The Fisch Anniversary Update has arrived, and there is a lot more going on than simply catching a few limited-time fish. The event adds Anniversary Pools, exclusive anniversary species, a full candle-reward progression, a new Anniversary Totem, the Cake Cruiser, and the highly anticipated Birthday Candle Rod.
The event starts at Moosewood, where you’ll find the giant anniversary cake and the NPC explaining how everything works. The interesting part is that there isn’t a traditional questline telling you exactly what to do, so it can be easy to miss how the event actually works.
In this guide, I’ll walk you through the entire Fisch Anniversary Event, including how Anniversary Pools work, which fish you need to find, how the candle rewards work, how to get the Birthday Candle Rod, and the important limited-time fish you don’t want to miss.
Start the Anniversary Event at Moosewood
Your first stop should be Moosewood.
Head toward the giant Birthday Cake and interact with the NPC outside. The NPC explains the basic idea behind the event: whenever you catch one of the limited anniversary fish, you can throw it into the cake icing fountain.
The icing pool is located inside the Birthday Cake.
You don’t need to complete a traditional quest to start the event. Instead, your progress is based on catching the required anniversary species and submitting them to the cake.
Once you submit a qualifying fish, one of the candles on the cake will light up and you’ll unlock the corresponding reward.
How Anniversary Pools Work
Anniversary Pools are one of the most important parts of this event.
A notification will appear at the top of your screen whenever an Anniversary Pool spawns, telling you its location.
The pools can appear at:
- Castaway Cliffs
- Forsaken Shores
- Roslit Bay
- Snowcap Island
The pools spawn once every hour and remain available for approximately 15 minutes.
That means you need to pay attention to the notification because you have a limited window to reach the pool and start fishing.
What Can You Catch in Anniversary Pools?
The Anniversary Pools contain several special anniversary species.
Some of the notable catches include:
- Birthday Floppy
- Rubber Ducky
- Colossal Squid
- Birthday Leviathan
You’ll also catch other normal fish while fishing inside the pools, so don’t be surprised if every catch isn’t an anniversary species.
The important thing is to keep checking your Bestiary and look for the anniversary species you still need for the cake progression.
Anniversary Fish Are Split Between Pools and Global Fishing
One detail that can easily confuse you is that not every anniversary fish comes from the Anniversary Pools.
The event has a mixture of pool-exclusive fish and globally obtainable fish.
When a fish is still locked in your Bestiary, its description can tell you where you need to look.
Some will say that they are obtainable inside Anniversary Pools, while others will be marked as Globally Obtainable.
So, if you’ve been fishing in Anniversary Pools for a long time and still can’t find a particular species, check its Bestiary description.
It may be one of the fish that can be caught through normal fishing instead.
The Special Anniversary Leviathan
There are two different Leviathan-related entries connected to the anniversary event.
One is listed as being obtainable during Fisch’s Second Anniversary inside Anniversary Pools.
The other is described as being obtainable specifically at the end of Fisch’s Second Anniversary, also through the Anniversary Pools.
This is an important distinction because the second one is tied to the end of the anniversary celebration.
The event’s timing is connected to Fisch’s original release date, which was October 5 at 2:00 PM Eastern Time.
If you’re trying to collect everything, make sure you check the Anniversary Pools around that time because the limited fish may only be available during that specific period.
How the Birthday Cake Progression Works
Once you’ve caught an anniversary fish, take it back to the Birthday Cake in Moosewood.
Enter the cake and throw the fish into the icing pool.
If it is a species you haven’t submitted before, you’ll light another candle.
There are 11 candles to complete before you reach the final reward.
The important rule is that submitting the same species again does not light another candle.
You can still receive things such as Cupcake Bait for duplicate submissions, but you need a different species to advance your candle progression.
All Anniversary Candle Rewards
Each candle gives you another reward as you progress through the event.
Candle 1
Your first candle rewards you with:
- Birthday Title
- Cupcake Bait
The Cupcake Bait is particularly useful because several anniversary fish prefer it.
Candle 2
The second candle gives you additional Cupcake Bait and unlocks the Cupcake Bobber.
The bobber is purely cosmetic and has a cupcake design.
Candle 3
After turning in three unique anniversary fish, you’ll receive the Lit Candle Lantern.
It’s essentially a cake-themed lantern with a lit candle on top.
Candle 4
The fourth candle rewards you with the Fish Cake.
It’s mainly a fun cosmetic item that you can interact with.
Candle 5
This is where the rewards become much more useful.
The fifth candle gives you the Anniversary Totem.
The Anniversary Totem allows you to manually summon an Anniversary Pool during the Fisch Second Anniversary.
This can be extremely useful because the normal pools only appear once per hour.
However, timing is important.
If an Anniversary Pool is already active, using the totem won’t simply give you another pool at the same time. You’ll want to use it strategically when you’re ready to fish and there isn’t already a pool active.
Candle 6
The sixth candle gives you Birthday Cake Furniture.
This is mainly useful for players who enjoy decorating their aquarium.
Candle 7
The seventh candle unlocks the Anniversary Popper Bobber.
It’s another cosmetic bobber with an anniversary theme.
Candle 8
The eighth candle rewards you with the Party Hat Lantern.
As the name suggests, it’s another anniversary-themed lantern.
Candle 9
The ninth candle gives you the Cake Cruiser.
This is one of the more exciting rewards from the event because it gives you a completely new themed boat.
The Cake Cruiser has:
- 185.50 speed
- 0.2 acceleration
- 185.50 steering
It also comes with a large cake design, fireworks, and additional visual effects that make it stand out compared to the usual event boats.
Candle 10
The tenth candle unlocks the Birthday Cake Halo.
The halo is designed around the Fisch anniversary theme and includes a cake-inspired appearance.
Candle 11
The final candle is the big one.
Once you’ve completed the required progression, you’ll be able to obtain the Birthday Candle Rod.
How to Get the Birthday Candle Rod
The Birthday Candle Rod is the main reward at the end of the anniversary progression.
To unlock it, you need to complete the candle progression by submitting enough unique anniversary fish into the icing pool.
Remember, duplicate species don’t count toward lighting additional candles.
You’ll need to keep searching for species you haven’t already submitted.
Once you’ve completed the final candle, the Birthday Candle Rod becomes available.
Birthday Candle Rod Stats
The Birthday Candle Rod has the following stats:
- Lure Speed: 60%
- Luck: 105%
- Control: 0
- Resilience: 35%
- Max Kg: 500,000
When equipped, the rod has a unique appearance that places the candle on top of your character’s head.
Once you actually pull it out, it functions like a normal fishing rod.
Birthday Candle Rod Passive
The Birthday Candle Rod also has a special passive.
Whenever you catch a fish using the rod, the candle on the rod gradually lights up.
You need a total of five catches to fully light the candle.
If you make a perfect catch, it counts for double progress, allowing you to fill the candle faster.
Once the candle is fully lit, another part of the passive activates while you’re fishing.
Burning Fish With the Birthday Candle Rod
When the candle is fully lit and you have a fish inside your control bar, the candle can burn the fish for a minimum of three seconds at a time.
This is one of the main unique mechanics of the rod and gives it a special effect that you won’t get from ordinary fishing rods.
Birthday Candle Mutation
The Birthday Candle Rod is also connected to a special Birthday Candle Mutation.
There is a 26% chance for a caught fish to receive the Birthday Candle Mutation.
Whenever you catch a fish with this mutation, a cake drops down during the fishing process.
The cake provides a significant amount of progress to the candle, adding roughly 65% progress to the bar.
So, once you have the Birthday Candle Rod, catching fish with this mutation can help you charge the candle much faster.
Why Cupcake Bait Matters
Throughout the anniversary progression, you’ll receive Cupcake Bait.
Don’t ignore it.
Several of the anniversary fish prefer Cupcake Bait, making it particularly useful when you’re trying to target the event species.
Using the preferred bait can help you focus your fishing on the fish you’re actually trying to collect instead of filling your catches with unrelated species.
Anniversary Event Progression Tips
The biggest thing to remember is that you should always check which species you have already submitted.
If you throw the same fish into the icing pool again, you’ll receive the smaller rewards such as bait, but you won’t light another candle.
I recommend checking your Bestiary frequently and looking at the availability information for every locked fish.
If it says Anniversary Pool, wait for a pool to spawn.
If it says Globally Obtainable, you can continue fishing normally instead of waiting for the hourly event.
Use the Anniversary Totem Carefully
Once you’ve reached the fifth candle, you’ll have access to the Anniversary Totem.
Don’t immediately use it without thinking about the timing.
Anniversary Pools already spawn every hour, so using your totem just before a natural pool appears can be inefficient.
Instead, keep track of the current pool timer and use the totem when you actually need another opportunity to fish.
Don’t Miss the Limited Fish
Some of the anniversary fish are tied to specific periods of the event.
The special fish connected to the end of the anniversary is particularly important because it may disappear once the event period is over.
The anniversary’s original-release timing is October 5 at 2:00 PM Eastern Time, so players looking to collect everything should make sure they’re online around that period.
Final Thoughts
The Fisch Anniversary Event is much more than a simple limited-time fishing activity. You have hourly Anniversary Pools, globally obtainable event fish, unique candle progression, several cosmetic rewards, the Anniversary Totem, the Cake Cruiser, and finally the Birthday Candle Rod.
If you’re starting the event now, I’d begin at Moosewood, check the Birthday Cake, and then work through the anniversary fish one unique species at a time.
Pay attention to the Bestiary because it tells you whether a fish comes from an Anniversary Pool or can be caught globally. Once you’ve collected enough unique species, return them to the icing pool and keep lighting the candles.
The biggest reward is the Birthday Candle Rod, but the Cake Cruiser and Anniversary Totem are also worth working toward. And if you’re trying to complete the entire event collection, don’t forget to check the special timing around October 5 at 2:00 PM EST for the limited anniversary content.