Fishing Rods are tools which were added in the 1st Seecret Saturday update on September 18th, 2010. They can be crafted from sticks and string.
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. You can also use it to "tow" all mobs within this radius, which is a normally successful killing technique. However, this may be a bug, and it has been heavily speculated that notch may "fix" this.
Fishing rods remain the first and only stackable tool in the game. When stacking fishing rods the rods take on the usage bar of the rod being placed upon. If a used fishing rod is stacked onto an unused one then all uses will be reset for that rod, but an unused fishing rod is stacked onto a used one both become used. Therefore, it is good strategy to keep two fishing rods to have infinite uses.
A fishing bobber.
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 fish will fly out of the water and land somewhere around the fisher. The line will disappear after 60 seconds if nothing gets hooked. This is reset every time the hook bobs in the water.
The tip can also be used to activate Pressure Plates or even knock down Paintings from a distance. The fishing rod can also be used to grab onto boats and minecarts and pull them towards the player. Boats will often break in the process, however. Strangely enough, the Ghast's Fireballs can also be hooked with the fishing rod.
Crafting
Towing
It has been discovered that if you attempt to hook a mob - neutral or hostile - It will pull them towards you at a fast rate. If you are to make a pillar at about 15-20 height, wait for any mob to pass below, and "tow" them, it will fling them high into the air, causing them to fall to their death; guaranteed. See it in action.
However, with flying mobs such as Ghast, you can not use the "fling" technique, as they fly. Instead, you may tow them close to you in an attempt to get within melee range. Before the 11/10/10 update, you could also tow them through falling lava to instantly kill them.
Trivia
- The Fishing Rod was introduced in version 1.1.0 but served no purpose until version 1.2.0.
- Skeletons can be pulled into their own arrows.