Welcome to CodeReview. It's never too early to develop good coding habits, and reviewing your code is about the best way to do so.

First, congratulations on writing a clean, straightforward program. While you do have some issues (below), they're not major, and your program seems appropriate for its level.

Now, for the issues ;-)

Use whitespace

Python requires you to use horizontal whitespace. But you should also use vertical whitespace (aka "blank lines") to organize the different parts of your code into paragraphs.

This huge block:

import time
import random
fishing = True
a = b = c = d = e = 0 #define multiple variables as same thing
print ("~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~")
print ("Welcome to Lake Tocowaga")
print ("~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~")
time.sleep(1)
name = input("What is your name fisherman?")
answer = input("Would you like to go fishing, " + name + "?")
if answer.lower() == "no":
 fishing == False
while fishing == True: 

would read better if it were broken up like so:

import time
import random

fishing = True
a = b = c = d = e = 0 #define multiple variables as same thing

print ("~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~")
print ("Welcome to Lake Tocowaga")
print ("~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~")
time.sleep(1)

name = input("What is your name fisherman?")
answer = input("Would you like to go fishing, " + name + "?")

if answer.lower() == "no":
 fishing == False

while fishing == True: 

All I did was add a few blank lines, but I was trying to show that "these things go together" and "these things are in sequence but not related".

Use meaningful names:

Which one of these is the shark?

a = b = c = d = e = 0

I have no idea. But if you named them appropriately:

cod = shark = wildfish = salmon = nothing = 0

I would know for sure!

Use named constants

This line appears three times:

print ("~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~")

It's probably hard to get the right number of tilde characters, unless you are copy/pasting it. And if you're doing that, it's probably a pain. Instead, create a name for the tildes. By convention, constants are spelled in uppercase. (It's not really a constant, but since constants are spelled in upper case, if you name it in upper case you'll know not to modify it.)

H_LINE = "~" * 32

print(H_LINE)
print("Welcome to Lake Tocowaga")
print(H_LINE)

Put last things last

There's a place for everything. And everything should be in its place. The place for printing a summary would be at the bottom.

You had a good idea with your while fishing: loop. But instead of immediately printing the summary when you respond to the user input, just change the variable and let the loop fail, then print the summary at the bottom. It's more "natural" (and it makes your loops easier to read!).

while fishing == True: 
 time.sleep(1)
 answer = input("Throw out your line, or go home?")
 if answer == "go home":
 fishing = False
 er = float(e / (a + b + c + d))
 print("~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~")
 print("Thanks for playing " + name + "!")
 print("You caught:", str(a), "cod, ", str(b), "salmon, ", str(c), "shark, ", str(d), "wildfish. nEfficiency Rate: ", str(er), ".")
 else:
 ...

Becomes:

while fishing == True: 
 time.sleep(1)
 answer = input("Throw out your line, or go home?")
 if answer == "go home":
 fishing = False
 else:
 ...

er = float(e / (a + b + c + d))
print(H_LINE)
print("Thanks for playing " + name + "!")
print("You caught:", str(a), "cod, ", str(b), "salmon, ", str(c), "shark, ", str(d), "wildfish. nEfficiency Rate: ", str(er), ".")

Let the built-in functions do their job

You are calling functions that you don't need to call. The result of "true" division between integers is a float. You don't need to call float(e / (a + b + c + d)). And if you did need to call it, you'd be calling it too late!

Likewise, print knows how to handle integers and floating point numbers. You don't need to print(..., str(a), ...) when you can just do: print(..., a, ...).

A few simple things.

a = b = c = d = e = 0

This is bad for a couple reasons:

• Those are all nondescript, overly simple names. There's no way to tell what they represent just by looking at them.




• You're shoving their declarations/definitions all on one line. This is generally regarded as poor practice. Say I'm looking for where c is defined. It's much easier to find it when I can be sure that I'm looking for exactly c = ... somewhere. It's harder to find though when it's declared half way through a line.

In both cases, you're sacrificing readability for brevity. Avoid doing this unless you're code golfing. Readability takes precedence over nearly everything else.

fishing = True is the third line in your file, yet you don't use it until later. Unless it's a constant, it's a good idea to declare variables near where they're first used. When someone's reading your code and wants to see the definition of fishing, it's more efficient if they only have to look up a line or two instead of needing to scroll to the top of the file.

while fishing == True: can simply be written as while fishing:.

You actually have a bug. fishing == False should be fishing = False.

if answer.lower() == "no": could be written to be more "tolerant" (but less exact) by only checking the first letter:

if answer.lower().startswith("n"):

Now input like "nope" will work as well. Whether or not you want this behavior is another story though. If you had other answers that require "n" as the first letter, obviously this would break things.

First off I think your use case is a nifty way of getting into Python, and it looks like aside from the bugs that others have already pointed out you'll likely soon be unstoppable.

However, instead of simplifying the code I'd suggest modularizing as well as making use of __doc__ strings. It'll make adding features much easier in the future, and if you so choose, allow for making a full application with Kivy, Blender, or one of the other many GUI frameworks for Python development. Plus modularizing or abstraction allows for simplifying the intentions/usage.

Some notes before diving-in...

• it's probably a good idea to get a snack and drink; I'm a bit verbose and am about to compress some years of knowledge




• __bar__ when spoken is "dunder bar" , and the phylum that they're classified under are "magic methods"




• what I share is not gospel as such, but a collection of tricks I wish someone had shown me when I was getting into Python

... okay back on track.

Here's some example code inspired by yours that shows some of what I was going on about in your question's comments...

#!/usr/bin/env python

import time
import random


print_separator = "".join(['_' for _ in range(9)])
__author__ = "S0AndS0"

#
# Functions
#

def question(message):
 """ Returns response to `message` from user """
 return input("message? ".format(message = message))


#
# Classes
#

class Gone_Fishing(dict):
 """
 Gone_Fishing is a simple simulation inspired by
 [Python - Fishing Simulator](https://codereview.stackexchange.com/q/217357/197446)

 ## Arguments

 - `fishes`, `dict`ionary such as `'cod': 'amount': 0, 'chances': [1, 2]`
 - `min_chance`, `int`eger of min number that `random.randint` may generate
 - `max_chance`, `int`eger of max number that `random.randint` may generate
 """

 def __init__(self, fishes, min_chance = 1, max_chance = 10, **kwargs):
 super(Gone_Fishing, self).__init__(**kwargs)
 self.update(fishes = fishes,
 chances = 'min': min_chance, 'max': max_chance)

 @staticmethod
 def keep_fishing(message, expected):
 """ Return `bool`ean of if `response` to `message` matches `expected` """
 response = question(message)
 if not response or not isinstance(response, str):
 return False

 return response.lower() == expected

 @property
 def dump_cooler(self):
 """
 Returns `score`, a `dict`ionary similar to `'cod': 5, 'tire': 2`,
 after printing and reseting _`amount`s_ caught
 """
 score = 
 for fish, data in self['fishes'].items():
 if data['amount'] > 0:
 score.update(fish: data['amount'])
 if data['amount'] > 1 and data.get('plural'):
 fish = data['plural']

 print("amount fish".format(**
 'fish': fish,
 'amount': data['amount']))

 data['amount'] = 0

 return score

 def catch(self, chance):
 """ Returns `None` or name of `fish` caught based on `chance` """
 caught = []
 for fish, data in self['fishes'].items():
 if chance in data['chances']:
 caught.append(fish)

 return caught

 def main_loop(self):
 """
 Asks questions, adds to _cooler_ anything caught, and prints score when finished
 """
 first = True
 message = 'Go fishing'
 expected = 'yes'
 while self.keep_fishing(message, expected):
 time.sleep(1)
 if first:
 first = False
 message = "Keep fishing"

 chances = random.randint(self['chances']['min'], self['chances']['max'])
 caught = self.catch(chances)
 if caught:
 for fish in caught:
 self['fishes'][fish]['amount'] += 1
 fancy_fish = ' '.join(fish.split('_')).title()
 print("You caught a fish".format(fish = fancy_fish))
 else:
 print("Nothing was caught this time.")

 print("0nThanks for playing".format(print_separator))
 if True in [x['amount'] > 0 for x in self['fishes'].values()]:
 print("You caught")
 self.dump_cooler
 print(print_separator)


if __name__ == '__main__':
 """
 This block of code is not executed during import
 and instead is usually run when a file is executed,
 eg. `python gone_fishing.py`, making it a good
 place for simple unit tests and example usage.
 """
 gone_fishing = Gone_Fishing(
 fishes = 
 'cod': 'amount': 0, 'chances': [1],
 'salmon': 'amount': 0, 'chances': [5],
 'shark': 'amount': 0, 'chances': [9, 10], 'plural': 'sharks',
 'wild_fish': 'amount': 0, 'chances': [7], 'plural': 'wild_fishes',
 'old_shoe': 'amount': 0, 'chances': [10, 15], 'plural': 'old_shoes',
 'tire': 'amount': 0, 'chances': [2, 19], 'plural': 'tires',
 ,
 min_chances = 0,
 max_chances = 20,
 )

 gone_fishing.main_loop()

... okay there's a bit going on up there, so feel free to dissect it's operation by adding breakpoints or print(something) lines.

Here's what output of running the above script may look like

# python gone_fishing.py
Go fishing? 'yes'
You caught a Wild Fish
Keep fishing? 'yes'
Nothing was caught this time.
Keep fishing? 'yes'
You caught a Shark
You caught a Old Shoe
Keep fishing? 'yes'
Nothing was caught this time.
# ... trimmed for brevity
Keep fishing? 'no'
_________
Thanks for playing
You caught
2 sharks
1 tire
2 wild_fishes
1 cod
_________

Taking it from the top print_separator = "".join(['_' for _ in range(9)]) is what I like to use when generating strings of repeating characters because it's easy to make something that outputs _-_-_ via "-".join(['_' for _ in range(3)]).

Note from the future; check the comments of this answer for some swell suggestions from @Izaak van Dongen.

By defining a class that inherits from the built in dictionary class (that's what the class Gone_Fishing(dict): line did), I'm being a bit lazy as this allows for dumping all saved states via...

print(gone_fishing)
# -> 'cod': 'amount': 2, 'chances': [1], ...

... and while I'm on the tangent of getting info back out...

print(gone_fishing.main_loop.__doc__)
# Or
# help(gone_fishing.main_loop)

... will print the previously mentioned __doc__ strings.

... and figuring out where you too can avoid re-inventing the wheel is just something that'll get picked up over time. Personally I choose to view it as expanding one's vocabulary, when I discover some built-in that's been waiting to solve some edge-case.

The __init__ method absorbs three arguments and re-assigns'em with self.update() so that other methods that use the self argument are able to get and/or modify class saved states; more on that latter.

Side note; the __init__ method is one of many that are called implicitly by preforming some action with an object, eg. __add__ is called implicitly by using + between two Objects with a __add__ method (side-side note, I'll get into why that was an a and not an an in a bit), which is why the following works with lists...

list_one = [3, 2, 1]
list_two = [0, -1, -2]

list_one + list_two
# -> [3, 2, 1, 0, -1, -2]

That bit with **kwargs stands for key word arguments which passes things as a bare dictionary, the other syntax you may run across is *args, which passes things as a bare list of arguments; there be some fanciness that can be done with this syntax that I'll not get into at this point other than saying that context matters. However, you'll find some examples of passing an unwrapped dictionary, such as to format via print("amount fish".format(**...)), which hint hint, is a great way of passing variable parameter names.

This is one of those idiomatic things that you can pick-up with some experimentation (and grokking-out others' code bases); it's super powerful so use it often but be kind to your future self too.

The bit with super(Gone_Fishing, self).__init__(**kwargs) is what allows the Gone_Fishing class to call dict's __init__ from within it's own __init__ method... indeed that was a little convoluted so taking a sec to unpack that...

class SomeThing(dict):
 def __init__(self, an_argument = None, **kwargs):
 super(SomeThing, self).__init__(**kwargs)
 self.update('an_argument': an_argument)

... it's possible to call self.update() from within SomeThing.___init__ without causing confusion of intent, where as to have SomeThing still operate as a dictionary, eg. assigning something = SomeThing(spam = 'Spam') without causing errors, one should use super(SomeThing, self).__init__(**kwargs) to allow Python to preform it's voodoo with figuring out which inheriting class'll take responsibility for those arguments.

That does mean that one could do class SomeThing(dict, Iterator), and have that mean something but I'll not get into that here; kinda already covered that specifically on math stack in regards to graph modeling and prioritization.

The @staticmethod and other decorators are ways of denoting a special use method. In the case of propertys they operate similarly to Object properties, eg...

class Test_Obj:
 pass

o = Test_Obj()
o.foo = 'Foo'

print(o.foo)
# -> Foo

... but can only be gotten not set, which makes'em a great place to stash dynamic or semiprivate properties about an Object.

In the case of staticmethods, they're not passed a reference to self so cannot easily access or modify saved states, but they can be more easily used without initializing so operate similarly to regular functions, eg...

responses = []

responses.append(question("Where to"))
print("I heard -> response".format(response = responses[-1]))
for _ in range(7):
 responses.append(question("... are you sure"))
 print("I heard -> response".format(response = responses[-1]))

print("Okay... though...")

Note also the various .format() usages are to show ways of future prepping (for perhaps using f strings in the future), as well as making strings somewhat more explicit.

Generally I use'em to make the intended usage more explicit but that's not to say that you couldn't get lost in the amount of options available just for decorating a method.

Note from the future; as pointed out by @Maarten Fabré I indeed slipped in some superfluous use of the staticmethod decorator, good catch there, and this'll now serve as an example of getting carried away when decorating.

Generally I use staticmethods when I've a class that isn't concerned with it's internal state but isn't large enough to warrant it's own file, very edge case kinda thing, and usually it means that I should probably split'em out into a file that organizes similar functions. Hopefully recent edits now look closer to proper for future readers.

That bit within the main_loop method with while self.keep_fishing(message, expected), when unwrapped I think you'll really like, it's returning True or False at the top of every iteration based on asking the user a question and comparing their response with what's expected.

And the bit with if True in [x['amount'] > 0 for x in self['fishes'].values()] is something that masks data using list comprehensions, I'll advise against getting too fancy with'em, and instead try to utilize'em whenever it doesn't make code less readable. Also don't get to attached to such cleverness because numpy, pandas, or one of the many other libraries, will preform similar tasks far faster.

The things happening bellow the if __name__ == '__main__':, aside from the doc string ...

Side note for those new to Python; sure you could call'em "dunder docs" and those in the know would know what you where saying, but they'd also likely smize at ya too, and saying "dundar doc string" if timed when a listener is drinking could have messy consequences... so "pro-tip", callem "doc strings" to be super classy when talking about Python code ;-)

gone_fishing = Gone_Fishing(fishes = 
 'cod': 'amount': 0, 'chances': [1],
 'salmon': 'amount': 0, 'chances': [2],
 'shark': 'amount': 0, 'chances': [3], 'plural': 'sharks',
 'wild_fish': 'amount': 0, 'chances': [4], 'plural': 'wild_fishes',
 'old_shoe': 'amount': 0, 'chances': [5, 6], 'plural': 'old_shoes',
 'tire': 'amount': 0, 'chances': [7, 8], 'plural': 'tires',
)

... and how the above is parsed could take some words to do a full stack trace, but the gist is that chances is a list that you could even have overlapping integers, eg. a shark who had an old_shoe inside could be...

gone_fishing['fishes']['shark']['chances'].append(5)

... though without adjustments to other values that would make for a very large shoal of soul hungry sharks.

Note from the future; I've made adjustments to the code to enable overlapping values and returning of more than one result; there probably be better ways of doing it but this is also an example of iterative development now.

When you've figured out how plural is an optional key value pair within a nested dictionary you'll start seeing similar things in other code (at least it's one of those things I've not been unable to unsee), try not to get messy with that trick though, otherwise I think it's self-explanatory as to the intentions of it's usage.

The arguments that I didn't assign, min_chance and max_chance, much like the chances with sharks could be updated similarly, eg...

gone_fishing['chances']['max'] = 20

... though initializing a new trip would look like...

another_fishing_trip = Gone_Fishing(
 fishes = 
 'cod': 'amount': 0, 'chances': [1],
 'salmon': 'amount': 0, 'chances': [5],
 'shark': 'amount': 0, 'chances': [9, 10], 'plural': 'sharks',
 'wild_fish': 'amount': 0, 'chances': [7], 'plural': 'wild_fishes',
 'old_shoe': 'amount': 0, 'chances': [10, 15], 'plural': 'old_shoes',
 'tire': 'amount': 0, 'chances': [2, 19], 'plural': 'tires',
 ,
 min_chances = 0,
 max_chances = 20,
)

... which serves as an example of something you'd be wise to avoid doing to your own code, swapping words especially isn't going to win any points from a future self or other developers.

There's certainly more room for improvement, eg. having gone_fishing['fishes'][fish_name]['amount'] subtracted from, while adding to gone_fishing['cooler'] or similar structure; just for a start. But this was all just to expose quick-n-dirty methods of organizing the problem space with Object Oriented Programing.

Hopefully having code with a bit more abstraction shows ya that going with something that looks a bit more complex can allow for simplifying the usage and future feature creep. Please keep us posted if ya make something more out of your learning project.