How to Fish Island 5: Volcano Finale Walkthrough

Island 5 is not something you buy — it sits at the end of the quest chain. The confirmed unlock step is the Albatross hand-in on Island 4: feed the bird's severed head to the shop NPC on the Rocks, and they trade you the Volcano's radar coordinates.

If the way in stays shut after that hand-in, double-check for unfinished NPC requests on the earlier islands, since each island gates the next. The full walkthrough tracks the whole chain in order.

The hub of Island 5 is an NPC wearing a protective suit — your military contact. They want the island's creatures delivered one by one, and every one of those regular catches comes from the Scientific Lure, sold on the Volcano for $500 each — not the Scientific Boss Lure, which is a separate $5,800 item tied to a different encounter.

The regular Scientific Lure pool on Island 5 is:

• Anglerfish
• Blobfish
• Oarfish
• Superdwarf Fish
• Stonefish

Hand the fish over as you catch them. The suit NPC asks for five native fish delivered one at a time, and the fifth hand-in earns you the Fish Bucket, the quest bait used to summon the Bowhead Whale.

Island 5 also has its own boss-tier catch, the Goblin Shark, hooked with the Scientific Boss Lure. It is optional side content — nothing in the main story sends you after it, and it only matters for completing the creature collection.

The Volcano changes your economy in two big ways. First, you can throw a caught fish into the crater: the lava always cooks it perfectly and adds a 1.5x price multiplier, with no risk of ruining it. Second, the island has a roulette table where you can stake a cooked fish — betting on Green pays 35x, but there is only one green number on the board.

Those two multipliers stack into the Rich! Millionaire achievement, which asks you to sell a single fish worth $100,000 or more:

If a catch comes in under the $1,906 threshold, just sell it and reinvest in more lures rather than gambling a fish that cannot reach $100,000 even with a Green win. Winning on Green for the first time also unlocks the All In achievement.

The Fish Bucket summons the normal Bowhead Whale, and this fight is a genuine gear check. Before you trigger it, buy the Assault Rifle — $20,000, the single largest purchase in the game — upgrade it as far as you can, and stock up on healing items, because the encounter is balanced around you having both. The money guide covers fast ways to farm that cash.

The whale's signature move is a leap: it launches out of the water and slams its body down on top of you. The moment you see it go airborne, move sideways and open up lateral distance, because the slam lands where you were standing. After it crashes down there is a safe window while the whale recovers, and that is when you unload with the rifle.

Repeat that rhythm — dodge the leap sideways, punish the landing — and the fight is far more manageable than its size suggests. In multiplayer, where lobbies support up to 8 players, the whale's attention is split, but the sideways-dodge rule still applies to everyone.

Killing the normal Bowhead Whale is only half of Island 5. Whatever you do, do not sell the carcass — it is the trigger for the real final boss.

Carry the dead whale up to the top of the volcano and throw it into the lava. This spawns the Mutated Bowhead Whale, the true endgame fight. It hits much harder than the normal version and drops lava during the fight, so the same rules apply in a stricter form: keep moving, stay out of the hazards, and spend your healing items freely.

When the Mutated Bowhead Whale goes down, it drops a Fin. Take the Fin back to the suit-wearing NPC and hand it over; in return you receive the military boat key, which unlocks the boat that sails to the mainland and rolls the ending. If you still have unfinished achievements or optional bosses, wrap them up before you commit to the ending trip.

Most Island 5 problems come from mixing up lures or mishandling the whale.

• Using the wrong lure: the Scientific Lure and the Scientific Boss Lure are different items. Regular creatures come from the plain Scientific Lure; the Goblin Shark needs the boss version.
• Selling the Bowhead Whale: its carcass is the trigger for the mutated fight, so keep it out of the shop.
• Dodging the wrong way: the body slam punishes anyone who stays put. Move sideways the instant the whale leaves the water.
• Skipping preparation: the Bowhead Whale is tuned around an upgraded Assault Rifle and a stack of healing items, and going in early just wastes the attempt.
• Grinding the Scientific Boss Lure too early: the Goblin Shark is optional, so save the $5,800 until the main chain is done.

Quick checklist for the whole island:

1. Feed the Albatross head to the Island 4 shop NPC for the Volcano coordinates.
2. Catch the five Scientific Lure fish and deliver them to the suit NPC until you earn the Fish Bucket.
3. Buy the $20,000 Assault Rifle, upgrade it, stock healing items, then summon the Bowhead Whale.
4. Dodge the leap sideways, punish the landing, and kill it without selling the body.
5. Throw the carcass into the volcano lava and beat the Mutated Bowhead Whale.
6. Deliver the Fin to the suit NPC, take the military boat key, and sail to the mainland for the ending.