The Dorado is a river fish in the popular game Stardew Valley, known for its golden scales, which gives it its name in Spanish, meaning “golden”.
In the game you have many different types of fishes, from common to legendary or rare. Many players think that the Dorado is a rare fish, although it’s not true but it’s still pretty difficult to catch. In fact, every fish in Stardew Valley has a difficulty score, and the Dorado has a fishing difficulty of 78 out of maximum 110.
Where and When to Find Dorado Fish?
The Dorado is a summer fish, making it difficult to catch during other seasons. If you haven’t caught one by the end of summer, the best course of action is to wait until the next year. However, if you receive a quest, such as the “Aquatic Overpopulation Dorado,” where you need to catch 10 Dorado fish in the spring, it may still be possible, ultimately depending on luck and patience.
The most effective location to catch a Dorado fish is in the Cindersap forest river, in front of Leah’s house. However, it can also be caught in other areas of the forest river. It’s crucial to keep this in mind, as many players have had negative outcomes from fishing in other locations. Additionally, the specific time to catch a Dorado is between 6 am and 7 pm, making it inadvisable to try outside of these hours.
How to Catch a Stardew Valley Dorado
One of the main challenges players face when trying to catch a Dorado is its difficulty level. Even when fishing in the recommended location, luck plays a significant role in whether or not you will be successful.
The Best Tricks to an Effective Fishing
Fishing may seem simple, but it can be challenging for beginners. When you finally catch your first Dorado, you will notice that the fish is constantly moving up and down. To be effective, you must keep the fish in the green bar until the big yellow bar is full. This is done by pressing the button and keeping control of the green bar. Tapping the button is suggested for better control.
Practicing control is crucial for effective fishing, and it can be the most challenging aspect of the process. Another important factor to consider is the speed of the fish and learning its pattern to develop the best strategy for catching it.
When fishing for the Dorado, there are two strategies you can try:
- Pre-press the button so the green bar can chase the fish as soon as the game starts. If you can keep the Dorado in the green bar, you will receive a bonus for perfect catches, which multiplies the experience awarded for catching the fish by 2.4.
- Try getting your meter to near catch then moving your green bar to a random spot. Once the fish is almost escaped, drop the green bar down to the fish and catch it. However, be cautious as the green bar can bounce a little and you may lose your fish.
Increasing Your Chances of Catching a Stardew Valley Dorado
If you are tired of spending hours fishing by the forest river in the summer and not catching any Dorados, the issue may be with your equipment or fishing level. Consider our tips below to improve your fishing results.
Upgrade Your Rod
There is no specific rod that is required to catch a Dorado, but using a beginner’s rod will make it nearly impossible. To increase your chances, it is essential to improve your fishing level. This can be done by practicing fishing until you can upgrade to a top-quality rod. Once you upgrade, catching a Dorado will become much easier.
If you upgrade to an iridium rod, which costs 7500g, you can attach Tackles to it, such as the trap bobber, which decreases the speed of the fish, making it easier to grab, and the dressed spinner, which increases the bite rate when fishing.
Upgrade Your Fishing Level By Eating Fish Food
Another way to increase your fishing level is by eating fish food. To maximize your chances of catching a Stardew Valley Dorado, it’s recommended to eat something like a Fish Stew or Trout Soup before starting your fishing quest.
Use a Magic Bait
If all else fails, the best solution is to use a magic bait to catch the Dorado. These baits allow you to catch fish from any season, time, or weather from any type of water you cast into. However, for the best chances, it’s still recommended to try fishing for the Dorado in the forest river in the summer, before 7 pm.
What Can You Do with a Dorado Fish?
Once you’ve caught a Stardew Valley Dorado, you may be wondering what you can do with it.
Consuming it raw
A Dorado, like every other fish, can be consumed raw to receive healing effects and XP to aid your Blessing Level.
The points received vary based on the quality of the Dorado you catch. The quality of the fish depends on two major things:
- Distance from the fishing bobber to the nearest piece of land. If you fish in the middle or in the wide part of the river, there is a higher probability of catching higher-quality fish.
- Fishing with perfect catches increases the quality by one level, so if you catch a golden quality fish with a perfect catch, it will become of iridium quality.
Cooking
A Dorado fish doesn’t have a specific recipe, but there are three generic recipes that you can use with any type of fish:
- Maki Roll: to have the recipe for the Maki Roll, you need to be at level 21, so you need to be an experienced player. Alternatively, you can try buying the recipe from Gas or buying directly the Maki rolls if needed.
- Quality Fertilizers: One key aspect of successful Dorado fishing is using quality fertilizers. These fertilizers can increase your chances of catching gold or silver crops by 60-30%, as opposed to the basic fertilizer which only offers a 33% chance for each. The best advice is to use fish that are easy to catch to make your quality fertilizers, so avoid using Dorado for this purpose.
- Sashimi: Another profitable recipe to make with Dorado is sashimi. However, it is important to note that this recipe is only profitable if you are using a fish that sells for less than 75g. Therefore, it is not wise to use Dorado for this recipe.
Producing
When breeding Dorado, the fish can produce up to 20 bug meat if the population reaches 9. This bug meat can be used to make baits for more efficient fishing. The most effective bait to use with bug meat is the magic bait, which can be particularly useful for catching Dorado. Other baits that can be made with bug meat include normal bait, wild bait, sturdy ring, and bug steak. Bug meat can also be sold for 8g.
Like all fish, Dorado also produces Roe, or fresh fish eggs. These can be sold or preserved in a jar to create aged roe, which sells for more. The selling price for Roe varies based on the type of fish, with Dorado Roe selling for 80g and aged Roe selling for 160g.
Tailoring
Dorado, a colorful fish found in the game, can be used to create a unique piece of clothing – the Fish Shirt. This shirt features a fish logo and can be dyed using the Orange Dye Pot, which can be created using Dorado.
In order to create the Fish Shirt, players will need to use a Sewing Machine. These machines can be found in the houses of Willow Lane’s Emily and Haley. By completing the Rock Rejuvenation quest, players will also have the option to receive their own Sewing Machine via email, allowing them to create as many clothes as they desire.
Selling
Dorado can be sold for a profit, with the price ranging from 100g to 200g depending on the quality of the fish (gold, silver, or iridium). Players can also receive a bonus of 25% when selling to the fisherman and 50% when selling to the angler. However, the difficulty in catching Dorado should be taken into consideration before making this decision.
Breeding in a Pond
Dorado can also be bred in a pond, but players should be aware that they are carnivorous and will require other fish as food. The initial capacity of the pond is three Dorados, but this can be increased to 10 by completing specific quests.
Gifting
Gifting Dorado to villagers is not recommended as they do not appreciate the fish as a gift. In fact, some villagers such as Evelyn, Haley, and Pierre will dislike or even hate receiving Dorado. In order to maintain a good friendship level with villagers, players should consider gifting them something else.
Quests
The only quest related to Dorado is the Aquatic Overpopulation, where Demetrius will ask players to catch 10 Dorado within 7 days. As a reward for completing the quest, players will receive gold equivalent to selling the fish and the recipe for the Farm Computer. The Farm Computer is a useful item that provides information about the player’s farm.
