing spots and some other useful things: https://discord.gg/AAdYKUtsRe . I have translated his information from Russian into English, added some own tips and pictures. If you found this guide helpful it would be very nice to visit Tigra on his stream and at the very least thank him for the useful guide, preferably in Russian, as his streams are in Russian – luckily there is no problem to translate written information into any language these days. 😊 If you do that don’t forget to mention that you don’t speak Russian and won’t understand spoken Russian if he addresses you (and he’ll probably do that 😊 – he tries to respond to all messages in chat. Still he specifically asks not to write him direct messages neither in game nor in discord, as he does not have time to monitor them and respond. Be nice and polite in stream chat, don’t beg for game items, as it’s considered bad tone, especially because guide is intended to help people become self-sufficient and to need not. And if you’ll decide to wish good luck, don’t wish “good fishing” as it’s considered bad tone in Russia. You should wish “Neither tails nor scales” instead 😊

This guide is intended for a totally new player who never played Russian Fishing 4, or if he did play, did not progress too much and decided to look for effective way to start the game right away.

So let’s say that you just downloaded the game, launched it, went through the short tutorial and… you land down at the location named “Mosquito Lake” …

First thing you need to do once there, toggle off your fishing rod by pressing “backspace” to be able to move more comfortably and head to the “Administration” building – it’s a light blue building at the north eastern part of the settlement, to the right, when you cross the bridge. “M” to toggle map.

As you approach it and turn your view toward the entrance, you’ll get the option “get spare float tackle” (shortcut “Y” by default). You can repeat this once every game day (which lasts for one hour in real time). The spare tackle it gives won’t be much of the use later on, but good thing is that it gives you free worms too that are good to have, thus take it each time you pass by.

You happen to have some silver coins in your pocket, so let’s find a good use for them. You need to visit a tackle store

Once you approach and open it “E”, choose section Hooks > Classic
And buy 5 pieces of hooks size tiny S20, or small S18 (sometimes some sizes might be out of stock, so choose which ever is available).
Next thing is to choose tab Baits>Larvae and buy 300 pieces of Bloodworm

Now you are almost ready to go fishing, just need to prepare your fishing rods. Open your backpack (shortcut “I”) and click with a left mouse button on a Bamboo rod which we got a while ago from administration.

In an equipment window which opens, set up parts for your rod using items that you have in your inventory. Most important – use the tiny (S20) or small (S18) hook you have just purchased.
Change the hook into small (S20) for the rod TaleStick TL16 which you have in backpack too.

Press and hold key U – this will open the window where you can assign your rods to the slots 1 to 5 (2 more with premium). Just click the rod you want with the left mouse button, hold, drag to the desired slot and drop there.

Now let’s go to the fishing site. At the beginning you’ll be fishing in one of these two locations 70.87 and 75.88. You open and close map with the key “M”, and you can see coordinates on the compass at the bottom right corner of your hood (map closed) – in game map does not show coordinates, these screens are from another external site https://rufish4.ru/en/map/komarinoe :

Go to one of them and activate your rods by pressing keys 1 or 2, which you have assigned few moments ago. Then set up the depth of the float. Press key “+” to increase depth, and “-“ to decrease. If it’s a day time in game 6:00 to 20:00, the depth should be 18-30 cm, and use Bloodworm for a bait. If it’s night (20:00 to 6:00), the depth of 80-100 cm should be set and basic Worm used. (a reminder from tutorial - you can toggle baits by pressing and holding “B”, then choosing the bite you want with a mouse click).

Once your rods are set and you are in the proper location cast them into water. You pick rods and toggle between them with number keys you assigned to them and if you want to put a rod on the ground, press key “0”. If it’s a night time, as on this screen, switching on a flashlight (hotkey “F”) might help.

If you’ve done everything as instructed, fish should start biting very soon and you’ll just need to switch between rods, sometimes so often that you’ll be missing some bites while unhooking fish from another rod. If baiting stops for a while, move between two spots indicated above and check if it bites better at another spot. Some fishes will be small, but sometimes you’ll get the big trophies that have specific skins, are flagged and are worth way more than others.
Trophies will automatically be announced in local game chat, visible to other players and you’ll be cheered by them with burst of ++++++++ by local tradition.

Gather all fishes you catch into keepnet, don’t release any of them for now. Soon enough you should fill full keepnet (100 fishes). Once you do that get back to the settlement to sell the fish.

First check out the orders in caffe:

It posts different timed orders for various fish and usually if you fill the order, you get better price than in the fish market.

And it does not matter what size of fish you deliver if it meets minimum weight requirement for that order. Therefore, when you are in a caffe window and open the specific order, make the fish sorting by weight, and sell the smallest that fit the order requirements - they are usually not worth much at the fish market, but still fill the caffe order thus increasing your income:

After that head to the Fish Market

And sell all the rest of the fish that have not been used for caffe orders.
With all this newly earned cash it’s good time to revisit tackle store. Once there, buy the kit “Float fishing. Start”, unpack it in your backpack and assign into slot – now you have full set of 3 active rods.

To make sure that you have enough baits buy 1500 blood worms.

Then head back to your fishing spots and continue fishing/selling the fish until you accumulate 800 coins. Do not spend skill points until that point.

Once you have 800 coins, stock up according to the following purchase list. Buy each item from this list, don’t skip anything:

1. Tackle shop (Mosquito). “Kit. Feeder tackle. Start”. Buy 3 kits, 149 coins each. Unpack kits, open their set up by clicking on them in inventory, remove reels.

2) Workshop (Winding Rivulet – it charges lowest commission for repairs and upgrades in this location). When you visit Winding Rivulet for the first time don’t forget to visit Administration and buy a map there – otherwise you won’t be able to see map for this location. Do this for any other new location you’ll visit in future.
At the workshop choose reel > friction brake > 5.4 kg. Do the same for all 3 reels.
Completing this order in workshop will take some time, so use this time for shopping further according this list and developing your crafting skills. 3) Tackle shop (Mosquito). Hooks > Classic > Syberia CHK501 S1. Buy 5 pcs.
4) Tackle shop (Mosquito). Rig components > Feeders > Classic > Express Fishing Mesh Feeder #4. Buy 3 pcs.
5) Tackle shop (Mosquito). Lines > Nylon line > Express Fishing Super Line 12LB. Buy 3 pcs.
6) Tackle shop (Mosquito). Groundbait > Basics > Ground Crackers (50x4=200)
7) Grocery Store (Mosquito).
Buy Threaded Loaf (200x4=800)
8) IMPORTANT!!! Skills >
Making Groundbait>
Making a Groundbait (5 points)
9) Skills > Bottom Fishing >
Using a Spinning Reel (5 points)
10) Crafting >
Baits > Wet bread.
Craft it until your Harvesting Baits skill reaches 20 %.
11) Crafting > Groundbaits > Groundbait
Use only Ground Crackers without any other components. Craft all 200 portions which you have components for. Discard the resulting groundbait as you won’t be using it – its only purpose is to skill up.
12) By the time you finish crafting all this, upgrades for your reels in workshop should be about being ready, so revisit the workshop and take the upgraded reels from there. 13) Tackle Store Rig components > Feeder Leaders > Fluorocarbon > Syberia Fine F-Carbon leader FD 12LB. Buy 5 pieces if you manage to find them in stock. (This is popular commodity; therefore, you might need to check out stores in different locations: Mosquito, Wingding, Old Burg, Belaya river… until you find this in stock. If it’s not in stock revisit store later – this is not critical to have them right now, but if you’ll find, definitely buy it)
14) Reassemble your bottom fishing tackles using upgrades you’ve obtained. Make sure that you have the upgraded reels with max drag 5.4 kg, change the line into 12 LB one, change the sinker into feeder, attach the leader if you managed to find it in stock (if not, just have it in mind and don’t forget to do it as soon as you’ll get it). This setup is for catching breams, but you’ll be shifting hook sizes and changing between common sinker and feeder mesh depending on fishes you’ll be after:

At this point in original guide of Tigra there is a part where he asks to write him a personal message in game with a code word “Лесч” – this is needed because you can make ground baits and almost can make baits and for catching Breams, but you lack few coins for ingredients and some skills to do that therefore usually Tigra sends a small amount of baits and groundbaits to start fishing breams right away. But the problem is that you probably are not playing on the Russian server and don‘t speak Russian, therefore you won‘t be able to communicate with Tigra and get gifts from him. Therefore you‘ll need to get it all done without direct help from him. If you happen to have some coins left, try to buy components to craft at least one portion of Bream Mix Groundbait (skills should be ready for it if you followed guide) as described below, craft it and put into feeder mesh. But if you can’t afford it right now, it’s OK, we’ll go on with farming coins soon and you’ll be able to craft enough Bream Mix.

We can continue fishing the same way as we did until now, but now we have bottom tackle sets which we’ll be using during the night instead of float tackle. And we’ll start farming breams with our newly obtained bottom rigs. Old Burg Lake location, is most popular for Breams but it can be done in other places too. As your bait farming skill does not let you crafting Garlic Dough yet, substitute it with Pearl Barley for the time being (you should have some from rewards for leveling and you are able to craft them all by yourself too).

But just before continuing the fishing some technical information about ADJUSTMENT OF YOUR RIG:

When you see information about spots for bottom fishing, you’ll see a new data “clip” – what it means is that the reel has ability to adjust restriction to the distance you can cast the line at. For example, your rig set might be able to cast as far as 20-30 m, but if you set the “clip” to 8 meters, it will cast only 8 m and then the reel will stop the line. By default, there is no clip set (it will reset to no clip if you change reel or line on your rig too) To adjust the clip you need to click and hold Ctrl and adjust the clip value with + or – keyboard key.
When you’ll get a bait on your bottom rig, you’ll see an indication of fish on the left side above the bar at the bottom of your screen which is first yellow, but changes into red as it fills up. It indicates load on THE WEAKEST ELEMENT of your rig. It’s important to watch what this bar shows: it will fill up depending on size of the fish you have hooked up. If your rig gets hit by a big fish, this bar might fill up and get close to red values.
It means that restriction on the reel, so called Friction Brake is restricting the line too intensively. When it reaches the end of the red zone, the weakest element of your rig will break: your reel, line, hook or rod. Never the less if friction brake is set too low, it will take longer to fight the fish and reel it in. You should watch this bar at all times when you are reeling in and keep it in yellow zone, but not too low. To adjust friction brake use mouse wheel during reeling.
Proper adjustment of friction brake and patience can allow you to tackle the fish way bigger than theoretically your rig should hold. For example, this common carp was caught on a starter bottom setup displayed just above, which theoretically should hold fishes up to 5.4-5.6 kg… so it was almost three times bigger and still it’s doable, it did hold.
Other important adjustment which you might need to know how to do is LINE RETRIEVAL SPEED adjustment (most important when using spinning rigs). To adjust this speed, you need to press and hold “R” key and adjust speed either with mouse wheel or -/+ keys.

15. For maximum efficiency and best rates of income it’s recommended to change fishing locations and spots often. You should also understand, that fishes in game, (the same as in real life) are constantly migrating and spot which was very active one day might be empty right another day… but few days later someone will tell you that it reactivated again… Therefore, as you travel and explore the game, pay attention to in game chat – players often share information about active spots, bait preferences and so on. Be nice, polite and communicative in chat – it will have a lot of benefits. You should try exploring different spots and bait sorts yourself as well.

For initial fishing guidance you can use this list of spots, but you’ll modify it over time:

Mosquito lake (https://rufish4.ru/en/map/komarinoe ):

1. Time: 06:00 to 20:00; coordinates 70:87 or 75:88; depth 18 cm; hook size S20 to S18; baits: Blood Worm, Fly, Pearl Barley
2. Time: 20:00 to 06:00; coordinates 70:87, 75:88 or 59:89; clip 8 m; hook size S20 to S18; baits: Redworm, Worm
3. Time: 06:00 to 20:00; coordinates 70:87; depth 60 - 70 cm; hook size S12; baits: Nightcrawler
4. Time: 20:00 to 06:00; coordinates 70:87, 75:88 or 59:89; clip 8 m; hook size S20 to S18; baits: Redworm, Worm

Wingding Rivulet (https://rufish4.ru/en/map/vyunok ):

5. Time: 06:00 to 20:00; coordinates 72:85; depth 18 cm; hook size S20 to S18; baits: Blood Worm, Fly, Caster
6. Time: 20:00 to 06:00; coordinates 118:124 or 120:120; clip 8 to 12 m; hook size S20 to S18; baits: Redworm, Worm
7. Time: 06:00 to 20:00; coordinates 90:12, or 96:120; depth 18 cm; hook size S20 to S18; baits: Blood Worm, Fly, Pearl Barley
8. Time: 20:00 to 06:00; coordinates 99:121; clip 8 to 12 m; hook size S20 to S18; baits: Redworm, Worm

Old Burg Lake (https://rufish4.ru/en/map/staryy-ostrog ):

9. Time: 08:00 to 20:00; coordinates 17:68, 44:58, 39:61, 38:57, 22:67; depth 18 cm; hook size S20 to S18; baits: Blood Worm
10. Time: 20:00 to 08:00; coordinates 56:49 or 51:42; clip 15 m; hook size S1, baits: Pea Porridge, Garlic Dough, Cottage Cheese Dough

Belaya River (https://rufish4.ru/en/map/reka-belaya )

11. Time: 08:00 to 20:00; coordinates 72:60, 73:49 or 71:37; reel speed 22, look for proper lure in weekly records for Grayling
12. Time: 20:00 to 06:00; coordinates 68:45, 69:51, 71:57; clip 8 to 10 m; hook size S20 to S18; baits: Redworm, Worm
13. Time: 08:00 to 20:00; coordinates 72:60, 73:49 or 71:37; reel speed 22, look for proper lure in weekly records for Grayling
14. Time: 20:00 to 06:00; coordinates 68:45, 69:51, 71:57; clip 8 to 10 m; hook size S20 to S18; baits: Redworm, Worm
    

First 530 coins that you’ll earn you should spend for components of Bream Mix and development of “Making Groundbait” skill

16. Tackle store (Mosquito lake) Groundbait > Basics > Pearl Barley (buy 50 portions)
17. Tackle store (Mosquito lake) Groundbait > Additives > Maggots (buy 50 portions)
18. Tackle store (Mosquito lake) Groundbait > Additives > Millet Porridge (buy 50 portions)
19. Tackle store (Mosquito lake) Groundbait > Attractants > Anise Oil (buy 50 portions)
20. Crafting > Groundbaits > Bream Mix. Craft all 50 portions
21. Grocery store (Old Burg lake) Pearl Barley (200 portions)
22. Crafting > Baits > Pearl Barley. Craft all 200 portions. The goal is to reach 35 % in Harvest Baits which will give access to Garlic Dough crafting. If you did not reach 35 % after crafting all 200 portions, you can buy some components for Sweet Dough and craft until you get 35 %

+320 coins for Garlic Dough

23. Grocery store (Old Burg lake) Wheat flour (buy 100 portions)
24. Grocery store (Old Burg lake) Sunflower Oil (buy 100 portions)
25. Grocery store (Old Burg lake) Garlic (buy 100 portions)
26. Crafting > Baits > Garlic Dough. Craft it until Cottage Cheese Dough unlocks
    

27) Save 1500 coins to buy spinning set for fishing Graylings and Trouts in Belaya River.
Invest + 7 points into Skills > Spin fishing > Fishing with a spinning rod

28. Continue fishing combining bottom and spinning rigs, develop Harvesting Baits skill up to Harvesting Fish Fillets, try to reach Groundbait skill level which will unlock components of 7-th level.

29) As you earn coins, try to improve your bottom rig setups to this:
It includes better line, feeder mesh and as you can see from this illustration the leader for this setup is not a standard one from the shop, but a custom made.
You should start crafting leaders yourself as soon as you can – it will allow to craft better leaders for a lower price. To craft leaders, you’ll need a tool called “Fishing tool” – it can be bought from Hardware store. And of course, you’ll need to buy components for leader from Tackle store. What you’ll need for the leader from improved bottom rig you can see in the picture above. 30) Next goal for your development can be saving coins to purchase carp fishing setups – eventually you’ll need three of these:
31) And if you enjoy fishing with spinning rod, you’ll need to get this:

If you managed to read through and even implement some part of this guide into practice, you are officially not a beginner any more as you have knowledge and even some skills to develop as a successful angler.
Neither tails nor scales to you!!!!