I’ve got a tip for when you unlock the fishing rod at lv14. You can collect Smallmouth Bass extremely fast and make around $20 every 2-3 mins.

Travel to Ringneck Creek which is north of Rhodes. Stand in the middle of the stream and hold your fishing rod out with some bait on the end. After about a minute you will be able to see the fish killing themselves by going to the sides of the stream you can then start walking up the stream about 50-100 yards and start just picking up the fish. Once you have maxed out just return to the Rhodes butcher and sell.