Welcome to one of the craziest games that has ever been made about fishing. You crash your boat while drinking, wash up on a rock with zero gear and the only way home is to become a psychopath who murders fish with guns, punches, dynamite and pure spite.
This guide covers every step from the moment you spawn to the second you throw a whale into a volcano and sail home. I hope you find everything you want here.
How to Fish Guide:
The Absolute Basics: Learn These or Starve
Here are the basics for those who just started the game. Skip it if you already know the basics:
- Movement and Interaction: Press E to talk/interact/buy. Q to throw stuff into NPC mouths (this is how you sell and give quest items). F to inspect anything you’re holding (shows value and if it’s a quest item). Tab opens your collection book.
- Fishing: Equip rod → look at water → right-click to cast → left-click to reel when something bites → right-click again to drop it on land. Then press X to unequip the rod and start punching or shooting the poor thing.
- Eating: Hold left-click while holding any creature. You will starve constantly. Eat early, eat often.
- Inventory: Very limited at first. Buy extra slots ASAP. Dropped items stay on the ground (until a seagull or the ocean claims them).
That’s the core loop: Catch, Murder, Sell, Buy better murder tools, Repeat on harder islands.
Weapons Progression: From Fists to Fully Automatic
Weapons and Guns are a main part of the gameplay. Learn how they work and how you can use them best so the game will be yours!
You actually start with nothing but your sad little hands. Here’s the real order that actually works:
- Bare hands to Brass Knuckles: Your first real upgrade. Knuckles roughly double your punch damage and look ridiculous. Buy them the second you can afford them on the starter island. They’re fast and don’t need ammo. You’ll still use them late-game for the “kill final boss with bare hands” achievement (just chip the whale down with guns first, then finish with fists).
- Knife: Bigger damage per hit than knuckles, but slower. Sharpen it at the little stations (they look like anvils or workbenches). Each island has a damage cap, so max it out before you leave. Great for finishing low-health fish without wasting ammo.
- Pistol: Your first real gun. Cheap and reliable. Upgrade the bullet damage every single time the option appears. This is what lets you comfortably handle the giant piranha and early mini-bosses. Headshots and 360 no-scopes start becoming possible here.
- Shotgun: I believe that this gun is actually the “delete everything in front of you” button. Amazing for groups of small aggressive fish (piranha packs, etc.) and for knocking big fish away from you. Pellet spread means you don’t need perfect aim. Still upgrade the damage. I myself main this until I get the SMG.
- SMG: The SMG makes the How to Fish game MUCH easier for most players. High fire rate and fantastic for melting bosses while you strafe. Recoil can be spicy at first, anyway compensator or suppressor helps a lot. This is the gun most people use for the pufferfish and bird.
- Sniper Rifle: I don’t care about how and why other guns can be the best choice, I’m a sniper guy! Big single-shot damage and perfect for trick-shot multipliers (360 no-scopes print money). Great for the bird boss and for picking off high-value fish from a safe distance. You don’t need the big sniper scope for most fights. Red-dot or even iron sights are fine. Laser sight is still nice.
- Assault Rifle: The final form. Highest sustained DPS in the game once fully upgraded. This is what you bring to the magma whale. Attach everything you can and never look back.
- Dynamite: Funny as hell. Throw it in the water and it can kill or heavily damage groups of fish. Also great for accidentally blowing yourself up. Inconsistent for bosses because of the throw arc and fuse, but amazing for clearing lagoon trash or flexing.
Island 1: The Starter Rock
The first island is a kind of How to Fish guide itself. You spawn next to a crashed boat and a lighthouse. Grab the free clams on the ground. Eat one, sell the rest to the shopkeeper for your first dollars.
Buy the crab fishing rod. Cast into the water. You’ll pull up brown crabs, shrimp, and the occasional lobster. Drop them, punch them to death, sell them.
Hot dogs are bait, they attract slightly better fish. Brass knuckles and the knife are your first real weapons. Sharpen the knife on the little station when you can.
The first real quest: Talk to the lighthouse guy. A long-legged spider crab keeps stealing his beer. Buy a beer, give it to him (he empties it), then use the empty can as bait. The spider crab boss spawns. Kill it, grab its body and hand it to the guy. He gives you the boat keys then.
There’s a Radar next to him which many players miss at first. I’ve marked it on the picture below. Just take it and sail toward the next blip. Congrats, you just left tutorial island.
How to Defeat Spider Crab
Spider Crab is Fast, hits hard, occasionally stuns itself after big attacks and tries to drag you into the water. Strategy?
Have at least brass knuckles or a sharpened knife. Kite it around the rocks and dock. When it stuns itself, wail on it.
Don’t get greedy, one or two hits then back off. If it drags you toward the water, jump or run uphill immediately.
Island 2: Leeches & the Giant Piranha
New shop, new NPCs are here. The girl wants a “big yummy fish” for her dad but isn’t allowed guns. Collect the five leeches crawling on the ground (they are small ground pick-ups, not fish you catch) and give them to her, she turns them into special bait.
Meanwhile, grind. Use the better rod and beginner lure. You’ll start seeing pikes, salmon, sunfish, etc. Buy the pistol as soon as you can, then the shotgun. Upgrade bullet damage whenever possible. Beginner boss lures let you re-summon mini-bosses (old pike is great money).
When you’re ready, use the leech bait. The giant piranha spawns with a bunch of smaller angry friends. Kill this boss and hand the meat chunk back and she gives you coordinates to island 3. Buy the big motor for the boat if you haven’t, this makes the achievement pop and makes travel less painfull.
Giant Piranha in How to Fish
Piranha Spawns with a pack of smaller piranhas. The big one is tanky and aggressive. Timer appears. This is the way I tried to defeat it:
Bring a pistol or shotgun (shotgun is excellent here). Clear the little ones first or they’ll nibble you to death while you focus the boss.
Now, use the boat or shoreline for positioning then keep moving and don’t let it corner you. Meat chunk drops are the quest item so don’t sell or eat them by accident.
Island 3: Tropical Chaos & the Puffer
Grill master wants a shark for his party. Tourist is terrified of something in the water and wants an endangered creature.
Standard lures and standard boss lures are your new best friends. Catch the shark and cook it. Cooking multiplies value up to about 1.5. If you overcook the shark, it drops again. Once the grill master is happy you can use the grill yourself forever.
For the tourist: catch the endangered fish, give it to him, get the carrot bait, then fight the pufferfish. This thing is tanky and can one-shot you if you’re not careful.
Buy the SMG, all the attachments you can afford (laser, red-dot, compensator or suppressor, extended mag), and extra inventory slots. Trick-shot kills (360 no-scopes especially) start printing money here.
Blue Shark Boss fight
This one is a fast swimmer, decent health, can jump or thrash hard. Do you want to punish it hard? SMG or upgraded shotgun shines here.
Use trees or the boat as cover. Trick-shot multipliers (especially 360s) make these extremely profitable when cooked.
Pufferfish Boss
This one reminds me of SpongeBob animation and that poor pufferfish on it. Anyway, This How to Fish boss is extremely tanky, rolls around like a maniac, can one-shot or near one-shot you, sometimes inflates or poisons. One of the most hated fights.
Fully upgraded SMG is my main recommendation before fighting it. A tip I find useful here is to keep cooked food on the ground nearby so you can heal mid-fight.
Don’t stand still. Ever. Knockback from shotgun or SMG can interrupt its rolls. Patience wins here. Chip it down and don’t panic when it starts zooming.
Island 4: The Bird Combat
An enormous bird is terrorizing the island and it smells tuna. Buy the professional boss lure, catch a tuna and lay it on the grass. The bird shows up. It dive-bombs, carries players into the sky (it is generally a dick). Using Sniper or fully-kitted SMG/AR is my recommendation. Bring the head back for the next coordinates.
This island has the full casino:
- Slot machine: insert drip (rainbow) creatures for weapon and rod skins (including legendaries).
- Roulette: bet any item you’re holding on a color. Green is high-risk high-reward. Win and the items become worth more to sell. Lose and they’re gone forever.
Sniper rifle and assault rifle unlock here. Attachments galore. Keep upgrading damage. You’re rich enough now that money starts mattering less than not dying.
The Bird (Albatross) Boss Fight
Catch a tuna and drop the tuna on the grass. The bird smells it and shows up.
This one has high mobility and it’s annoying as hell. What I’ve done with it?
As I said, Sniper or fully kitted SMG/AR are the best choices here. Listen for the audio cue before it dive so you can dodge.
If it picks someone up, shoot the bird (not your friend) to drop them. Stay near buildings or the boat for quick cover and revives. That’s all!
Island 5: Volcano, Military, Science & the Final Whale
Military dudes and a scientist are the ones you should deal with here. They need a big whale for research. Buy scientific lures and scientific boss lures. You’ll catch weird stuff like goblin sharks and the like. Some of these are worth stupid money, especially cooked.
The main event is the Mutated Bowhead Whale hunting. It has a timer, does massive damage, dive on you and sets things on fire.
How to Defeat Mutated Bowhead Whale
Strategies I recommend to defeat that scary Mutated giant Whale:
- Max out your AR or SMG damage first.
- Fight near the houses or boat for cover and quick heals.
- Keep cooked food on the ground so you can heal mid-fight (seagulls will try to steal it).
- Dump your highest DPS gun into it.
- When it’s almost dead, switch to bare hands if you want the achievement (last hit only is the practical way).
Once it’s dead, drag the body all the way up the volcano path and throw it in. The scientist is happy and gives you their boat that already has mainland coordinates. The path to get there is annoying and you can catch fire. Take your time and heal as needed.
Sail home. You won!
Playing How to Fish Co-op vs Solo
You can finish the entire game solo, but How to Fish is designed for 1–4 player co-op. I recommend playing this crasy game with your friends. On a sunday night, I tried it with my own homies and it was a REAL banger. In co-op:
One player can focus on fishing while others handle combat or keep seagulls off the catch. Bosses become easier with split aggro, but friendly fire and stolen fish add chaos.
Agree who keeps the boss trophy so it doesn’t disappear into the wrong inventory. Oh, and private lobbies via Steam work well if you only want friends.
