How to Fish Game Walkthrough

You just crashed on the lighthouse island with nothing but a dream and a pair of fists. The game doesn't tell you the first thing to do. Most players die twice before they figure out how to sell a fish. The guide walks you through the first-hour loop: grab clams from the shore, sell them to an NPC, buy a rod, then a cheap gun. From there, clear the lighthouse, beat the Spider Crab, and get off the island. It covers every control, every NPC, and every mistake that costs you an hour. Read the full walkthrough →

Money is the gate to everything — rods, guns, boat keys, engine upgrades — and the early game is brutally tight. You can't even buy a knife until you've sold a few fish. This section explains the sell loop (haul fish onto land, kill it, press Q into an NPC mouth), how Killscore pricing works, and which fish give the best return per minute. Mid-game, the Desert grill becomes your best friend. No fake price tables — every number is sourced from community playtesting against Patch 1.0.10. Jump to the money section →

When you host a lobby, the game asks you to pick Easy or Hard — and then gives you zero explanation of what changes. No stats screen, no tooltip. The community has tested both modes extensively. Easy reduces enemy damage and makes boss fights more forgiving. Hard is the intended experience, and most public lobbies run Hard. The real trap is accidentally locking your lobby to single-player when you meant to host a co-op session. We flag the setting to check before you launch. See the full comparison →

Every species in the game, organized by island, with the bait or lure that triggers each spawn. The table covers Lighthouse trash fish all the way to Volcano legendaries. Each row tells you which island, which water body, and what the community has confirmed works. Empty cells are marked unverified — we don't fill gaps with guesses. If you're stuck on "where is the fish I need for the next boss bait," start here. The Forest and Desert sections are the most complete; Volcano data is still being gathered. See all fish locations →

The Giant Piranha boss requires three leeches as summon bait, and the game gives you zero hints about where they spawn. Leeches are ground pickups in the Forest — they look like small dark slugs, easy to miss in the grass. They don't respawn fast, so if someone in your lobby already grabbed them, you're out of luck until the next session. Community sources disagree on whether there are exactly 3 or up to 5 per map. We flag both counts and show the exact search area on the Forest map. Find the leeches →

Not every fish is just a walking price tag. Some are mini-bosses that only spawn under specific conditions; others are story-gated legendaries you can't encounter until you've beaten the previous boss. This section separates the rare spawns from the boss-fight fish, with notes on what triggers each one. The spawn-rate data is community-sourced and not yet complete — we mark unverified rows clearly. If you're hunting for the 360 No Scope achievement or just want to see every species the game has, this is your checklist. Browse rare fish →

A full price table would be nice — but prices shift with Killscore and the game's economy system, and no community source has published a verified complete list yet. What we do have: the early-game sell loop that gets you from zero to a rod and gun, the mid-game fish that give the best gold-per-minute, and the Desert grill shortcut that turns trash fish into real money. If you're grinding for the next weapon upgrade, this section tells you which fish to target and which to ignore. See the sell strategy →

Bosses gate every island unlock. You can't reach the Forest without beating the Spider Crab, and you can't reach the Desert without beating the Giant Piranha. Each boss requires specific summon bait, and that bait usually comes from the previous island. This section lays out the full unlock chain — which boss, which bait, which island it unlocks, and the community-recommended gear for each fight. The order is fixed, so knowing what's coming next saves you from farming the wrong fish. See the boss order →

The Pufferfish is the wall where most players quit. It inflates into a damage-sponge, it hits hard, and the summon combo — Needlefish → tourist → carrot — is the most obscure bait chain in the game. Patch 1.0.4 officially nerfed it after community complaints, but it's still the hardest fight in the first three islands. This guide walks through the bait chain step by step, the gear you need, and the positioning trick that keeps you alive during the inflate phase. Beat the Pufferfish →

Every boss fight in one place, with the community gear ladder: what weapon to bring, what rod to use, and what armor or consumables make the fight survivable. This is not a hit-point table — the game doesn't expose HP values, and we don't publish guesses. Instead, it's a practical strategy guide organized by boss, with the tactics that consistently work for solo players and co-op teams. If you're stuck on a specific boss, start here and then jump to the full page for that fight. See all boss strategies →

Five islands, five boss trophies, one fixed order. The game never names the islands — the community named them: Lighthouse, Forest, Desert, Rocks, Volcano. Each island has its own fish species, its own boss, and its own NPCs. This table shows what's on each island, which boss trophy you need to leave, and what you unlock next. If you're stuck wondering "is there more after this island," the answer is yes — and this page tells you exactly what's ahead. See all islands →

The route is fixed: Lighthouse → Forest → Desert → Rocks → Volcano. You can't skip ahead, and you can't return to a previous island without starting a new session. Each transition requires you to beat the island's boss and turn in its trophy. This section breaks down what you need before each departure — the gear check, the bait prep, and the NPCs you should talk to before you leave. Patch 1.0.5 fixed a bug that let players travel to locked islands, so the order is now enforced. See the full route →

The grill, the casino, the radar station — none of these are marked on any in-game map. Players find them by accident or by word of mouth. The FAQ on the Islands page tells you which island each secret is on, but exact map pins are still being verified by the community. If you're looking for the Desert grill to cook fish for better prices, or the radar to track rare spawns, this section points you to the right island and the general area. Find the secrets →

How to Fish is a co-op game at its core, but the multiplayer setup isn't obvious. You host a session from the main menu, then invite friends through the Steam Overlay — there's no in-game friends list. Voice chat doesn't exist in-game either; the community runs on Discord and Steam Voice. This section covers lobby settings, player limits (Steam says 1–4, Patch 1.0.4 raised it to 8), and the difference between public and private lobbies. Set up co-op →

"Create Session" button grayed out? Friends can't see your lobby? These are the most common multiplayer bugs, and they almost always trace back to Steam Overlay settings, private lobby toggles, or patch version mismatches. The troubleshooting section covers each error, the fix, and which patch notes introduced which changes. If you're hosting and nobody can join, start with the overlay check — it's the culprit 90% of the time. Troubleshoot multiplayer →

The save system changed in Patch 1.0.6, and the Steam forums are full of outdated advice. The game now autosaves when you quit, and there's a manual save option in the menu. You don't need to mess with save folders or config files. The real risk is losing items when you log out mid-session on someone else's server — your inventory is tied to the lobby, not your account. This section explains exactly when the game saves, what carries over, and what doesn't. Understand the save system →

28 Steam achievements, from the straightforward ("Leave the Lighthouse") to the infamous "360 No Scope" — a community puzzle that requires specific gear, a specific fish, and a specific angle. The notes here are community-cited, not datamined, so some details are still unconfirmed. The achievement list is complete but the unlock conditions for the hardest ones are still being refined. Start here, then check the full achievements page for the latest updates. Hunt achievements →

Dazed Games patches fast — the game went from 1.0.4 to 1.0.10 in under two weeks. Each patch changes something: boss nerfs, lobby limits, save behavior, island bugs. The patch notes page pulls Steam news facts and organizes them by version, with community notes on what each change actually means for your playthrough. If a guide on this site says something that contradicts your experience, check here first — it might have been patched. Read the latest patch notes →