Dredge: How to fish for Aberrations? Dredge guide, tips
While fishing, you will have the opportunity to come across mutated specimens of common species. On this page of the guide we explain how to catch Abberations. You will also learn how to identify fisheries with Aberrant Fish and how to use Atrophy and Mixed Bait skills.
Last update: 24 April 2023
This page is dedicated to Aberrations, distorted variants of regular fish. They're much more valuable than ordinary specimens, and are thus worth recognizing and searching for. We've listed three methods on how to catch Aberrant Fishes.
Regular fishing
Aberrations can be caught with a fishing rod, just like regular fish. Of course, you still need the right equipment to do so. Aberrant fishing spots can be distinguished by a colorful light above them.
When you see a place like this, complete the fishing minigame and one of the fish you get should be Aberrant. If this is the first Aberration you've caught, it should also cause a corresponding entry to appear in the Encyclopedia.
Atrophy skill
The Atrophy skill isn't available right away. To get it, you must find a relic, the Shimmering Necklace, and bring it to the Collector. You'll find the walkthrough of how to do so on the page The Bitter End.
The Atrophy skill greatly speeds up the fishing process. Using it automatically catches all the fish from the nearest fishing spot. If you use Atrophy on a glowing fishing spot, you're guaranteed to catch an Aberrant Fish. The chance is still very high even when using it on a regular spot.
To activate Atrophy you must select it from the radial menu (E on the PC, L1 on the PS, LB on the Xbox) and use it. Keep in mind the ability has a fairly long cooldown, so you'll need to wait a few hours after every use.
Unfortunately, the fish caught in this way may be in bad condition (Rotten or Infected) which slightly reduces the profit from selling them.
Using Mixed Bait
You'll unlock Mixed Bait after completing The Bitter End quest, late into the game.
You can craft Mixed Bait at the Airman, in the Camp dock, in the Twisted Strand region. We've pictured the exact location above.
Deliver two fish of any kind to him to receive the same number of bait buckets. Move the Mixed Bait to the cargo hold.
Swim to the place where you want to start fishing, select the Bait from the radial menu and scatter it. This spawns a fishing spot with locally occuring species. There's a chance you can fish out an Aberration from here.
We recommend using Atrophy at this point, as the fishing spot you've created may include several different species, meaning more types of Aberrations at once.
Checking missing Aberrations
If you're curious which species you're still missing, check the Encyclopedia. Press the L key (PC) or Down on the D-Pad (PS and Xbox).
At the bottom of the fish's description there's a small note informing you whether or not you've already caught this species' Aberrant variant. This knowledge comes in handy if you plan on catching every single fish in the game.
Crabs don't have Aberrant forms, so you won't find their Aberration notes in the Encyclopedia.