How to Fish game really doesn’t waste much time pretending to be a normal fishing game. You cast, fling something out of the water, pull out a gun and try to turn the poor thing into the most ridiculous kill possible. The better the shot, the more money you get, and that money goes straight back into better gear and faster boats.
There’s a surprisingly decent amount hiding underneath the joke, too. You have islands to unlock, NPC quests to follow, bosses to deal with, rare Drip variants to hunt, a casino to waste money at, and 28 achievements if you’re going for the full completion.
The main story isn’t particularly long. The time sink comes afterward, especially if you’re trying to finish Fishipedia or get every rare creature. So if you’re just starting out, don’t worry about collecting everything immediately. Get the story moving first and come back for the annoying stuff later.
How to Fish Game Beginner Guide – Achievements, Tips
The rod isn’t really there to make you sit around waiting for a bite. Think of it as your way of throwing a creature into the air.
Once something is airborne, that’s when things get interesting.
You can pull out your weapon and start stacking bonuses before the creature hits the ground. Headshots, airborne kills, no-scopes and 360 shots can all contribute to your killscore, and a good kill can reach the 5x multiplier needed for Impressive.
That’s also the basic money-making trick.
A creature isn’t automatically valuable just because you found it later in the game. If you kill something instantly for a boring 1x score, you’re missing out on the extra cash you could have made by launching it and putting together a better shot.
So early on, I’d worry much more about learning the physics than chasing shiny variants.
What to Do When You First Start
The starting island gives you pretty much everything you need to learn the game. There’s the cabin, the equipment board, the lighthouse keeper and Melvin, so spend a little time talking to the characters instead of immediately running off to farm fish.
Your first few goals should be fairly simple.
Get a couple of kills, start working through the lighthouse quest, and grab the pistol and dynamite when they’re available. The knife and your hands are enough for the very beginning, but having an actual gun makes earning money much easier.
You should also activate the grill when you find it. It takes almost no effort and saves you from having to come back later just for Grillmaster.
The first boat engine is another upgrade worth grabbing early. You’ll need it to keep progressing, and there’s not much point becoming the world’s greatest fisherman if you’re still stuck on the first island.
How to Leave the Starting Island
If you’ve been searching shops for a boat key, stop. That’s not where you’re getting it.
The key is tied to the Who Stole My Beer quest.
The lighthouse keeper sends you after the creature responsible for stealing the beer. Find it, kill it, and take the body back to the keeper. Once you’ve dealt with that part, speak to the keeper and Melvin again.
Afterward, check the wreck and the cabin board.
This is one of those things that feels obvious after you’ve done it once, but it’s easy to waste time looking for a purchasable key if you don’t know the quest is responsible for opening the way forward.
Don’t Chase Drip Too Early
The shiny versions of creatures are called Drip, and yes, they’re tempting to hunt as soon as you realize they exist.
I’d resist that temptation.
The normal story already gives you plenty to do, and Drip variants have lower spawn chances. Spending ten minutes repeatedly fishing the same area because you want a shiny isn’t particularly useful when you could be unlocking another island.
There’s also a difference between the collection achievements.
Collector is about finding the different creature species, while Fishipedia is the bigger Drip hunt. In other words, finishing Collector doesn’t mean you’re finished with the collection.
Save the serious Drip hunting for later.
The Easy Way to Make Money
If you’re constantly broke, take a look at how you’re killing things.
Selling a creature immediately after a basic 1x kill isn’t going to build your wallet very quickly. Instead, launch it, keep it in the air and try to add a few bonuses before finishing it off.
You don’t need a perfect 5x kill every time.
Even getting comfortable with airborne shots will make your income noticeably better.
Once you’ve got a decent weapon, I’d also spend money on that before worrying too much about a fancy rod. The rod is useful, but the gun is what lets you turn a basic catch into something worth considerably more.
How to Get the Noob Achievement
Noob is one of those achievements that gets harder the better you become at the game.
You need a kill with no multiplier.
So don’t launch the creature and don’t try anything clever. Keep it on the ground and kill it normally.
If you’re struggling with this one after getting used to the game’s physics, that’s probably the reason. You’re automatically trying to make every kill impressive.
For once, make the worst kill possible.
Getting a 5x Kill
For Impressive, you’re aiming for a 5x killscore.
The easiest place to practice is somewhere with plenty of creatures and enough room to see what you’re doing. Launch one into the air, switch to your gun and start adding bonuses.
A headshot is a good starting point. Once you’re comfortable with that, try adding a no-scope or 360.
Don’t worry about making every attempt perfect. The physics can be unpredictable, and half the fun is figuring out how the game reacts when you start throwing fish around.
How to Do the 360 No Scope
This achievement sounds more complicated than it actually is.
Get the creature into the air first. Pull out your gun, spin a full 360 degrees and fire without aiming down the scope.
The hip-fire part matters.
If you scope in during the shot, you’ve ruined the attempt.
It’s much easier to practice this with an airborne creature because you have a little more time to get your spin and shot lined up.
Seagull Achievements
The seagulls aren’t just there to make your fishing trip more annoying. They have their own achievements.
For Let Me Go, you actually want the bird to grab you.
Stand still and let it approach. Holding a fish can help attract it, but don’t immediately shoot when the bird comes down. The achievement is about being carried away yourself.
Then there’s Everyone’s Dream, which is considerably more violent.
When the seagull is stealing something, throw dynamite at it.
Don’t use your rifle if you’re specifically trying to unlock this achievement. Save the explosive for the bird.
The Grill Has More Uses Than You’d Expect
When you find the grill, turn it on for Grillmaster.
Later, you can deliberately leave a creature cooking for too long and eat the burnt result for Yummy in My Tummy.
The grill also matters for Competitive Eating, where you’ll be eating a mini-boss rather than selling it.
So if you’re doing the achievement cleanup, don’t automatically throw every valuable creature into the sell pile. Some of them are better left on the grill.
Quests That Move the Story Forward
Most of the game’s progression is tied to quests. If an NPC has a prompt, it’s worth talking to them, especially when you’ve just finished another objective.
Who Stole My Beer
The lighthouse keeper’s quest sends you after the creature that stole the beer.
Kill it and return the body to the keeper. This is also the quest that gets you moving toward leaving the starting island.
Dinnertime
The forest lady needs dinner.
Catch the requested creature and bring it back to her. If the quest calls for something cooked, use the grill rather than selling the catch first.
Vacation
The tourist needs help getting into the water.
Follow the quest’s intended interaction and get him swimming. There’s no need to get creative here.
Terrorizing Bird
This one is more of a combat encounter than fishing.
The islanders are being terrorized by a large bird, so deal with it using your weapons. Dynamite can help when the bird gives you a good opportunity.
Deadliest Catch
The military sends you after a much larger creature.
By this point, you should have a better weapon and a boat capable of getting you where you need to go. Treat this like a boss fight rather than another ordinary fishing trip.
We Are So Back
This is part of the final stretch of the game. Finish the remaining quest chain and final boss to complete the story.
If you’re planning to get Handyman, save that achievement for a separate attempt.
The Best Gear to Spend Money On
The game gives you several different types of equipment, but they don’t all deserve equal priority.
Rod: Your rod is mainly your launching tool. Upgrade it when you’re having trouble controlling or launching creatures.
Guns: This is where I’d put a lot of your early money. A better gun makes airborne kills and money farming much easier.
Melee: The knife and knuckles are useful for close-range kills and are particularly handy when you’re deliberately going for Noob or preparing for Handyman.
Dynamite: Keep some around. It’s useful for groups, the terror bird and, of course, the seagull achievement.
Boat: The first engine gets you moving. The best engine is needed for I Am Speed, and you’ll want that extra speed when attempting I’m the Bird Now.
Grill: Useful for quests and achievements, not something you need to think about as a combat weapon.
If I were spending the first serious pile of money, I’d go weapon first, then engine, then attachments for that weapon. After that, start working toward the best engine.
Fully Equipping a Weapon
Fully Equipped is easier if you commit to one gun.
The achievement requires every attachment slot to be filled on a single weapon. Don’t scatter your upgrades across three different guns and then wonder why the achievement hasn’t appeared.
Pick the weapon you’re using most and keep putting attachments on that one until everything is filled.
How to Make the Boat Fly
For I’m the Bird Now, you’ll first want the best engine.
Once you’ve got the speed, look for a good wave, slope, ramp or piece of terrain that can act as a launch point.
Hit it at full speed and hold jump.
The game is relying on its physics here, so there isn’t a special “fly the boat” button you’re missing. You need enough momentum and the right bit of terrain.
Getting the 10-Second Boss Kill
Easy requires you to kill a boss in ten seconds.
This is much easier if you prepare before the fight rather than trying to improvise once the boss has appeared.
Have your gun ready, know where the boss is going to spawn and start shooting immediately.
A smaller or easier boss is a much better target than trying to combine this achievement with the final fight.
There’s no reason to make the challenge harder than it needs to be.
How to Beat the Final Boss for Handyman
Handyman is the opposite of the normal boss strategy.
You need to beat the final boss using your hands, so don’t walk into the arena with your pistol equipped and then accidentally fire it.
Unequip your weapons before the fight begins.
If you want to be completely safe, make the equipment change before the final sequence starts. That way you aren’t scrambling through your inventory once the fight is already underway.
The 100,000 Sale
Rich! Millionaire isn’t asking you to earn 100,000 total over several sales.
You need one transaction worth at least 100,000.
This becomes much easier later when you’re dealing with more valuable creatures. A rare Drip, a boss corpse, or a creature killed with a high multiplier can all help you reach the number.
If you’re sitting at 80,000 and wondering why it hasn’t unlocked, that’s why.
The game isn’t adding all those smaller sales together.
Casino Achievements
The casino is probably something I’d leave until after the story.
There are two achievements connected to it.
For All In, you need to win a roulette bet on green.
For GOLD GOLD GOLD, you need to pull a legendary skin from the slot machine.
There’s no reason to burn through your progression money on gambling early. Get your weapons, boat and other useful upgrades sorted first.
The casino will still be there when you’ve got money to waste.
How to Get Bean
Bean is your one-hour story completion challenge.
Don’t combine this with a collection run.
If you’re trying to beat the game in under an hour, ignore Drip hunting, casino games, Fishipedia and anything else that doesn’t directly push the quest chain forward.
Your first playthrough is about learning where everything is. Your Bean run should be about getting from quest to quest with as little wandering as possible.
If the clock is already looking bad, don’t start trying to squeeze collection objectives into the same run. Restart and treat it as a clean story rush.
A Good 100% Strategy
Trying to do every achievement during the story sounds efficient, but it usually isn’t.
I’d split the game into two runs.
On the first run, focus on unlocking the islands and finishing the main story. Pick up easy achievements when they’re directly in front of you, but don’t stop the entire run because a rare fish didn’t spawn.
Once the story is done, come back for the cleanup.
That’s when you can work through the awkward stuff:
- Noob
- 360 No Scope
- Seagull achievements
- Grill achievements
- Fully Equipped
- Easy
- Handyman
- Rich! Millionaire
- Casino achievements
- Collector
- Fishipedia
If you’re specifically going for Bean, make that a dedicated story run rather than trying to combine it with 100% completion.
All How to Fish Achievements
Story and Early Achievements
Getting Started — Kill your first creature.
Who Stole My Beer — Find and kill the creature responsible for the stolen beer, then return it to the lighthouse keeper.
Drip — Kill a rare Drip variant.
Let Me Go — Allow a seagull to pick you up.
Grillmaster — Start up the grill.
Getting an Upgrade — Purchase your first boat engine upgrade.
Dinnertime — Complete the forest lady’s dinner request.
Impressive — Reach a 5x killscore on one creature.
Noob — Get a kill without any multiplier.
Vacation — Help the tourist get into the water.
We Are So Back — Finish the main game.
Yummy in My Tummy — Eat a creature that has been burnt on the grill.
360 No Scope — Perform a 360 and finish the kill with hip fire.
Terrorizing Bird — Defeat the bird attacking the islanders.
Collection, Money and Endgame Achievements
Deadliest Catch — Complete the military objective and kill the marked large creature.
I Am Speed — Purchase the best boat engine.
Fully Equipped — Fill every attachment slot on one weapon.
GOLD GOLD GOLD — Get a legendary skin from the slot machine.
Easy — Kill a boss within ten seconds.
Rich! Millionaire — Sell a single creature for 100,000 or more.
Collector — Find and kill every creature species.
All In — Win a roulette bet on green.
Bean — Complete the game within one hour.
Competitive Eating — Eat a mini-boss.
I’m the Bird Now — Get your boat airborne.
Fishipedia — Kill every Drip variant.
Everyone’s Dream — Kill a seagull with dynamite.
Handyman — Defeat the final boss with your bare hands.
Things That Commonly Trip Players Up
Can’t find the boat key? Finish Who Stole My Beer and speak to the lighthouse keeper and Melvin again. Then check the wreck.
Noob isn’t unlocking? Stop launching the creature. Kill it on the ground without building a multiplier.
Impressive isn’t unlocking? Get the creature airborne and start stacking bonuses before finishing the kill.
360 No Scope failed? Make sure you’re firing from the hip. Don’t use the scope.
The seagull keeps stealing the fish instead of me? Stay still and give it a chance to grab your character.
The boat won’t fly? Upgrade the engine and find a proper launch point. A flat stretch of water isn’t going to do much.
Handyman didn’t unlock? Make sure you entered the final fight without your gun equipped.
The sale isn’t reaching 100,000? Use a more valuable creature or build a better kill multiplier. Several smaller sales don’t count.
Fishipedia is missing entries? If you’ve already completed Collector, look for the Drip versions. You’re probably not missing a whole species.
Bean went over an hour? Skip everything that isn’t part of the story. The casino is especially dangerous when you’re trying to speedrun.