◉HOW TO FISH WALKTHROUGH

THE UNOFFICIAL FIELD GUIDE

How to Fish
Walkthrough & Guides

How to Fish is a 2026 co-op fishing simulator by Dazed Games. Chart every creature, boss, lure, and main location with a route built for new crews.

Start at the Lighthouse →Open creature log
Start at the Lighthouse in How to Fish gameplay
FIELD FRAME 01Start at the LighthouseMeet the keeper, stabilize hunger, and turn the opening errands into your first reliable cash loop.
01 / 04
49CREATURES LOGGED
11BOSS & SPECIALS
5MAIN LOCATIONS
28ACHIEVEMENTS

PLOT A COURSE

Everything has a next step.

This How to Fish Game walkthrough follows the dependency chain the game actually uses. Story progress comes from a special bait, a boss encounter, a unique drop, an NPC hand-in, and a new Radar marker. Creature collection runs beside that chain: ordinary lure tiers open larger pools for money and completion, but catching more fish does not replace the required story item.

Use the site in the same order you would use a field manual. Start with the beginner route if the controls, hunger loop, inventory, or first purchases are still unfamiliar. Open the creature log when you know the target but not its lure, location, or value. Move to a location guide when the objective marker has disappeared, an NPC will not accept an item, or a boss drop needs to reach the next island safely.

01

Begin here

A no-nonsense first route from the Lighthouse to your first upgrades.

Open guide →02

Creature log

Search all 49 creatures and keep a personal checklist that stays saved.

Open guide →03

Boss board

Every special creature, its summons, and where it belongs in the route.

Open guide →

DEEPER FIELD ROUTES

One task per page.
One clear next step.

Use the route that matches the thing you are doing now: the first boss, the full five-stop progression, cosmetic skins, or the final achievement attempt.

01Spider Crab: summon, fight, hand-in→02All bosses and five-stop route→03Mutated Whale Handyman→04Reel of Fortune weapon skins→05Beginner value and multi-kill chain→06Six practical tips and tricks→

FIELD NOTES

Five main locations.
One clear route.

Lighthouse is the starting location. Forest, Desert, Rocks, and Volcano are the four main islands. Secret Developer Island is a testing area, not part of the normal route.

View location chart →
01LighthouseStarting location→02ForestIsland→03DesertIsland→04RocksIsland→05VolcanoIsland→

HOW THE WALKTHROUGH WORKS

Keep the route item.
Unlock the next marker.

How to Fish is built around short combat and collection loops, but the story only advances when their outputs are handled correctly. These are the habits that prevent a successful boss fight from turning into a stalled save.

01 · LIGHTHOUSE

Stabilize before you collect

Watch health and hunger, turn the shore errands into seed money, and buy the first rod before wandering. Keep one edible catch instead of selling the entire inventory. Once the basic cast, reel, land, subdue, inspect, and sell loop feels safe, prepare the Empty Beer Can encounter rather than farming every early creature.

Spider Crab teaches the permanent boss rule: dodge the committed attack, punish the recovery window, and stop attacking before the boss turns. Recover the Spider Crab Shell, hand it to the Lighthouse Keeper for Boat Keys, and purchase the Radar separately. A kill without the Shell hand-in does not complete the departure chain.

Read the Lighthouse walkthrough →
02 · FOREST & DESERT

Treat every NPC request as a dependency

Forest and Desert expand the lure pools, but their route bosses still depend on named quest items. In Forest, the Modified Leech leads to Giant Piranha; its Skeleton belongs in the next hand-in. In Desert, the Tourist’s request produces the Carrot used for Pufferfish, and the Pufferfish Fin is the route item that opens Rocks.

Before sailing, confirm that the unique drop is physically in your possession and separated from food, sale items, and grill experiments. If the marker is missing, return to the last NPC rather than repeating random catches. The most common progression mistake is assuming that defeating the creature automatically completes the objective.

Open the Forest walkthrough → Open the Desert walkthrough →
03 · ROCKS & VOLCANO

Prepare for multi-stage objectives

Late-game routes combine collection, combat, transport, and hand-ins. Rocks uses Professional lure pools, a Tuna objective, and the Albatross encounter before the Head can be exchanged for Volcano coordinates. The challenge is not simply damage: protect the boss item and keep enough inventory control to finish the chain.

Volcano adds a longer finale. Complete the scientist’s native-creature request, receive the Fish Bucket, catch Bowhead Whale, and carry the whole body to the crater. The Mutated Bowhead fight produces the Whale Fin required for the final scientist hand-in and military-boat key. Read the full guide before starting so an expensive loadout or whale body is not lost between stages.

Open the Volcano finale →

FIRST-HOUR PRIORITIES

Spend for the next obstacle,
not for the whole shop.

Early money has three jobs: keep the run alive, fund the required fishing tool, and shorten the next dangerous interaction. A dependable melee upgrade is more useful than several optional collection lures when Spider Crab is the blocker. Ranged weapons become valuable when distance, flying targets, or Volcano hazards make close combat unreliable. Buy the core weapon before stacking attachments, and store spare value before a risky voyage.

Ordinary lure tiers and boss bait answer different questions. Use ordinary lures when you are building cash, completing the 49-creature log, or fulfilling a named NPC catch request. Use special items only when the objective calls for that encounter. Check the equipped slot, leave a clear landing area, and make room in the inventory before casting a quest-critical bait.

Value multipliers, trick shots, cooking, optional cosmetics, and achievement cleanup are best left until the route is stable. Secure the creature before attempting a stunt, move away from water before throwing it, and watch the grill meter rather than guessing. Reliable sales and protected quest drops beat a theoretical maximum multiplier that ends at the bottom of the sea.

Lures & Bait →28 Achievements →Spider Crab Guide →Forest & Giant Piranha →Desert & Pufferfish →Rocks Island 4 Guide →Volcano Island 5 Guide →Reel of Fortune & Skins →

HOW TO FISH GAME FAQ

Answers before
you cast.

These answers cover the questions that most often send a new crew to the wrong page or leave a completed boss without the next marker.

01

Is this website about the How to Fish game or real-world fishing?

This is an independent walkthrough for How to Fish, the 2026 co-op fishing simulator by Dazed Games. Every guide is written around the game’s creatures, weapons, lures, bosses, NPC hand-ins, and five-location story route. It is not advice about real fishing, boats, tackle, or wildlife.

02

How many main locations are in How to Fish?

The main progression has five accessible locations: Lighthouse, Forest, Desert, Rocks, and Volcano. Lighthouse is available at the start, so some players describe the route as four unlockable islands. This walkthrough calls it a five-location route because all five stops contain required objectives. Developer Island is optional and is not part of the normal story chain.

03

What should a new player do first?

Learn the Lighthouse survival and cash loop, buy the first rod, keep one recovery item, and finish the keeper’s early requests. Then obtain the Empty Beer Can, use it to summon Spider Crab, fight during the dazed window, and protect the Spider Crab Shell until it has been handed in for Boat Keys. Buy the Radar before sailing away.

04

What is the difference between normal lures and boss bait?

Normal lure tiers expand the ordinary creature pool for a location and are mainly used for money, collection, and NPC requests. Named bait or boss lures start specific encounters and progression chains. Examples include the Empty Beer Can for Spider Crab, Modified Leech for Giant Piranha, Carrot for Pufferfish, and Fish Bucket for Bowhead Whale.

05

Why did my next island marker not appear?

Defeating a boss is usually only one part of the unlock. Recover the unique boss item, return it to the correct NPC, finish the dialogue or hand-in, and then check the Radar. Selling, cooking, losing, or leaving behind a unique drop can make the route appear stuck even though the fight itself is complete.

06

Does the site include all 49 creatures?

Yes. The creature encyclopedia covers 49 ordinary, boss, and special creatures with their location, lure or summon item, progression tier, and reported base value. The checklist is stored locally in your browser, does not require an account, and does not change your Steam achievements or game save.

07

How are these walkthroughs checked after patches?

Detailed routes are built from owner-supplied gameplay research, clean explanatory images, official patch announcements, and independent written cross-checks. Pages show a checked date or version boundary when that context matters. Route dependencies are treated as more stable than prices, weapon damage, key bindings, and other numbers that can change between patches.

YOUR PROGRESS, ON THIS DEVICE

Build your own
catch checklist.

Track all 49 →