Fish List: How to Fish All Fish, Baits, and Locations

To catch all fish in How to Fish, match the lure to the island before you cast. Use Free Lure and Hot Dog around the Lighthouse, the early Free, Beginner, and Hot Dog options in Forest, then Standard in Desert, Professional in Rocks, and Scientific in Volcano. Boss creatures ignore that regular-fish ladder and need dedicated bait earned from a quest or bought for that encounter. The tables below separate the collected ordinary species from boss catches so you can check a missing entry without wasting a special lure.

The lure answer in one table

The game makes bait selection more important than random casting. Later locations are easier because one regular tier covers the island's recorded pool, while Piranha is the main early exception. The collected list pairs Piranha with a Hot Dog and the Crab Fishing Rod. If a name or rod behaves differently in your build, mark that entry Pending confirmation instead of assuming the fish is gone.

Location	Regular lure or rod recorded in the collected sources
Lighthouse	Free Lure and Hot Dog; Crab Fishing Rod for the opening pool
Forest	Free Lure, Beginner Lure, and Hot Dog; Piranha uses Hot Dog with the Crab Fishing Rod in one source
Desert	Standard Lure
Rocks	Professional Lure
Volcano	Scientific Lure
Boss encounters	A dedicated item such as Empty Beer Can, Carrot, or a Boss Lure

The lure names are not interchangeable. A Standard Lure is the normal Desert tool, while a Standard Boss Lure is a separate item for the Blue Shark. The same distinction applies to Professional Lure versus Professional Boss Lure and Scientific Lure versus Scientific Boss Lure. Keep the special boss item in your inventory until the corresponding quest is ready.

How to use this checklist

Catch a creature, inspect its name and any tag, and let the game register the result before selling or cooking it. The collected guides say the collection log updates when the creature dies, so a fish that only bites the line is not necessarily counted. This matters for ordinary species, bosses, and the rare Drip variants. If an entry is missing, first confirm the lure and then confirm that the catch actually completed its death or collection state.

Lighthouse fish

The Lighthouse is the starting water and the place to test the free fishing loop. The collected list records Rock Crab on the Free Lure or Hot Dog, Shrimp on the Free Lure, and Lobster on the Hot Dog. Early catches can be sold for the cash needed to buy the rod, knife, food, and radar, so there is no need to save a special boss lure for this section. Use the opening area to learn how the catch prompt and inventory inspection work.

Creature	Location	Recorded bait
Rock Crab	Lighthouse	Free Lure or Hot Dog
Shrimp	Lighthouse	Free Lure
Lobster	Lighthouse	Hot Dog

The early list is small, but it is connected to the first quest rather than being a separate tutorial pool. The Beer Can chain, Empty Beer Can, and Spider Crab belong to the progression route, not to the normal Rock Crab, Shrimp, or Lobster table. Do not sell a named quest item because it looks like ordinary loot. For that chain, use the beer quest guide and keep the collection table for regular catches.

Forest fish and early mixed bait

Forest is the second location in the collected route and has the widest early bait mix. The list records Piranha, Mackerel, Gar, Pike, Goldfish, Cod, Perch, and Triggerfish. Mackerel and Gar use the Free Lure, Pike and Goldfish accept Free or Beginner in the source, and Cod, Perch, and Triggerfish use Beginner. Piranha is listed with Hot Dog and the Crab Fishing Rod, so change both the rod and bait if that catch refuses the line.

Creature	Location	Recorded bait
Piranha	Forest	Hot Dog with the Crab Fishing Rod in the collected list
Mackerel	Forest	Free Lure
Gar	Forest	Free Lure
Pike	Forest	Free Lure or Beginner Lure
Goldfish	Forest	Free Lure or Beginner Lure
Cod	Forest	Beginner Lure
Perch	Forest	Beginner Lure
Triggerfish	Forest	Beginner Lure

This mixed table explains why buying only the newest lure can leave gaps in a collection run. Carry the Free and Beginner options together when you are clearing Forest, and keep Hot Dog available if you are checking Piranha. The Giant Piranha boss is a different entry and needs the modified bait made from the leech quest. A normal Piranha catch does not satisfy the boss sequence just because the names are similar.

Desert fish and the Standard Lure

The collected Desert list pairs ordinary catches with the Standard Lure. The repeated names are Angelfish, Boxfish, Catfish, Sea Urchin, Seahorse, Clownfish, Bluegill, Salmon, and Needlefish. Needlefish and Seahorse also appear in the endangered-fish material as confirmed examples that can carry the Endangered Species tag, but the tag is the quest condition rather than the species name alone. Inspect the fish before selling it if you are also preparing the Carrot request.

Creature	Location	Recorded bait
Angelfish	Desert	Standard Lure
Boxfish	Desert	Standard Lure
Catfish	Desert	Standard Lure
Sea Urchin	Desert	Standard Lure
Seahorse	Desert	Standard Lure; also a confirmed endangered example
Clownfish	Desert	Standard Lure
Bluegill	Desert	Standard Lure
Salmon	Desert	Standard Lure
Needlefish	Desert	Standard Lure; also a confirmed endangered example

One collected list also reports Bowlfish in the Standard pool, but that name is not repeated consistently across the source set. Keep the entry as Pending confirmation for the current roster rather than presenting it as a guaranteed catch. The same caution applies to any species a later patch adds to Desert. The reliable action is still to equip Standard Lure and inspect the catch prompt for the name and quest tag.

Rocks fish and the Professional Lure

Rocks uses the Professional Lure for its recorded regular fish. The collected names are Parrotfish, Voxelfish, Bass, Halibut, Eel, Tigerfish, Flying Fish, Sengarat, and Red Snapper. Catch these as ordinary collection targets, then switch to the dedicated Professional Boss Lure when a quest calls for Tuna. A regular lure and a boss lure can share a tier word while serving completely different purposes.

Creature	Location	Recorded bait
Parrotfish	Rocks	Professional Lure
Voxelfish	Rocks	Professional Lure
Bass	Rocks	Professional Lure
Halibut	Rocks	Professional Lure
Eel	Rocks	Professional Lure
Tigerfish	Rocks	Professional Lure
Flying Fish	Rocks	Professional Lure
Sengarat	Rocks	Professional Lure
Red Snapper	Rocks	Professional Lure

The Rocks list is also where normal fishing overlaps with the Albatross or Terrorizing Bird progression source. The bird is a boss creature in the collected material, not a regular fish entry, and its head is a route item. If the display uses one name while a guide uses the other, the exact label is Pending confirmation. Keep the progression drop separate from fish you intend to sell or cook.

Volcano fish and the Scientific Lure

Volcano is the fifth main location in the collected map convention and has the shortest repeated regular list. Use the Scientific Lure for Anglerfish, Blobfish, Oarfish, Superdwarf Fish, and Stonefish. The source notes that the late-game roster continues to grow, so a new entry may appear after the source snapshot used for this checklist. The five names below are the stable set repeated in the collected material, while any additional name is Pending confirmation until checked in the current build.

Creature	Location	Recorded bait
Anglerfish	Volcano	Scientific Lure
Blobfish	Volcano	Scientific Lure
Oarfish	Volcano	Scientific Lure
Superdwarf Fish	Volcano	Scientific Lure
Stonefish	Volcano	Scientific Lure

Do not use the Scientific Lure to summon the whale sequence. The Bowhead Whale and Mutated Bowhead Whale are boss creatures with their own quest items, including the Fish Bucket and the Bowhead Whale according to the collected boss table. Regular Volcano fish help fill the log and provide resources, but they do not replace the progression bait. Use the islands guide if the question is how to reach Volcano rather than what to catch there.

Boss creatures and dedicated bait

Bosses are best tracked in a separate table because their bait is usually earned through a named request. Several are not ordinary fish, including Spider Crab and Albatross, but they still appear in the collected catch-and-boss records. The table preserves the source distinction without pretending that every creature follows the regular lure tiers. If a boss item is consumed or behaves differently after a patch, the current behavior is Pending confirmation unless the collected source states it clearly.

Boss or special creature	Dedicated bait recorded in the sources
Spider Crab	Empty Beer Can
Giant Piranha	Modified Leech
Old Pike	Beginner Boss Lure
Blue Shark	Standard Boss Lure
Pufferfish	Carrot
Tuna	Professional Boss Lure
Albatross	Tuna
Goblin Shark	Scientific Boss Lure
Bowhead Whale	Fish Bucket
Mutated Bowhead Whale	Bowhead Whale

The bait chain is part of the answer, not an optional side note. Beer Can goes to the Lighthouse Keeper, who returns the Empty Beer Can for Spider Crab. Three leeches lead to the modified bait for Giant Piranha, while an endangered fish given to the Tourist produces the Carrot for Pufferfish. Tuna and the later whale entries are tied to the Professional, Scientific, and Fish Bucket stages described in the collected progression sources.

Quest bait and collection safety

Quest bait should be treated differently from a fish you plan to sell. The Beer Can, Empty Beer Can, Carrot, boss lures, Fish Bucket, and boss trophies all advance a separate chain, so leaving one in a shop or cooking it can create a false impression that the map is stuck. After a boss dies, look for the named item rather than grabbing the first meat chunk you see. Then return the item to the NPC who requested the encounter and check the next coordinates.

The Pufferfish example shows why inspection matters. The Tourist wants a fish marked Endangered Species, not simply a rare-looking catch, and the source confirms Needlefish and Seahorse as examples. The Carrot is then the summon item, while the Pufferfish Fin is the later hand-in. Keep those three states separate: endangered catch, boss bait, and boss trophy.

Drip variants and achievements

Drip creatures are rare variants of ordinary fish with rainbow-colored name text in the collected cosmetics sources. They do not require a special lure, so the normal island bait remains the correct starting point. A Drip catch is also a collection target, and the source connects Collector with every creature and Fishipedia with every Drip variant. The catch prompt and inventory inspection are the useful checks when a rainbow name appears.

The log is not a live count of every bite. The collected guide says a creature is registered when it dies, so complete the catch state before deciding that a species is missing. The exact total of ordinary fish and Drip variants can change with the roster, and the sources do not provide one consistent current number. That total is therefore Pending confirmation even though the island-by-island bait relationships are documented.

The safest way to finish the list

Clear one island at a time, carrying every ordinary lure listed for that island and reserving boss bait for the named encounter. Mark each creature only after the log updates, and inspect endangered or Drip catches before using them for another purpose. If one entry refuses to appear, verify the island, rod, lure, and whether the source name is one of the entries marked Pending confirmation. This method keeps the checklist useful without inventing a spawn rule or a fixed roster number.

For route context, use the How to Fish map to identify the colored radar destination and the islands progression guide to confirm the trophy hand-in. For a specific boss, switch to the Pufferfish guide or Shark guide rather than spending regular bait on a summon attempt. The collection goal is broad, but every missing entry still reduces to the same evidence-based checks: location, lure, catch name, and completed log state.