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FISHERMAN

Workstation: Barrel|16 trades across 5 levels

Buys fish and string, sells cooked fish and campfires. Can sell enchanted fishing rods at higher levels.

Last checked
26 September 2026
Java Edition
26.3, 15 of 16 rows found
Bedrock Edition
1.26.50.4, 15 of 16 matching
Edition differences
none, 1 rolled price aside

What is the Fisherman?

Not everything on this counter feeds anyone. The Fisherman shares a food-trading reputation with the Farmer and the Butcher, but a good share of what makes it worth visiting is not food at all: it is the only villager anywhere that sells an enchanted fishing rod, the only one that hands you a bucket with a live fish already swimming in it, and the only one in the entire game willing to buy a boat off you.

It takes the job the moment an unemployed adult villager reaches a Barrel, the block that both stores its catch and marks the profession. Bring one within range and it changes into fisherman clothing and opens its novice list; pull the barrel before a trade closes and the job is undone.

Across its five ranks it buys 11 different things and sells only 3, and5 of those 11 buy offers are not fish at all: they are boats, one each of Oak, Spruce, Jungle, Acacia, Dark Oak, every one worth a flat emerald apiece and unlocked only once the villager tops out at master. No other profession touches a boat in either direction.

The equipment side is where the real money sits, too. Enchanted Fishing Rod costs 8 to 22 emeralds, priced by a roll rather than a fixed number since the enchantment on it changes every time, and that single offer at journeyman is worth more than every other trade this villager holds. Selling fish pays the bills; the rod is why a trading hall bothers with a Fisherman at all.

Fisherman trades at Novice level
InputOutputEmeraldsUsesVillager XPJava 26.3Bedrock 1.26.50.4Notes
String
1x Emerald
1x Emerald162same in Bedrockverifiedverified
3x Emerald
Bucket of Cod
3x Emerald161same in Bedrockverifiedverified
10x Coal
1x Emerald
1x Emerald162same in Bedrockverifiedverified
Raw Cod+1x Emerald
6x Emerald
1x Emerald161same in Bedrockverifiedverified
4 trades at Novice level

The game draws 2 of the 4 offers this tier can hold, so any one of them is on 50% of novice fishermans, and a specific one takes about 2 rolls to turn up. Bedrock lands on the same chance from its own table. Counted from the game's own draw sizes. How that check works.

Curing a zombie villager is worth 125 reputation, taken off the first thing you hand over. The discount is capped by the price, so here it runs from 2 on the bucket of cod (3 to 1) up to 6 on the coal (10 to 4). No cost ever drops below one.

The string offer pays the villager 2 XP a use and the raw cod for cooked cod offer pays 1, so the 10 XP from Novice to Apprentice is 5 trades one way and 10 the other. That fits inside the 16 uses the offer holds, so one stock run covers it. Read out of each trade's own file. How that check works.

All 4 trades on this page were read out of the trade files Minecraft Java 26.3 ships in its own data, checked on against the item, both amounts and the use limit. Bedrock 1.26.50.4 is read as well, and where it disagrees the row says how. Which files, and what is not checked.

Novice to Master: what the climb costs

A Fisherman does not level up on time served, it levels up on trading XP, and each of its offers pays a fixed amount of it. That makes the climb a countable thing rather than a chore: 19 trades take one from Novice to Master if you use the offer that pays most at every tier, and the tiers below say which offer that is.

The fewest trades that take a Fisherman from Novice to Master, tier by tier
ClimbXPOffer that pays mostTradesYou hand overYou get back
Novice to Apprentice10The coal offer, 2 XP a useor the other offer here, which pays 2 too83% of fishermans here show at least one of them550 coal5 emeralds
Apprentice to Journeyman60The raw cod offer, 10 XP a useon 67% of fishermans at this tier690 raw cod6 emeralds
Journeyman to Expert80The raw salmon offer, 20 XP a use452 raw salmon4 emeralds
Expert to Master100The tropical fish offer, 30 XP a use424 tropical fish4 emeralds
Novice to Master250no restock needed1950 coal, 90 raw cod, 52 raw salmon and 24 tropical fish19 emeralds

The bill for the whole climb is 50 coal, 90 raw cod, 52 raw salmon and 24 tropical fish. It pays for itself: 19 emeralds more than you started with by the time it is Master. No offer in the route runs past what its slot holds, so a Fisherman with full stock can be walked all the way up in one sitting.

Counted, not timed. The XP each offer pays is the xp field of its own trade file, the 10, 60, 80, 100 XP between the tiers is VillagerData.NEXT_LEVEL_XP_THRESHOLDS, and the prices and use counts are the table above. Where a tier has more than one offer paying the top rate, the route takes the one any villager can hold, then the one that pays rather than costs, then the cheapest. XP over the line is not lost, it counts toward the next tier, so no trade in the route is wasted. How that check works.

Odds, groups and price rules for every Fisherman trade

TradeJava oddsBedrock oddsBedrock groupPrice multiplierOne cure takes off
20Stringfor1EmeraldFisherman, Novice50%50%10.056 items
3Emeraldfor1Bucket of CodFisherman, Novice50%50%20.056 items
10Coalfor1EmeraldFisherman, Novice50%50%10.056 items
6Raw Codfor6Cooked CodFisherman, Novice50%50%20.056 items
15Raw Codfor1EmeraldFisherman, Apprentice67%100%10.056 items
2Emeraldfor1CampfireFisherman, Apprentice67%50%20.056 items
6Raw Salmonfor6Cooked SalmonFisherman, Apprentice67%50%20.056 items
13Raw Salmonfor1EmeraldFisherman, Journeyman100%100%10.056 items
8Emeraldfor1Enchanted Fishing RodFisherman, Journeyman100%100%20.225 items
6Tropical Fishfor1EmeraldFisherman, Expert100%100%10.056 items
4Pufferfishfor1EmeraldFisherman, Master33%not checkednot checked0.056 items
1Oak Boatfor1EmeraldFisherman, Master33%not checkednot checked0.056 items
1Spruce Boatfor1EmeraldFisherman, Master33%not checkednot checked0.056 items
1Jungle Boatfor1EmeraldFisherman, Master33%not checkednot checked0.056 items
1Acacia Boatfor1EmeraldFisherman, Master33%not checkednot checked0.056 items
1Dark Oak Boatfor1EmeraldFisherman, Master33%not checkednot checked0.056 items

Fisherman trades by tier (Novice to Master)

A Fisherman climbs five career ranks, and each rank it reaches adds a fresh batch of offers on top of the ones below it. The experience gates are fixed: the Novice tier opens immediately with 4 offers, 10 more trade-XP points unlock Apprentice (3 offers), 60 more trade-XP points unlock Journeyman (2 offers), 80 more trade-XP points unlock Expert (1 offer), and 100 more trade-XP points unlock Master (6 offers). The full price list for every rank is laid out below; emerald costs marked as a range roll randomly within that band each time the trade is generated or restocked.

Tier 1 · Novice

4 trades · available from the start

Sell to villager: 20 strings for 1 emerald, 10 coals for 1 emerald, and 6 raw cods for 6 emeralds.

Buy from villager: bucket of cod for 3 emeralds.

Tier 2 · Apprentice

3 trades · 10 cumulative XP

Sell to villager: 15 raw cods for 1 emerald and 6 raw salmons for 6 emeralds.

Buy from villager: campfire for 2 emeralds.

Tier 3 · Journeyman

2 trades · 70 cumulative XP

Sell to villager: 13 raw salmons for 1 emerald.

Buy from villager: enchanted fishing rod for 8-22 emeralds.

Tier 4 · Expert

1 trade · 150 cumulative XP

Sell to villager: 6 tropical fishs for 1 emerald.

Tier 5 · Master

6 trades · 250 cumulative XP

Sell to villager: 4 pufferfishs for 1 emerald, 1 oak boat for 1 emerald, 1 spruce boat for 1 emerald, 1 jungle boat for 1 emerald, 1 acacia boat for 1 emerald, and 1 dark oak boat for 1 emerald.

Fisherman trading tips

Fish for the fastest income, sail for the easiest. Pufferfish clears at 4 per emerald and that slot alone runs 12 uses before it locks, but if you already have spare boats sitting in a chest, every one of Oak, Spruce, Jungle, Acacia, Dark Oak sells for a flat emerald each once this Fisherman reaches master, no fishing required.

Save emeralds for the rod, not the fish. Enchanted Fishing Rod runs 8 to 22 emeralds at journeyman, and it is the only source of an enchanted fishing rod from any villager in the game; everything cheaper on this list is a food trade you can take or leave.

Reroll the enchantment rather than settle for it. The roll happens once, the moment this Fisherman's offers lock in, so an untraded villager can be reset by pulling its barrel and giving it back to draw again. Every possible result is catalogued at enchantments.astroworldmc.com, worth a look before deciding whether to keep a roll or scrap it.

Do not skip bucket of cod. It is the only bucket sold by any villager, live fish included, at novice for 3 emeralds, useful for restocking an aquarium or a breeder tank without ever casting a line.

Leveling only moves through trading. This Fisherman needs 10 XP to leave novice, 70 to reach journeyman where the rod unlocks, 150 for expert, and 250 for master where the boats do. It still needs a clear path to its barrel to restock and bank that XP.

Cure it before the big purchase. Trap this Fisherman while zombie-infected on Hard difficulty, hit it with a Splash Potion of Weakness, then feed it a golden apple; every price on the sheet drops for good once the cure finishes, rod included. The full method is in our zombie villager discount guide.

The first completed trade locks this villager's whole list, so reset it before then if the roll is not the one you want: our villager rolling guide covers pulling the barrel and drawing again.

A Barrel of his own, and fish to sell him

A Fisherman needs a Barrel nobody else has claimed, and a villager who reaches it first takes the job instead: Villager Professions and Workstations Guide covers how claiming works. The fish the Fisherman buys all come off a fishing rod, and one farm below covers every one of them.