How to Fish guides
Everything on this wiki, arranged around the loop the game actually runs on: hook a catch, win the fight, sell it, upgrade, take the boss, hand in the trophy.
Last checked against Patch 1.0.12 · September 7, 2026
What these guides cover
How to Fish is a physics fishing game where the catch fights back.You hook creatures, finish them with weapons, sell what you land, and spend the money on gear that opens harder water. Story bosses gate the five islands.
These guides cover that progression — the loop, the boss order, the gear slots and the fixes. What they deliberately do not do is print a number nobody can confirm.
Where the community sources agree, the detail is here. Where they contradict each other, the field is left empty and marked, rather than filled with the most popular guess. How this wiki is sourced explains the rule.
The core loop, in order
Every guide here hangs off these six beats. If you are stuck, you are almost always stuck on one of them.
Hook it
Pick the rod and lure that match what lives in that water, then tap the hook key rather than holding it. Holding on a big fish snaps the line.
Fight it
Catches fight back. Keep your distance, keep a weapon ready between casts, and watch the escape bar rather than mashing.
Sell it
Ordinary catches are income. Quest trophies are not — hold anything shaped like a skull, tail or fin until you have checked what a quest wants.
Upgrade the bottleneck
Buy against whatever is costing you the most time: a weapon you can control if fights drag, a boat engine if travel eats the session.
Take the boss
Each boss needs specific bait to spawn, a weapon you can aim, and free inventory space for the drop.
Hand in the trophy
The trophy, not the meat, is what opens the next island. Hand it to the NPC who asked for it and the loop starts again one island out.
How islands unlock
Islands are not opened by sailing further out. Each story boss drops a distinctive trophy, and handing that trophy to the NPC who asked for it is what unlocks the next island. The chain runs in this order:
| Boss | Handing in the trophy opens |
|---|---|
| Spider Crab | the boat |
| Giant Piranha | the next island |
| Pufferfish | the island after that |
| Albatross | the volcano |
| Bowhead Whale | the endgame |
Two things catch people out here. The meat is not the trophy — sell the wrong drop and the quest stays open. And a boss needs specific bait to spawn at all, so the fight starts at the shop, not the shore.
What we haven't confirmed
Being straight about the gaps is more useful than filling them in. As of September 7, 2026, these are open:
- How many creatures exist. Published counts run 49, 50 and 54 depending on the source. No number is given on this wiki until one can be verified.
- Item prices. Guides quote different figures for the same purchases, so the gear pages carry descriptions rather than costs.
- The middle island names. Different communities call them different things, so the progression above is described by position instead.
- Co-op quest credit. Whether guests get the same progress as the host is untested here.
Spotted something we have wrong, or can confirm one of the gaps?Send a correction — that is how this page improves.
Every guide on this wiki
Getting Started
The first hour, step by step.
BossesBoss guides
Bait, strategy and trophy hand-in for each encounter.
FishFish and lures
Catches by island and the bait each one takes.
GearGear
Weapons, lures, engines and attachments.
IslandsIsland progression
The five islands and the order they open in.
AchievementsAchievements
What each one asks for.
FixesTroubleshooting
Crashes, saves, performance and co-op.
PatchesPatch notes
What changed, and which guides it affects.
Guides FAQ
Do I need to fight every boss to finish the game?
The story bosses are the gate. Each one drops a trophy that a quest wants, and handing it in is what opens the next island. Mini-bosses sit outside that chain.
Can I skip ahead to a later island?
Not through the story. The trophy chain has to be walked in order, so a later island stays shut until the boss before it is down.
Is co-op progress shared?
Lobbies run 1–8 players. We have not confirmed how quest credit is split between host and guests, so that is left out rather than guessed at.
Why are some numbers missing from these guides?
Because the community sources disagree. Creature totals are given as 49, 50 and 54 depending on where you look, so this wiki leaves the count out until it can be checked in-game.
Which patch are these guides written against?
Patch 1.0.12. Anything we know changed in an earlier patch is noted on the page it affects.