Talk:Fishing/@comment-15695624-20140518195002

Here is some advice on fishing I have learned through the official wiki, Terraria Online and by trial and error:

To avoid getting junk, the pool of water from which you fish needs to be at least 200 blocks in size. Quest fish can still be obtained with water sizes less than 200 and more than the minimum. 300 blocks of water are optimum. You have the best chance of getting rare loot from such pools. I've gotten Golden Crates from 300+ lakes I have made or expanded so they were large enough.

Fishing potions help at times of day or moon phases when there is a penalty to fishing skill. The best times to fish are from 4:30 AM - 6:00 AM and 6:00 PM - 7:30 PM. Both give a +20% bonus to fishing skill. Rain adds another +20%, and a full moon another +10%. Fishing from 9:00 AM - 3:00 PM incurs a -10% penalty, as does a new moon.

When the Angler gives you a quest, don't log out and back into that world again. This appears to reset the day's quest. Also, have blocks available to create an artificial biome if needed (250 or more). Also have a means of creating water, either with bucket duplication or pumps.