Beginner's Guide
Your First Hour, Step by StepHow to Fish — Beginner's Guide
You're out drinking and boating, the trip goes wrong, and you wash up on a small island with a lighthouse. To get home you fish — which in this game means catching creatures, beating them into submission, selling them, and buying your way to the next island. This page walks that first hour in order: what to do, what to buy, and the mistakes that quietly waste your time. If you hit a specific wall — a boss, a fish, a missing hand-in — the Bosses and Islands & Map pages cover those in detail.
What You're Doing (30-Second Overview)
The whole game is one loop repeated on bigger and bigger islands. You don't need to understand more than that to start — the first island is a tutorial that holds your hand through the first two steps.
One loop
repeated on bigger and bigger islands
You do not need to understand more than that to start. The first island is a tutorial that holds your hand through the first two steps — Catch and Sell. This guide just makes sure you spend your early coins where they count.
- 01Catch or kill a creature
- 02Sell it for coins
- 03Buy better gear
- 04Do the local quest
- 05Beat the boss
- 06Hand the drop to the NPC
- 07Unlock the next island
The Tutorial Island: Your First 10 Minutes
Lighthouse island. Three steps take you from empty-handed to fishing.
- 1
Sell your first clams
Get your first coins — the only source of starting money.
You start with nothing. Scattered around the shore are clams and mussels you can pick up and carry to the Lighthouse Keeper — the old seadog who buys them and pays you cash. Selling three mussels finishes the tutorial and gives you your first coins. This is the only source of starting money, so don't skip it.
- 2
Buy your first rod
Everything you need to start fishing, for 3 coins.
Buy the Basic Fishing Rod for 3 coins from the shop, and equip the Free Lure that comes with the starter loadout. That's everything you need to start fishing.
- 3
Your first catch
Cast, catch, subdue, sell — the full mini-loop.
Cast into the water and you'll pull up small crustaceans — Rock Crab and Shrimp are the common first catches. Here's the part the game doesn't warn you about: the catch doesn't go straight into your inventory. It lands on the ground and flops around until you subdue it. At this stage that means hitting it with your fists a few times, then picking it up and selling it to the Keeper.
The tutorial ends here — these stay with you all game
Reel tension
When you're reeling in a fish, a tension indicator moves. Keep it out of the red zone — if it maxes out, the line breaks and you lose the catch.
Kill score
Killing a creature in a flashy way — a headshot, an airborne shot, a no-scope — earns a kill-score multiplier and bonus coins. The more effort you put into the kill, the more the catch is worth. One of the fastest ways to make money, and it works from minute one.
Where your first coins go
Back into the rod-and-bait ladder: the Hot Dog lure (1 coin) and a Knife, which you can then upgrade at the Anvil next to the lighthouse door to 20 damage — a big step up from bare fists.
Your First Boss: the Spider Crab
The first real wall in the game. If you don't prepare, it feels unfair; with ten minutes of setup it's straightforward.
The setup
Summoning it
The boss isn't sitting around waiting — you have to summon it. Buy a Beer for 12 coins and give it to the Lighthouse Keeper. He drinks it and hands back an Empty Beer Can, which you use as a special lure: cast it into the water with your rod and the Spider Crab comes up.
Before the fight
Do two things: upgrade your Knife to 20 damage at the anvil, and eat something so you're not hungry. Entering a boss fight hungry is one of the most common avoidable deaths in the game.
The fight
The pattern
The Spider Crab is a timing lesson. It repeatedly does a charging attack — let it charge, dodge sideways, and it misses and ends up dizzy and still. That's your window: get behind it and hit it two or three times, then back off and wait for the next charge.
Two things to watch
Don't stand in front trading hits, and don't chase it — if you put too much distance between you, it starts jumping at you. And watch the white bar under its health bar: that's an escape timer, and if it empties before you win, the boss vanishes and you have to summon it again. Keep the pressure on during each stun window.
The hand-in
Only half the job
When it dies, pick up the Spider Crab Shell it drops and carry it back to the Lighthouse Keeper. This is the step beginners miss: beating the boss is only half the job.
Your reward
The Keeper takes the shell and gives you the boat keys — and with those, you can leave the starting island. Before you go, buy the Radar from him for 10 coins; it shows the coordinates for the next island.
Controls & Mechanics You'll Actually Use
The exact key bindings aren't officially documented anywhere we've found — open the in-game settings to see yours. These are the mechanics you'll actually touch in the first hour:
Casting
Aim the arc, control the power, and place your lure where you want it. Trick shots (bouncing a cast) are possible but not required early.
Reeling
Manage the tension bar and keep it out of the red.
Melee
Fists at the start, then the Knife, then Brass Knuckles. Melee is how you subdue a flopping catch and how you do the early boss damage.
Weapons
A few islands in you'll be using pistols, shotguns, and rifles. Shooting a fish in the air for a trick-shot kill is worth bonus coins.
Seagulls
They'll swoop in and steal your catch within a couple of seconds, and they can even pick you up. Kill them to recover what they took.
Your First Hour, Minute by Minute
Timings are approximate, but this is the shape of a smooth first hour:
| Time | What to do | More |
|---|---|---|
| 0–10 min | Pick and sell clams/mussels; buy the Basic Fishing Rod | — |
| 10–20 min | Catch and sell Rock Crab/Shrimp; buy the Hot Dog lure and the Knife; upgrade it at the anvil | Weapons & Gear |
| 20–30 min | Buy the Beer, turn it into an Empty Beer Can, summon the Spider Crab | Bosses |
| 30–40 min | Beat the Spider Crab, hand in the shell, get the boat keys | Bosses |
| 40–60 min | Buy the Radar, sail to Island 2 (Forest) | Islands & Map |
What to Buy First (and What to Skip)
The single biggest early mistake is spending your first coins on the wrong thing. Here's the order that works:
Buy first, in this order
- 1.Basic Fishing Rod (3)
- 2.Hot Dog lure (1)
- 3.Knife
- 4.Knife upgrade at the anvil (20 damage)
- 5.Brass Knuckles
- 6.Beer (12, to unlock the boss)
- 7.Radar (10)
Skip until later
- Guns and the assault rifle — expensive, and not needed on the tutorial island
- The casino on Island 4
- Any “better rod” tier beyond what you can afford
The full reasoning for each purchase is on the Weapons & Gear and Economy & Gambling pages. If money is tight, remember the fastest income at this stage is kill-score bonuses and not the cheapest fish.
Common Beginner Mistakes
- 01
Not handing in the boss drop
Kill the Spider Crab but never give the shell to the Keeper, and the map never updates. Stuck after a boss? Check this first.
- 02
Entering a boss fight hungry
Eat before you fight.
- 03
Spending coins on the wrong gear
Guns and gambling can wait; rod, knife upgrade, and the boss setup come first.
- 04
Reeling in the red
The line snaps and the catch is gone.
- 05
Ignoring the seagulls
They steal your fish. Shoot them down to get it back.
- 06
Trading blows with the Spider Crab
Wait for the dizzy window instead of standing in front of it.
Where to Go Next: Islands & Travel
Once you have the boat, the game opens up. There are 5 islands in order, each with its own fish, its own NPC quest, and its own boss — completing each unlocks the coordinates for the next.
The Islands & Map page has the full unlock order and what to expect on each one.
Islands & Map — full unlock order- Lighthouseyou are here
- Forest
- Desert
- Rocks
- Volcano
Playing With Friends
You can play How to Fish alone, and this entire guide applies either way. In co-op you invite friends directly — there's no random matchmaking. Two things to know before you start a lobby:
Every player keeps their own coins, gear, and inventory. It's not a shared wallet. What you buy is yours, so coordinate who buys what rather than assuming the money is pooled.
Co-op makes the loop faster. One player can fish while another shoots the catch out of the air for the kill-score bonus, and a third hauls it back to sell.
FAQ
What happens when I die?
You get a respawn option. If you don't take it, a seagull flies in and carries you off — which is literally how you unlock the “Let me go” achievement.
Do I lose my stuff when I die?
That's not officially documented — treat death as a setback to your position rather than planning around a specific penalty.
Can I go back to earlier islands?
Yes. Once an island is unlocked, you can sail back to it freely with the boat.
How many save slots are there?
One save. The game keeps a single slot, so it's not set up for running several separate games at once.
I killed the boss but nothing happened.
Go back and make sure you handed the boss's drop to the NPC who gave the quest. The next island's coordinates only appear after the hand-in.
Is this guide about the demo or the full game?
The full game on Steam, as of launch (August 2026).