Fishing Trawler

This article is about the minigame. For the music track, see Trawler (music track).

Items Kept on Death icon This is a safe minigame. If you die here, you will not lose your items.

Players participating in Fishing Trawler.

Fishing Trawler is a fishing minigame run by Murphy that players can play at Port Khazard. Players need a minimum of level 15 fishing to participate. Players board a trawler boat and work as a team to prevent the boat from sinking as they are sailed for 12 minutes around the sea. It can be overwhelming for a single player, so it is recommended to bring friends, a clan, or other experienced fishers. Fishing Trawler was released 28 July 2003. Currently, world 116 is the Runescape designated Trawler world.

Travel

• Both Ardougne teleport and Watchtower Teleport spells will get players relatively close to Port Khazard.
• Fairy Ring code DJP is just north of Port Khazard.
• The Charter Ship has a stop in Port Khazard.
• The Lunar spell Khazard Teleport will take you directly to Port Khazard.
• If you have completed Tree Gnome Village, you can use the Spirit Tree in Khazard Battlefield.
• Lady of the Waves will take you to Port Khazard from south-western Karamja for a small cost.
• The Ring of duelling can take you to Castle Wars which is close, if you do not have a high Magic or enough money.
• With 40 Magic or a Teleport to house tab, players may teleport to their house in Yanille (Need to talk to House Estate Agent to move house, require 50 Construction). It is fairly close to the Trawler.
• All 4 types of the Ardougne Cloak can teleport to the monastery, and Port Khazard is just a short run to the south.

Playing the game

The rules.

A player swimming after failing in the Fishing Trawler.

Players will need to repair leaks in the sides of the boat with swamp paste and the fishing nets with rope when they get torn. It is recommended that each player brings about 150 swamp paste, 10 ropes, and a bailing bucket depending on the size of the team. Larger teams will experience far more leaks and torn nets than smaller teams, although it can be very advantageous to have a player stationed at each leak spot and several extra players to bail or fix the net.

All the needed items are available in the Port Khazard General Store. It should be noted that it is not possible to carry a pet onboard the fishing trawler, regardless of whether the pet is in your inventory or dropped on the ground. A message will appear saying, "What if it were to fall in the sea?", if you attempt to board the fishing trawler with a pet.

Successful teams will be returned to the Port Khazard dock where they can inspect the trawler net for a reward of any saltwater fish they are able to catch up to theirfishing level. This is the only way for high level fishers to obtain manta rays and sea turtles. A deposit box just south of the net facilitates return of a player's catch to the bank. When examining the net for your catch, another update now permits you to drag and drop the fish/items caught directly into the deposit box icon within the net screen. This saves time and permits you to rapidly return for the next boat out. It is possible to make upwards of 350k coins per hour at 81+ fishing.

A player fixes the net.

Note: If a player is below level 76 fishing (can't catch Sharks), both the rewards and the experience are extremely low. Experience, at level 75, will average between 1-2K per run and the typical catch will consist of 10-14 swordfish with a few additional lobsters and tuna. You won't make decent money/hour until level 79 (Sea turtles) and then good money begins at 81 (Manta rays).

The amount of Fishing experience a player gains on a successful trip on the trawler ship is equal to 40 percent of their total catch's experience value if gained from normal fishing. For example, each Swordfish caught will give 40 experience rather than the normal 100. Experience is given when the trip ends, regardless of what items are dumped from the net.

Unsuccessful teams will find themselves swimming above a sinking ship after the ship fills with water. They must climb onto a barrel in order to be returned to the shore north of Port Khazard.

The 9 (10) Person System

The Fishing Trawler can efficiently be run with just 9 people (or with an optional tenth.) To use this method you need 8 people to bail and patch the holes and one (or an optional second) to fix the net.

In this minigame if you are patching holes on the north side of the boat, you can patch the hole one square east without moving, and on the south side you can do the same to the hole one square west of you. So to use this method effectively you need everyone bailing and patching to have one space between them, and they should cover the hole they're touching and the one that's on their east/west side (depending on if they're on the north or south).

The net repairmen should just stand at the top of the boat fixing the net as needed. The most useful inventory to bring for this is 25 ropes, plenty of swamp paste, one bailing bucket, and coins to buy supplies between trips.

Everyone should bring both paste and ropes, since a person bailing and patching, or net repairman may run out of supplies for one job, you can just switch jobs with them.

Since the activity bar update, it may be necessary for the net repairman to sometimes bail and patch holes. It is fine to do this, just make sure you watch for the message "The net has ripped!" This method can also be used with 8 people, if the person patching the two most north-western holes repairs the nets when needed.

The 5 Person System

The Fishing Trawler can be completed successfully with only five people. Although fewer fish will be caught, it can still be done.

To do this, there should be two people filling in holes. One person should cover the holes on the North side of the ship; the other should cover the South. The rest of the crew should keep bailing as much as possible. One of the people bailing should stand near the ladder with a lot of rope. He should be the person who fixes the net when necessary and he can bail when the net is ok. If more than five people come, this system can still be used, simply with more bailing. More than 2 people filling in holes are rarely needed, as it is more helpful to bail.

Rewards

The Trawler Catch, where players receives their reward.

Depending on fishing levels, the trawler will reward players with raw fish, some of which can only be obtained through the minigame.

• Raw tuna
• Raw lobster
• Raw swordfish
• Raw shark
• Raw sea turtle
• Raw manta ray
• Raw tiger shark

In addition, players may also receive some 'junk' items:

• Buttons
• Broken staff
• Broken arrow
• Broken armour
• Smashed glass
• Old boot
• Empty pot

On occasion, player may come across rarer, untradeable items:

• Shimmering shell, which offers extra fishing experience upon a successful trawl to ten people, including yourself, which favors clanmates over strangers.
• Glistening shell, which also offers extra fishing experience upon a successful trawl, but for just yourself.
• Shark tooth, a rare item that requires 5 of such to create a Shark's tooth necklace.

Players are also awarded Fishing experience upon completion of a successful trawl.

Tips

Bring the following:

• 100-200 swamp paste per game
• 5-10 rope per game
• 5-10 bailing bucket (if on world 116)
• 10+ bailing buckets (if on a world other than 116)

Do the following:

Bring 5 ropes in reserve, even if you do not intend on fixing the net. Spending 10 minutes and losing the catch because there were not enough ropes on board would be a shame.

Bailing is more effective at clearing out water. An inventory with 5 ropes, 100+ paste, and the rest of the spaces filled with bailing buckets is the best way to go.

• Try to stay on one side of the boat, and plug any leaks that are in your proximity. If there are no leaks, bail. Do not try to run to the other side of the boat to plug a leak. This wastes swamp paste because if another person beats you to the leak, you both use swamp paste.
• Don't try to raise the activity bar by fixing the net, it does not happen frequently and other people will beat you to it! So fill holes instead.

Trivia

• For a long time, work was not necessary on the Trawler. Many players were unhappy that work was not necessary to get rewards. As long as they were on a boat that did not sink, a player received fish. These people were known as freeloaders or lords (due to the fact many called workers "serfs" or "peasants"). Freeloading has been removed with the addition of an Activity Bar that boots you out if you do not work. They are similar in concept to 500 Hitters in the Pest Control minigame.
• On 16 June 2009, an activity bar was placed to battle freeloaders, similar to Soul Wars. This has had mixed reviews. Many are happy about the ending of Freeloading, but many are dissatisfied about how quickly the activity bar depletes. This leads to what many describe as a race to fill holes and bail as not to be kicked off. Many other players are unhappy because they normally only bailed, now the activity bar depletes before they can bail enough to stay on. Some believe the activity bar depletes quickly because Jagex wanted to turn the Fishing Trawler into more of a competitive minigame and less of a teamwork minigame. Players have also criticised the bar as kicking off innocent players on crowded boats who cannot find any work to do due to the large amount of people.
• During an update, the Trawler minigame was updated to stop people from using High Level Alchemy and Humidify during the game.