Rules that save a run
Buy the extra inventory slot the moment a new shop exists. Hunger is a reserve health bar — an empty stomach starts eating your hit points. Use the best lure the island sells; a leftover Ham on Desert is how people stay poor. Shop prices, cook multipliers, and creature health move with patches. If a number is not in an official note, this walkthrough will not invent one.
Story bosses do not live in the regular lure pool. If you are still on a 0/3 leech counter or you sold the Tuna, you are not stuck on “bad RNG.” You are on the wrong item.
Island 1: Lighthouse Island
Tutorial shore. Learn the cast, sell crustaceans, open the boat, and buy the first radar before you ever leave the rock you crashed on.
- Shop first buys: Extra inventory slot (first, every island); Crab-Fishing Rod; Hot Dog bait (once you can afford it); Knife, then the knife upgrade; Beer Can (quest item — do not drink it yourself); Radar tablet — $10 on the table beside the keeper
- Regular bait / lure: Ham, then Hot Dog
- Story bait: Empty Beer Can
- Boss: Spider Crab
- Hand-in: Crab shell / meat trophy → Lighthouse Keeper
- Radar after the hand-in: green dot toward Forest
Hand-in unlocks the wooden motorboat keys. Buy the $10 radar before you shove off.
Open the Lighthouse island page · Lure helper · Upgrade path
Island 2: Forest Island
First real fishing island. Guns, dynamite, trick shots, and the leech quest that gates the Giant Piranha.
- Shop first buys: Extra inventory slot first; Proper Fishing Rod (replace the crab rod); Pistol, then shotgun — upgrade the shotgun; Dynamite for clustered fish, not for teammates; Beginner Lure / French Fry for the regular pool; Big Motor before you sail to the desert
- Regular bait / lure: French Fry, Beginner Lure
- Story bait: Leech Bait (Modified Leech)
- Boss: Giant Piranha
- Hand-in: Piranha skeleton → Woman by the lake
- Radar after the hand-in: yellow dot toward Desert
Buy the Big Motor here. The next island is a longer hop.
Island 3: Desert Island
Cash engine. Standard lures, the grill, the tourist carrot quest, and the Pufferfish that opens Rocks.
- Shop first buys: Extra inventory slot first; SMG and its upgrades — keep this gun after you leave; Standard Lure for the regular / endangered pool; Standard Boss Lure for the Blue Shark; Boat Radar before you leave (hands-free map)
- Regular bait / lure: Standard Lure
- Story bait: Carrot
- Boss: Pufferfish
- Hand-in: Pufferfish fin → Tourist under the tree
- Radar after the hand-in: red dot toward Rocks
Boat Radar is the upgrade that stops you from holding the tablet while you steer.
Island 4: Rocks Island
Professional-lure island. Tuna is bait, not a trophy sale. The Albatross opens the volcano route.
- Shop first buys: Extra inventory slot first; Sniper rifle and attachments; SMG upgrades if you still have Island 3 cash; Professional Lure for the regular pool; Professional Boss Lure for Tuna
- Regular bait / lure: Professional Lure
- Story bait: Dead Tuna dropped on the grassy patch
- Boss: Albatross
- Hand-in: Albatross head → Islander hiding in the shop
- Radar after the hand-in: magenta dot toward Volcano
Follow the magenta (sometimes described as pink) radar dot to the volcano.
Island 5: Volcano Island
End of the chain. Military camp, lava as a grill, Fish Bucket bait, two whale fights, then the black boat home.
- Shop first buys: Extra inventory slot first; Assault rifle and upgrades; Sniper upgrades from Island 4; Scientific Lure for the regular pool; You can sell the SMG once the rifle is online
- Regular bait / lure: Scientific Lure
- Story bait: Fish Bucket, then the Bowhead Whale corpse
- Boss: Bowhead Whale → Mutated Bowhead Whale
- Hand-in: Whale fin → Hazmat scientist
- Radar after the hand-in: black boat home — no next island
Fin hand-in unlocks the black military boat. Follow the prompt back toward the mainland.
After the credits
The same save continues. Fishipedia, drip variants, and leftover minibosses (Sunfish, Old Pike, Goblin Shark) are collection work, not a second campaign. If a weapon looks “cooked,” Patch 1.0.10 lets you dip it in water. If roulette just ate your wallet, read the report page before you assume the table owes you a refund.