The Sinking Lure is an optional item you can find in The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time remake, but the conditions for finding it are a little confusing. The lure itself isn’t necessary for beating the game, and you can’t even leave the fishing pond with it, so don’t fret if this is something you’re stuck on.
Below, we explain where to find the Sinking Lure in the Ocarina of Time remake, as well as what you can use the lure on.
Where to get the Sinking Lure in Zelda Ocarina of Time
Being honest, the conditions for getting the Sinking Lure to show up are a little confusing. We’ve explained our experiences across three different save files below.
For one, you may need to win the big prize in at least one time period. As young Link, you’ll need to catch a that is at least 50 cm long to win the Piece of Heart, or as adult Link, you’ll need to catch a fish that is at least 60 cm long to win the Golden Scale. We had a save file that had the Golden Scale but no Piece of Heart, and were able to find the Sinking Lure as young Link. Similarly, we have a save file where we have the Piece of Heart, but no Golden Scale, and we were able to find the lure as adult Link.
Additionally, the lure will actually only show up after you pay the Fishing-Pond Man the rupees and rent the rod. In our tests, he says something about the lure (either being against the rules or that it keeps showing up in his pond), whenever the lure does appear.
There are a few places it can spawn: by the smaller waterfall pouring into a stone fountain on the north side of the lake, at the larger waterfall on the south side of the lake, or by debris inside the pond.
We also noticed that when testing things out for this guide, if you leave the area and then immediately come back, the Sinking Lure will not show up again until you fully leave the map and come back. For example, we ran in and out of the shop a few times to try to find the various spawn locations, but the Sinking Lure never showed up again until we warped to the Temple of Time and hoofed it back to the fishing pond. When we returned, we found the Sinking Lure again right away.
What to use the Sinking Lure on in Zelda Ocarina of Time
Well, as the Fishing-Pond Man warns you, if you use the Sinking Lure on any of the regular bass in the pond, he will not give you a reward, with one exception. If you manage to actually catch the Hylian loach at the bottom of the pond, he’ll give you 50 rupees.
The Sinking Lure makes catching fish much easier, except for the loach. However, the Sinking Lure does make it a bit easier to hook the loach, because they spend a majority of their time underwater. The Hylian loach will require a lot of patience to catch, as it jumps out of the water and changes directions a lot, and it just takes longer to reel in. That being said, catching the Hylian loach is mainly for clout, as you don’t earn anything outside the purple rupee for nabbing it.
The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time remake is a little bit different than the original game, so if you need guides to help you through, we don’t blame you. We have walkthroughs for all the dungeons, from the Deku Tree to Ganondorf’s Castle. We also have guides for the sillier, in-between parts of the game, like when you have to find Richard (the dog) or Cuccos.
For those going for 100% completion, we also have guides on where to find every Piece of Heart, every Gold Skulltula token, and where to plant every Magic Bean.