The peaceful Pelican Town fountain in Stardew Valley has long looked like a purely decorative landmark, but a seasoned farmer recently proved that its waters hold more than loose change and wishful thinking. After nearly 900 hours in the valley, a player known as raccafarian shared an unexpected discovery: live fish are now being reeled out of the fountain. The find feels especially strange because the fountain sits in the middle of town rather than in a wild river, lake, or ocean, where anglers normally expect to catch aquatic life.
Fishing in Stardew Valley is famously flexible. Players can cast a line into nearly any body of water, from the ocean docks to mountain lakes and even bubbling lava in the mines. However, not every water source is created equal. Manmade ponds and decorative water features often reward patient anglers with unusual or cosmetic items rather than fish. Previously, the Pelican Town fountain was best known for yielding algae, trash, and a decorative Garbage Can. Some farmers used the fountain as a dependable place to fish up trash, especially when completing cleanup requests. The possibility that it might also contain live fish was not part of that established behavior.
The shift appears to be recent. Nothing in the official 1.6 update notes or later patch notes explicitly mentions adding fish to the fountain. This silence has led players to wonder whether the change was an unlisted tweak or an accidental side effect of the fountain sharing a catch table with another local water source. If it was an accident, a future patch could remove the fish as quietly as they appeared. For now, however, the fountain has become a miniature fishing hole.
Game Rant was able to confirm that a Sunfish can be caught in the fountain on the Nintendo Switch version. Around the community, other players have reported reeling in Smallmouth Bass, Pike, and Rainbow Trout as well. The available species may change with the season, much like natural rivers and lakes in the game. Since Sunfish, Smallmouth Bass, Pike, and Rainbow Trout are normally associated with rivers and lakes rather than small fountains, their presence suggests that the fountain may draw from a broad freshwater pool, possibly the same one used by the Pelican Town river.
| Reported Species | Icon | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Sunfish |  |
Confirmed on Switch |
| Smallmouth Bass |  |
Community report |
| Rainbow Trout |  |
Community report |
| Pike | No icon available | Community report |
The change has one practical drawback. Linus sometimes asks players to clean garbage from the town's waters. Because the fountain previously produced very few fish and a steady stream of trash, it became a popular shortcut for completing that request quickly. Now that fish are mixing into the catch table, the fountain is less reliable for pure trash farming. Farmers who relied on the spot may need to spend a little extra time along the town river or other water bodies to gather enough garbage.
Curious anglers should bring a sturdy rod and a stack of bait, then watch how the bobber behaves across different seasons. As with other water sources, time of day, weather, and season can influence what appears. The fountain's unusual catches offer one more reason for longtime players to revisit early game areas, even after hundreds of hours on the farm. For now, the Pelican Town fountain remains an amusing curiosity and a reminder that Stardew Valley still holds small secrets in familiar spaces. Whether the fish stay permanently or get patched out later, the sight of a Sunfish leaping from a decorative fountain is a memorable addition to the valley's fishing scene in 2026.