Fishing Rod

Fishing Rods are tools which were added in the 1st Seecret Saturday update on September 18, 2010, but could not be used for anything until Alpha 1.2.0. They are crafted from sticks and strings. In Beta 1.5 and earlier, fishing rods could be stacked which would heal any damage on them. This turned out to be a glitch which was fixed in Beta 1.6.

Usage
Players can cast the line using the right mouse button. Right-clicking again will reel the line in. The rod can be cast and reeled in 33 times before breaking. Casting it in water and reeling it up without a catch or reeling it up before it reaches its destination does not reduce its durability. The line will be reeled in automatically if the player wanders more than 34 blocks away from the place the bobber is stuck in.



If the line is cast in any sort of water, whether player made or naturally formed, after a while, the bobber on the end of the line will sink briefly before bobbing back up to the surface and will play the splash sound. The line must be reeled in at that precise moment otherwise the catch will escape. The line can be left there to wait for another catch opportunity as long as needed. If successful, a Raw Fish will fly out of the water and land somewhere around the fisher. The line will disappear after 60 seconds if nothing gets hooked, although this timer is reset every time the hook bobs in the water.

Fishing rods can hook any mob and drag it towards the player (although squid will not be dragged as far because water slows them down). Although the hurt animation plays, it deals no damage to the mob. This makes it an excellent tool for shearing sheep without hurting them, similar to the snowball. Reeling it up will cause the mob to be pulled towards the caster at a very fast rate, however. Players can take advantage of this to impart vertical momentum onto the mob when reeled at great height, dealing enough fall damage for a guaranteed death (except for chickens as they do not take falling damage). It is also possible to bring the mobs up to the place where the player is standing on with accurate aiming.

The fishing rod can be used to grab onto boats and minecarts and pull them towards the player. However, boats will often break in the process, dropping two sticks and three planks. The hook can also be used to activate Pressure Plates or even knock down Paintings from a distance. This aspect can be commonly seen in public puzzle maps, where the player is required to aim and activate the input. Strangely enough, the Ghast's Fireballs can also be hooked with the fishing rod.

The player should always fish with a large obstruction behind him or her, or from a platform above the water, because fish fly back when caught and may be lost. Fishing from 4 blocks (4 has been tested, but other heights may also work) above the water will make the fish fly directly to the player. It is also recommended to have the fishing platform at least 8 blocks long and 4 blocks deep, as the hook will snag on any block it hits.

It has been tested and proven that the closer the player is to the bobber, the less the fish will fly.

If the fishing rod bobber lands on a wall/ground then you reel it, it will count as a double durability use, while sucessfully reeling a fish counts as one use. Reeling it outside of water when it isn't the moment to get fish does not count as durability use, at least in SMP.

If the player has two fishing rods, they can use one until it's almost broken, then click on it and place it on the new one. This repairs the old one and stacks two new rods. The player then has to right click on them and continue using one of the two new ones and repeat, thus allowing for infinite uses. This no longer works in Beta 1.6 since fishing rods are no longer stackable.

Bugs

 * The Fishing rod's string is not rendered in SMP.
 * If the fishing rod is cast and the player crouches the string will no longer attach to the fishing rod if viewed from third person.

Trivia

 * These were the first stackable tool in the game, before clocks and compasses. After Beta 1.6, they no longer are stackable.
 * Skeletons can be pulled into their own arrows.
 * Casting the rod into lava will set the bobber on fire and cause it to clip through and fall forever.
 * Casting the rod into fire will set the bobber on fire and cause it to stick to the fire block.
 * It is possible to catch fish in underground or man-made lakes.
 * It's also possible to kill a mob by standing on a relatively tall cliff, hooking a mob, then reeling it in. The effect will be that the fishing rod will immediately pull the mob up, then it will fall a great distance to kill it.
 * Using a fishing rod while in a minecart aimed at the minecart's front wall will cause the minecart to stop immediately and the player to exit it. No damage to either player or cart.
 * When casting the rod into a portal, the bobber may stick to it like a normal block or it may go through and travel through or stop on the next block.
 * The Fishing Rod is currently the only item in the game that is displayed flipped around while you hold it.
 * It is possible to hook the hook onto air by standing in front of a block on the same level as where your feet should be and using the fishing rod on it.
 * Snagging a Charged creeper with a fishing rod will not electrocute the player.