How to Fish Fish Guide: Every Fish, Bait, and Location

How to Fish splits its catches across two rods and a ladder of lure tiers. The Crab Fishing Rod is your starter tool at the Lighthouse and pulls up crustaceans, while the standard Fishing Rod handles the open-water fish on the numbered islands. If you are brand new, the beginner guide covers the basics of casting and selling.

Bait comes in two broad forms. Free starter bait works from minute one, while named consumables like the Hot Dog and Empty Beer Can and the paid lure tiers — Beginner, Standard, Professional, and Scientific — open up bigger pools. In practice each island past the Lighthouse is built around one lure tier, so buying the next tier is how you progress.

Community research also notes that Drip variants of creatures take the same bait as their normal versions, and that catch probabilities can shift between patches. When the numbers matter, trust the in-game hints over any chart, including this one.

The Lighthouse is where every player starts, and its pool is built for the Crab Fishing Rod. The free starting bait, listed as the Free Lure in most guides (one calls it Ham), catches Brown Crab and Shrimp. Rock Crab takes either the Free Lure or a Hot Dog — both baits work.

Two named baits matter here:

• Hot Dog — catches Rock Crab and Lobster, your first real money catches at the Lighthouse.
• Empty Beer Can — hooks the Spider Crab, the area's boss encounter. Save one for when you are ready.

Once your wallet allows it, move on to the standard Fishing Rod and the numbered islands; the Lighthouse pool is small and stays shallow.

Island 2, the Forest island, is the first stop for the standard Fishing Rod. With free bait, listed as French Fry in community notes, you can catch Mackerel, Gar, and Pike.

The Beginner Lure widens the pool considerably. Confirmed Beginner Lure catches on Island 2 are:

• Cod
• Pike
• Piranha
• Salmon
• Triggerfish
• Goby
• Perch
• Goldfish
• Sunfish

Pike shows up in both bait pools, so do not be surprised by repeats while you fish out the list. Island 2 is also where you will meet boss targets such as the Giant Piranha and Old Pike — see the boss section below for their baits.

From Island 3 onward, each island is tied to one lure tier, and the tier gates everything you can catch there. The lure guide tracks that side of the economy.

• Island 3 (Desert), Standard Lure — Angelfish, Yellow Boxfish, Bowlfish, Catfish, Sea Urchin, Seahorse, Clownfish, Bluegill, Salmon, and Needlefish.
• Island 4 (Rocks), Professional Lure — Parrotfish, Voxelfish, Bass, Halibut, Eel, Tigerfish, Flying Fish, Sengarat, Red Snapper, and Dripper.
• Island 5 (Volcano), Scientific Lure — Anglerfish, Blobfish, Oarfish, Superdwarf Fish, and Stonefish.

A few of these names are unusual — Voxelfish, Sengarat, Dripper, and Superdwarf Fish — but all four are confirmed real in-game entries. Salmon appears on both Island 2 and Island 3 lists, so at least some species span multiple islands.

Boss fish do not come from the ordinary lure pools. Community research ties each boss to one specific bait item, and several of those baits are themselves catches, which creates short hunting chains. See the bosses hub for fight details on each one.

Two chains are worth planning around. Tuna the boss needs a Professional Boss Lure, but the Albatross wants a Tuna as bait, and the Mutated Bowhead Whale wants an ordinary Bowhead Whale. The Giant Piranha asks for a Modified Leech — the leeches guide explains that item line.

A few quick notes worth knowing before you sail out:

• Per-fish sell prices are covered in the money guide.
• Catch rates per bait and per spot may move with each patch.
• Boss locations, HP, and fight mechanics live on each boss page.
• Rock Crab at the Lighthouse takes either the Free Lure or a Hot Dog.

This page is updated as new confirmations land. For the broader route through the game, pair it with the walkthrough and the rest of the guides library.