Fishing Rod

Introduction
Fishing Rods are tools that are used for obtaining Raw Fish. This can be very useful, as fish are an unlimited resource, though the rod has limited durability.

Crafting
A fishing rod can be crafted from three sticks and two pieces of string. This makes fishing rods a renewable resource.

Usage
The easiest method of guaranteeing you don't lose reeled fish is to have a high wall behind you to block them from flying too far. When fishing from a boat, you will need to alter your casting distance if fish are flying over your head and getting lost in deep waters.
 * Right-click to cast the line into a body of water. It does not matter where you are standing: You can be in the water, sitting in a boat, or standing on adjacent land.
 * The bobber must be watched closely. When it dips below the surface (which also causes a splash sound), immediately right-click again to reel in the line. The window for reeling in when a fish bites is about half a second. If a bite is missed, the line can be left in the water to wait for another bite.
 * A successful reel-in causes a Raw Fish to fly through the air towards the player. Normally, the fish will fly directly to you, but if there are blocks in the way, it may bounce off at an angle.
 * Upon catching a fish, you are awarded 1-3 experience points immediately, whether or not you actually pick up the fish.

The line will disappear if the player wanders 35 blocks away from the bobber.

Fish can be caught just as readily in small and/or shallow pools, but the fishing rod's durability will suffer if the hook collides with solid blocks. When using small pools, casting directly upwards and allowing the hook to fall into the water may help avoid collision with blocks.

Odds of catching fish

 * Water exposed to the sky during rain: 300:1 per tick
 * Water exposed to the sky in clear weather, or fishing indoors: 500:1 per tick

On average, you can catch a Raw Fish every 15 seconds when fishing in the rain (it can take a minute or longer sometimes), and one every 25 seconds while it is not raining.



Non-fishing uses
The fishing rod can be used to hook mobs and other entities, which drags them towards the player at a fast rate. This counts as an attack, so entities will react as if attacked, but it causes no actual damage by itself. Secondary damage can come from fall distance if the entity is hooked from sufficient height (though chickens, Ghasts, Blazes, Iron Golems, Snow Golems, and Ocelots do not take fall damage). Enemies can also be dragged into Lava, or an Enderman into Water. This can be proven extremely difficult though, as the enderman will teleport away as soon as it is hit by the rod, but will still be stuck on it. Therefore, this tactic can be used to easily tell where they teleported.

Use on Villagers will lower the player's popularity and cause any naturally-spawned Iron Golem nearby to attack. Players cannot be pulled in PvP.

The fishing rod can be used to grab onto boats and minecarts and pull them towards the player, but a boat will often break in the process. 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, the Ghast's Fireballs can also be hooked with the fishing rod.

Durability

 * The rod can catch 65 fish before it will break.
 * Casting in water and reeling it up without a catch, reeling before the cast is complete, or missing a bite and leaving the line in the water does not reduce durability.
 * A double-durability penalty applies if the hook lands in solid blocks, either under water or on dry blocks (if this occurs under water a fish may still be caught).
 * A triple-durability penalty applies if hooking an entity.

Durability cost occurs on reel-in, rather than on impact, so penalties can be avoided by switching to another item instead of reeling in.

Bugs

 * If you are in a boat in an ocean, and if you cast the line straight up, when the bobber hits the boat, it plays the fall damage sound track. (tested in 1.4.7, on a survival world, in survival)
 * If a fishing rod is cast and the player moves to third person view and crouches, the string will not be attached to the rod.
 * If you enter in a Nether Portal fishing, the string will not appear again (you need to re-enter in the world)
 * If you cast the rod at a solid block and the bobber sticks into the block, it will remain in that position even if the said block is moved or destroyed.
 * If you spin or turn quickly, the end of the line will remain attached to a point while the sprite moves around it.
 * If you move the tip of the fishing rod next to the bobber, you can see that the line is angled oddly.
 * If you go into a boat with rod in hand, you will go in it, your line will be cast, and you'll be unable to move. After a short period, the player dies.
 * If the FOV is increased to higher than normal, the string will not be attached to the rod.
 * In third person view, the cast fishing rod texture is still the stick texture. This is most evident when using a texture pack.
 * If you swing the fishing rod while the bobber is out, the string flies upwards, opposite of the rod.
 * Casting the fishing rod then going into the inventory menu will make the fishing rod (shown in the third person box next to armor) appear like a stick
 * Catching a block of farmland will cause the bobber to become oversized.

Reeling problems
Up through version 1.2.5, reeled-in fish were prone to flying clear over the player's head, and/or to one side, so that players needed to fish with their back to a wall to collect the fish. In more recent versions, fish fly directly to the player; however, if there is a block in the fish's way, it can fall short or fly off at an angle.

It is also recommended to have the fishing pool at least 8 blocks long and 4 blocks deep, as the hook will snag on any block it hits.

Trivia

 * Skeletons can be pulled into their own arrows.
 * 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.
 * The fishing rod and Carrot on a stick are currently the only item in the game that is displayed mirrored when in the player's hand.
 * When casting the rod into a portal, the bobber may stick to it like a normal block or go through and travel through or stop on the next block.
 * If you cast the bobber into a waterfall, the bobber will float up the waterfall until it reaches the top where it will stay until the player pulls it back in or until a fish is caught on the line. If a fish is caught on the line, the bobber will then fall off from the waterfall making it much easier to visualize when to reel in.
 * Even if you are underwater, you can still catch fish.
 * Endermen will teleport when hooked, if the Enderman teleports close enough to the player, it will still be hooked.
 * If you stand directly in front of a column and cast your line onto a block above you, the line will fall downwards.
 * Casting the rod onto a wooden pressure plate will cause a redstone current to trigger.
 * Dragging an ocelot with you can be useful against unsuspecting creepers.
 * If the bobber hits a painting the painting will break.
 * You can cast the line, then switch to another fishing rod without disturbing the line.
 * If you cast the line into an End Portal, the line and bobber will disappear( tested in Creative Mode ).
 * You can switch from one fishing rod to another, at any time, even after hooking a fish or snagging something. This means that you can hook a fish with one rod, and reel it in with another.  When you reel it in the new rod with take the durability cost.