Gebsfish Wiki

The Ultimate Fishing Expansion for DayZ — 79 catchable species, living bait, real ecology

Workshop Subscribers Mod Version
Steam Workshop · Discord · GitHub

Fish Database

Every catchable species with its default stats. Click a row for full details — weather multipliers, temperature preferences, and prep results. Values shown are the mod defaults; server owners can retune everything in fish.json.

Name Water Method Rarity Optimal °C Meat Activity

Items & Gear

Everything the mod adds beyond the fish themselves.

🎣 Fishing Rods

  • Colored rods — Red, Green, Blue, Purple
  • Repairable with the Fishing Rod Repair Kit (max Worn)
  • Wear on every catch outcome — success or fail

🔪 Fish Knives

  • 6 colors: Blue, Orange, Green, Yellow, Red, Purple
  • +54% durability vs vanilla HuntingKnife
  • 10% faster filleting (configurable)

🧰 Tackle Boxes

  • Small Tackle — compact, holds lures, bait & tools
  • Large Tackle — 12 colors, bigger cargo, holds knives too
  • Medium Tackle — 4 colors
  • Fun Tackle variants — Purple, Yellow, Green, Red

🪣 Bait Containers

  • Worm Container — keeps worms & grubs alive
  • Bug Container — keeps insects alive, dig-bugs action
  • Bait Bucket — keeps minnows, crayfish, shrimp, frogs & salamanders fresh

🧊 Coolers

  • 12 colors
  • Chills cargo toward -5°C — food freezes, rot stops
  • Pauses live-bait death too

🕸 Bamboo Fishing Net

  • Craftable & repairable with Netting
  • Catches minnows, frogs, salamanders
  • Catches land in its own 4×4 cargo

🛶 Jon Boat

  • Drivable flat-bottomed boat, 5 variants
  • Green/gray aluminum + desert, snow, forest camo
  • Cargo space, chassis/engine/floater damage zones
  • More boat content coming

👕 Angler Clothing

  • Fishing Hats — Blue, Red, Green, Purple
  • Fishing Shirts — Red, Green, Blue, Purple
  • Fishing Gloves — Orange, Blue

🥚 Delicacies

  • Red Caviar — trout & salmon roe
  • Black Caviar — Lake Sturgeon roe
  • Yellow Caviar — Northern Pike roe
  • Lobster Tail & Claws, King/Snow Crab Legs

🔧 Crafting

  • Craft a metal hook from wire + pliers
  • Craft the bamboo net
  • Repair rods & nets (repairs cap at Worn; Ruined is gone for good)

Baits & Lures

Every bait and lure carries a per-fish preference table that biases which fish takes your hook. Live bait dies about 90 minutes after you find it unless stored in a bait container or cooler — the rubber worm never dies. All multipliers are tunable in bait.json.

What should I put on the hook?

Bait / LureHow you get itBest forWeak against
WormDig worms (85% find)Panfish ×2.0, Carp ×2.0, Trout ×1.6Large saltwater ×0.3
Grub WormDigging worms or bugsPanfish ×2.0, Trout & Salmon ×1.8Large saltwater ×0.3
Grasshopper / CricketDig bugs (65% find)Trout & Salmon ×2.0, Frogs/Salamanders ×1.8Pike ×0.4
Rubber WormLoot (never dies)Bass ×2.5Panfish ×0.6, Carp ×0.4
Live MinnowNet or Bait BucketPike/Musky ×2.5, Walleye ×2.5, Bass ×2.0Carp ×0.4
Red SalamanderNet catchCatfish & bottom feeders ×2.5, Bass/Pike ×2.0Panfish ×0.4
Spinner Baits (4)LootBass ×2.5, Pike/Musky ×2.3, Walleye ×2.0Carp ×0.3
Spoon Lures (4)LootTrout & Salmon ×2.5, Saltwater ×1.8–2.0Carp ×0.3
Crank / Popper Lures (4)LootAll-rounder — Bass ×2.0, Pike ×1.8Carp ×0.3
Curly Tail Jigs (4)LootBass ×2.2, Walleye ×2.0, Panfish ×1.5Amphibians ×0.5

How the preference system works

When you cast, the mod builds a weighted pool of every fish eligible for your water and method. Each fish's weight is CatchProbability × weather × time-of-day × temperature × bait — so a worm at dawn in a warm pond makes bluegill dramatically more likely than a shark. Unlisted bait/fish pairs default to a neutral ×1.0, and the whole system can be disabled with Enable: 0 in bait.json without losing your tuning.

Systems

Every system is independently toggleable in the $profile:Gebs/ config files. Disabled systems keep their tuned values in JSON with no in-game effect.

🌦 Weather & Time of Day

Per-species Rain/Storm/Dawn/Day/Dusk/Night multipliers. Bass fire up at dawn and dusk, walleye and catfish wake at night, trout chase the rain. Stacked buffs are capped so a stormy night never runs away.

🌕 Moon Phases

Real synodic moon-phase math (Meeus algorithm) from the in-game date. Full-moon nights bite up to +20%, new-moon nights down to -10%. Night-only, independently toggleable.

🌡 Water Temperature

Every species has an optimal temperature and a survivable range. Bass own hot summer days; trout and salmon take over in the cold. A global WaterTempOffset adapts the whole curve to winter or tropical maps.

🕐 Bite-Speed Cycles

Each fish has a 24-hour circadian activity curve. The active pool's aggregate drives how long you wait between bites — night fishing for catfish feels different from noon panfishing.

🪱 Living Bait

Live bait perishes ~90 minutes after you find it. Worm/Bug Containers, the Bait Bucket, and coolers pause the clock. Artificial lures never die.

🧊 Cooler & Freezer

Coolers actively chill cargo to -5°C: rot stops, food freezes. Frozen fish can't be filleted until thawed.

🐺 Predators

Fishing, filleting, failed casts, and net use can each draw wolves or bears (~1% per action by default, per-action configurable). Land-only spawns, optional warning sound for everyone nearby, and a chat warning for whoever caused it.

🪝 Hook Recovery

Roughly 1 in 250 fillets recovers a damaged hook or lure "stuck in the fish." Pool and damage range are configurable.

🥫 Junk Catches

Rods and nets can pull configurable junk — wellies, pots, anything you add — with weighted chances and spawn-damage ranges.

📊 Admin Logging

Timestamped session logs in $profile:Gebs/logs/. Debug level 1 gives per-cast summaries; level 2 prints full per-fish breakdown tables that answer "why isn't fish X spawning."

Frequently Asked Questions

What do I need to run Gebsfish?
Gebsfish plus Community Framework (CF), loaded on both server and client. That's it — everything else is optional tuning.
Where are the config files?
In your server profile folder: $profile:Gebs/general.json (global settings, weather, predators), fish.json (all 79 species), bait.json (the bait preference matrix), and junk.json (junk catches). Delete any of them and the server regenerates fresh defaults on next start. Every file documents its own fields in built-in ...Info strings.
I'm upgrading from an older version — where did fishingsettings.json go?
The old single-file config was replaced by the four files above. It's a clean break: there is no automatic migration, so the server generates fresh defaults and you re-apply your custom tuning by hand. Keep a backup of your old file for reference.
Why isn't fish X spawning?
Three usual suspects: its Environment doesn't match where you're fishing (1 = pond, 2 = sea, 3 = both), its CatchMethod doesn't include your method (1 = rod, 2 = large trap, 4 = small trap, added together), or its CatchProbability is 0. Set DebugLogs: 2 in general.json and the server log will print the full pool for every cast — including exactly why each fish was or wasn't eligible.
Can I turn off the weather / moon / temperature / bait systems?
Yes, each independently. WeatherCatchBoostEnable, MoonPhaseEnable, TemperatureEffectEnable, and BiteSpeedEnable live in general.json under WeatherSettings; the bait system's master toggle is Enable at the top of bait.json. Your tuned values stay in the file while a system is off.
I edited BiteSpeed and my server crashed on startup. What happened?
BiteSpeed must be a single space-separated string of 24 hourly values ("0.85 0.9 1 ..."), not a JSON array — DayZ's JSON loader crashes on nested float arrays. Also keep any single string value in the configs under ~900 characters; the engine's reader hard-crashes past ~1024.
Do the fish work with trader mods?
Yes. Fish quality defaults to 1.0 (full) specifically because popular traders (DayZ-Expansion-Market, TraderPlus, Dr. Jones) only accept full-quality items. If your trader scales price by quality, you can lower FishQuality in general.json.
How do I add the fish to my server's economy?
The mod generates gebsfish-types.xml and gebsfish-spawnabletypes.xml into $profile:Gebs/mpmissions/ on server start — merge those into your mission's economy files. The generated types contain only Gebsfish classnames; vanilla fish are already in your mission's own types.xml.
How do I keep my bait alive?
Live bait (worms, crickets, grasshoppers, grubs) dies about 90 minutes after you find it. Store it in a Worm Container, Bug Container, or cooler to pause the clock. Minnows, crayfish, shrimp, frogs, and salamanders stay fresh in the Bait Bucket. The rubber worm is artificial and never dies. Tackle boxes do not preserve bait — the dedicated containers are the point.
Why did my rod break? Can I repair it?
Rods and hooks wear a little on every catch outcome — success or fail. Repair rods with the Fishing Rod Repair Kit and the bamboo net with Netting, but repairs cap at Worn and Ruined tools cannot be repaired, so retire gear before it's too late.
Can I turn predators off (or up)?
Fully configurable in general.json: a per-action chance for fishing, filleting, failed casts, and net use (default ~1% each), the predator list with weights and counts, spawn radius, the warning sound, and the chat warning. Set the chances to 0 to disable, or crank them for a high-stakes server.
Does Gebsfish work on custom maps?
Yes — Chernarus, Livonia, Sakhal, Banov, Namalsk, Deer Isle, Lux, NavalPlus, Sahrani, Artseinen, MelkartV2, and Deadfall are supported out of the box. If your map's fishing doesn't work, open a ticket in the Discord and we'll issue a hotfix for that map.
Can I put Gebsfish in my server pack / mod pack?
No. Repacking is not permitted under any circumstances — use a Steam Collection to include the mod on your server. See the Usage & Terms.
Can I monetize my server while running Gebsfish?
Yes, provided you follow the DayZ Server Monetization agreement and have permission from Bohemia.

Changelog

Requirements & Compatibility

  • DayZ 1.29 compatibility
  • Community Framework (CF) is now required — the RPC system migrated to CF
  • All fish now have melee functionality (matching vanilla)
  • New map support: Sahrani, Artseinen, MelkartV2, and Deadfall

New Systems

  • Weather catch buffs — global + per-fish rain/storm/time multipliers with a stacking cap
  • Moon phases — night-only buff from real synodic phase math (+20% full, -10% new)
  • Water temperature — per-fish preference curves with a global offset for winter/tropical maps
  • Bite-speed cycles — 24-hour circadian activity curves drive wait times between bites
  • Bait preference matrix — ~700 seeded bait/fish pairings, lure families share entries, fully tunable
  • Hook-from-fish recovery — ~1/250 fillets recover a damaged hook
  • Cooler freezer system — active chilling to -5°C, perishable live bait, frozen-fillet guard
  • Predator spawn rework — per-action chances, weighted picks, land-only spawns
  • Configurable net catches — per-environment tables, catches land in the net's cargo, net repair recipe

Config Overhaul

  • fishingsettings.json replaced by four self-documenting files: general.json, bait.json, junk.json, fish.jsonclean break, no migration
  • Fish are fully data-driven: one Species row per fish feeds a generic yield + recipe pipeline
  • Master toggles for every catch-modifying system

New Content

  • 14 new species — Hammerhead Shark, Lake Sturgeon, Alligator Gar, 4 Muskellunge variants, Northern Snakehead, Neosho & Striped Bass, White Grunt, Southern Flounder, Yellow Snapper, American Bullfrog, Red Salamander — plus 5 new crayfish
  • Jon Boat — drivable, 5 variants, cargo, custom damage zones
  • Black & Yellow Caviar, Coolers in 12 colors, Grub Worm, metal hook crafting, net repair
  • 4 Spoon Lures, 4 Curly Tail Jigs, new Spinner Bait / crank / popper models
  • Major art pass: new or reworked models for 30+ existing species

Balance

  • Realistic catch probabilities (abundance-based) and fish weights (real-world sizes — trophy pelagics are heavy now, by design)
  • Ecology pass: corrected environments for anadromous species; predator chance now ~1% per action
  • Fish knives: +54% durability, 10% faster filleting; repairs cap at Worn
  • Rods no longer take double durability damage per catch (was wearing at 2× the intended rate)

Fixed (highlights)

  • Bait preferences and temperature now work independently of the weather toggle
  • Bite-speed weighting no longer double-counts abundance
  • Dug bugs are visible to all players (were spawning server-side only)
  • XML generator crash fix, duplicate economy entries removed, dozens of texture/model fixes