How to Fish Beginner Guide — First Island to Better Gear

The short version

Official: Dazed Games describes the loop as fishing creatures, killing them, selling them, upgrading gear, completing quests and defeating bosses to reach harder islands. The launch-day videos match that loop closely.

Video-tested: Do not treat the first hour like a normal fishing sim. Your fastest early progress comes from learning the sell/eat/inspect loop, buying one practical melee weapon, and then doing the island quest that unlocks your boat.

1. Learn the three resources: cash, hunger, and space

Caught creatures can be sold for money or eaten to restore hunger/health. Early videos show players repeatedly losing time because they forget hunger, die, and then spend time recovering dropped gear. Keep at least one cheap creature as food before starting a boss.

The tutorial also demonstrates inspecting a held creature to see its value and using the collection menu to track what you have already caught. Inventory slots become increasingly useful once boss drops, weapons and food compete for space.

2. Buy one weapon before forcing the first boss

The first story boss, Spider Crab, is dangerous bare-handed. A Knife or Brass Knuckles is enough to make the fight much less awkward. Avoid spending your first cash on cosmetic or convenience items before you can reliably kill what you catch.

3. Finish the Lighthouse Keeper quest

The first progression chain is the beer quest. Buy a Beer Can, give it to the Lighthouse Keeper, receive the Empty Beer Can bait, catch Spider Crab, defeat it, and return the required quest drop. That unlocks the boat. See the dedicated Who Stole My Beer guide.

4. Use the radar only after the next island is actually marked

A recurring player confusion in the videos is buying a radar before a quest reward has added the next destination. The useful sequence is: finish the island quest → receive the flash drive/coordinates → check the radar → travel.

5. Upgrade for the boss you are about to fight

Video-tested progression suggests a practical order rather than buying every weapon: early melee for Spider Crab, Shotgun value on the piranha swarm, recoil-controlled SMG or Sniper later, then Assault Rifle for the volcano endgame. This is not an official tier list; it is an observed route from launch-day play.

Difficulty (added in 1.0.9): the game now offers Easy and Hard modes in addition to the default. Easy: all creatures have 25% less health and deal 50% less damage. Hard: all creatures have 25% more health and deal 25% more damage. The option is available both in the main menu and in-game.

Version note: prices, weapon balance and boss behavior can change quickly after launch. This guide intentionally avoids hard-coding prices unless the value is required to explain a quest.

Patch 1.0.11 — Steam Deck, saves, friendly fire

Patch 1.1.0 “The Islet Update” (28 Sep 2026)

The first content update. In one line: more to do, same route.

New: a PEAK bundle, a new weapon, multiple mini islands, more creatures, a new mini-boss, more items, a new bait, a new NPC, new achievements (the count moved from 28 to 31), and a new outfit.

Changed: the volume of some sound effects, and the distance between islands.

For a new player, nothing in the five steps above changes - the story island order and bosses are untouched. Three practical notes:

1. Travel times are now unreliable. The spacing between islands was reworked, so any “it takes about X to get there” figure from launch-week footage is approximate.
2. The new bait and new mini-boss have no official names. The studio lists them without naming them, so this site does not name them either.
3. More creatures means more unknowns. Expect unfamiliar catches around the new mini islands; the collection goals elsewhere on this site now cover a subset of the full achievement list.

The game is Steam Deck Verified and on GeForce NOW. Official notes add a save-file corruption check and backups, plus toggles for aim, sprint, hold-to-attack and nametags. Your own explosives still kill you even with friendly fire off. Dropped weapons show orange; dead players show turquoise.