Stingray in Stardew Valley [Explained]

Fishing might not be the most popular mechanic in Stardew Valley, but it’s still important! You’ll have to perform fishing to unlock specific achievements, complete community center bundles, and end quests!

You can catch many fish during your expeditions, but today I’ll be focusing on a unique species – the Stingray!

Where Can You Find a Stingray?

The Stingray can be found on the Island Southeast and the Pirate Cove. Furthermore, the fish is exclusive to the Ginger Island area and cannot be caught elsewhere. There are no season, weather, or time restrictions for catching a Stingray.

Stingrays are classified as sinkers in the fishing category. Due to them being shy and generally avoiding humans, it can be complicated to hook a Stingray. Repeated tries, however, will eventually lead you to get one on the reel! Catching one of these can net you between 29-41 exp points (depending on the quality). 

Furthermore, this fish species has a difficulty level of 80 – which can make it a bit complex to catch. Don’t worry, though; I’ll give you some general tips on how to go about getting your hands on one of these!

How Do You Catch a Stingray?

Once you’re in the right location for catching a Stingray – you’ll have to play the waiting game. Even though the fish is relatively rare, you should be able to find one without too much fuss. Once you’ve got it on the hook – you’ll have to play the fishing mini-game.

The only problem is that Stingrays can be challenging to catch due to their high level of difficulty and haphazard movement. I recommend using a mouse to catch this one if you use a laptop – doing so will make your life much easier!

The most crucial trick to catching this fish is to attach tackles that increase the weight of your fishing rod. Fishing tackles can help tremendously. Using tackles such as these can massively increase the size of your fishing mini-game bar! 

I recommend using the Cork Bobber and Lead Bobber tackles in particular.

What Can Stingrays Be Used For?

Stingrays have multiple uses – the most basic being consuming them to replenish your stats or selling. There are, however, plenty of other more important uses, such as tailoring, recipes, quests, and the like. I’ll explain each one below!

Gifting

First and foremost, Stingrays can be gifted to the townsfolk to increase your friendship level with them. Even though this is a possible use for the fish, I would discourage you from doing so. Stingrays aren’t good gifting items; most NPCs won’t appreciate receiving one! You can find a complete list of villagers’ reactions to being gifted a Stingray on the official Stardew Valley Wiki.

Additionally, unlike most other fish, Stingrays are not required to complete any Community Center bundles. This might be a disguise blessing, given the high difficulty level and late-game requirements to catch the fish!

Cooking & Tailoring

The second, and much better use of a Stingray, is to utilize it in different cooking recipes and tailoring.

For the former, you prepare 3 main items, namely Maki Roll, Quality Fertilizers, and Sashimi using the fish. In the case of tailoring, Stingrays can be used to create a Sailor Shirt. Additionally, it can also be used to create an Orange Dye, helping you customize your clothing options!

Fish Ponds & Quests

Another vital use you can get out of your Stingrays is to utilize them in Fish Ponds. Initially, you’ll only be able to place 3 Stingrays in the pond, but this capacity can be further increased to 10! The fish will reproduce every 4 days, ensuring a generous population of them to be on hand at all times.

You can receive Dark Brown Stingray Roe, Battery Pack, Dragon Tooth, Cinder Shards, and Magma Caps from a Stingray Fish Pond.

One last use the fish can have is to be ordered in a request posted on the Special Orders board outside Mayor Lewis’s house. This possibility will be open to you once you’ve unlocked Ginger Island, as it’s part of the Tropical Fish quest line!