Top 10 How to Fish Tips & Tricks for a Strong Start

How to Fish looks innocent enough until you realize that the “fishing” part is only the beginning. Dazed Games’ new and increasingly absurd co-op adventure turns catching fish with your friends into a strange mix of fishing, shooting, physics, exploration, and questionable financial decisions, all in the same sandbox.

How to Fish has sold 1 million copies in 2 days https://t.co/nAgSZvCdOG pic.twitter.com/M0DC7XOW5X

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Some of its most useful mechanics are never properly explained, though, and learning them early can save you a lot of time (and money). Here are 10 How to Fish tips worth knowing before you get too far.

1 Use Dynamite to Farm Fish

Once you can afford dynamite, you don’t need to catch every fish individually. Throwing it into a group of fish can take out several at once, giving you a quick way to fill your inventory and build up some early cash. You can also do this from the boat, making dynamite one of the best weapons you have access to for farming catches without spending ages reeling them in.

2 Grill Valuable Fish Before Selling Them

Don’t rush to sell every expensive fish as soon as you catch it. Once you’ve unlocked the grill, you can cook certain catches to increase their sale value, which is especially useful when you’re already farming several fish at a time with dynamite. Keep the better catches for the grill and sell the less valuable ones directly.

3 Save Dynamite for Bosses, Too

Dynamite is just as useful against large targets as it is for catching fish. You can place several sticks around a boss before setting them off, allowing you to deal a huge amount of damage before the fight has really got going. It is particularly effective against the Blue Shark, so having some explosives ready can make an early boss encounter much easier.

4 Bosses Can Show Up Without a Boss Lure

You don’t always get to decide when a boss fight starts. Even when not using a boss lure, certain bosses can appear naturally while you’re fishing, so spending a long time in the water can eventually put you in front of something much larger than the fish you were trying to catch. Keep some ammunition and healing resources available instead of assuming every encounter will be another routine fishing trip.

5 Learn When to Tap the Reel

Some fish are easier to catch if you repeatedly tap the reel rather than holding it down continuously. The right rhythm, however, depends on how the fish is moving, so pay attention to the tension and its position instead of simply trying to pull it toward you as quickly as possible. Tougher catches are sure to become much less frustrating once you’re in tune with said rhythm.

6 Drag Fish Onto Your Boat

You can sometimes pull a fish onto your boat instead of trying to finish it in the water. Once it is on the deck, it has much less room to move, essentially giving you a much easier target for your weapon. This is especially useful when a fish is proving difficult to control, and it can also give you an additional bonus in certain situations.

7 Use the Environment to Trap Fish

You can use buildings and other objects around the islands to limit where fish can move. Lure a troublesome catch toward a structure, and you may be able to get it stuck against the terrain, giving you a much easier shot. It is a simple trick, but the game’s physics make the environment surprisingly useful when a fish, naturally, refuses to cooperate.

8 Switch Weapons Instead of Reloading

How to Fish is as much a “friendslop” fishing simulator as it is a shooter, after all: if one weapon runs dry, switch to your other equipped weapon rather than standing around waiting for a reload. This lets you keep firing while the first gun becomes ready again, which is particularly useful when you’re dealing with a boss or anything else that won’t give you time to breathe.

9 Kite Bosses Around Terrain

You don’t have to fight bosses in an open area. Running around terrain in a loop can make their movement much easier to predict, giving you more windows to attack while keeping some distance. Find some cover that you can easily circle around, and use it to control your next fight.

10 Take Down Those Seagulls Before a Boss Fight

Seagulls are easy to ignore until one becomes a problem during a boss encounter. Clearing them out beforehand removes another source of chaos, which matters even more in co-op when a teammate can be carried away at exactly the wrong moment. It only takes a few seconds and can prevent an otherwise manageable fight from becoming a rescue mission.

These are the kinds of beginner tips and tricks that are sure to make the early hours of your How to Fish adventure a tad easier. Which tip helped you the most, and have you found another mechanic the game does a poor job of explaining? Let us know in the comments below!