How can I reliably catch fish without drowning?

Fish are tasty and delicious and profitable and make for all kinds of very powerful food. The trouble is, they like to hang out in lakes and rivers and stuff, and are much faster swimmers than poor old Link. While I can usually catch a fish by hitting the 'Dash' button to swim quickly at them, this burns a lot of stamina, and I often don't have enough left in the tank to make it to shore. especially if I need to scale a cliff before I can stand on dry land again. That leaves me stuck choosing between eating food to get more stamina to go fishing... or just drowning and eating the health loss (often literally, as I eat food to recover it...)

Both of these options really put a damper on the usefulness of acquiring fish. Is there a better way to catch fish that won't get me killed? Perhaps a pole? Maybe some scuba gear?

Solution 1:

Just blow them up.

No, seriously. The ol' 'Dwarven Fishing Pole' is alive and well in Zelda: Breath of the Wild. If you throw a bomb into the water where the fishes you want are, and detonate it, they'll rise - belly up - to the surface. Then just dive in and collect your seafood at a leisurely pace, without using the dash button and swim to shore. You can even jump in multiple times as needed without any fear of losing 'The One That Got Away'.

Those fish ain't going anywhere.

Solution 2:

As a less fun alternative to blowing the fish up, you could simply create an ice block in the body of water you are fishing in for a resting spot for when you get low on stamina. Then dive off, search for fish, and clamber back on top of it for a breather.

Solution 3:

I haven't tried this, but I saw a tip on a loading screen. You can apparently drop food in the water to attract fish. Which fish are attracted to what food is a matter of experimentation, however.

Solution 4:

If you purchase the complete Sheika outfit you will be virtually silent when moving about. You can use this to swim right up to fish (with the X button even!) and they won't immediately run away. It's also great for running around and collecting insects and getting really close to animals.

Also, be sure to upgrade it to ★★ to get the fast night movement set bonus.