How to Fish Tips

๐Ÿ† How to Fish 100% Completion Guide

The road to 100% in How to Fish: all 28 Steam achievements by category, the drip-variant Fishipedia grind, Reel of Fortune skins, and the right order to finish everything.

Quick Answer: What 100% Takes

A full clear of How to Fish is 28 Steam achievements. Most arrive naturally on the story run; the real 100% work is the collections and challenges: Collector (find and kill every regular creature), Fishipedia (kill every drip variant โ€” the rare rainbow-named versions, counted separately from their normal forms), the skill-kill set, and two hard finishers โ€” Handyman (the final blow on the final boss with bare hands) and Bean (finish the whole game within one hour). Beat the game first, keep the save โ€” all gear and islands carry over โ€” then clean up on a fully unlocked map.

๐Ÿ’ก Before the final count, update to Patch 1.0.5 or later: it fixed the bug where killing all drip creatures did not unlock Fishipedia.

What You Need

  • A finished save โ€” after the ending you keep every piece of equipment and upgrade, and can travel freely to all islands
  • The Tab key โ€” it opens the in-game encyclopedia showing exactly which common and drip entries are still missing
  • Patience for RNG โ€” the slot machine and roulette achievements are pure luck
  • Our Fish & Creatures list (every creature's island, lure and rod) and the Achievements tracker for progress notes

The Achievement Map: 28 in Six Buckets

Grouped by how they are actually earned โ€” story and upgrades come from playing, the rest are deliberate projects.

Bucket

Story & quests (7)

Achievements

Getting started, Who stole my beer, Dinnertime, Vacation, Terrorizing bird, Deadliest catch, We are so back

How they come

Play the five-island campaign

Bucket

Upgrades (3)

Achievements

Getting an upgrade, I am speed, Fully equipped

How they come

Engine tiers and one fully-attached weapon

Bucket

Skill kills (5)

Achievements

Noob, Impressive, 360 no scope, Easy, Everyone's dream

How they come

Deliberate killscore play

Bucket

Collections (3)

Achievements

Drip, Collector, Fishipedia

How they come

Kill every creature, then every drip variant

Bucket

Discovery & fun (5)

Achievements

Let me go, Grillmaster, Yummy in my tummy, Competitive eating, I'm the bird now

How they come

Curiosity and gags

Bucket

Gambling & economy (3)

Achievements

GOLD GOLD GOLD, All in, Rich! Millionaire

How they come

Casino luck plus one huge sale

Bucket

Challenges (2)

Achievements

Handyman, Bean

How they come

Fists-only finisher and the 1-hour speedrun

Story and Upgrade Achievements

Seven achievements are the campaign itself โ€” they unlock as you clear each island's quests and defeat each boss, ending with "We are so back" for finishing the game. The three upgrade achievements deserve a little planning:

  • Getting an upgrade: buy any boat engine upgrade
  • I am speed: buy the best engine available โ€” save for it directly instead of buying middle tiers casually
  • Fully equipped: apply every attachment to a single weapon (the judgment is one complete weapon, not one of each)

๐Ÿ’ก Along the story, keep an eye out for the near-miss ones: Grillmaster (start any grill) and Let me go (let a seagull pick you up) are free if you notice the moment.

Drip Creatures and the Fishipedia

Every fish type has a rare variant, and drip creatures are the specific collectible subset: their names render in rainbow text (regular fish are white), they look more exaggerated, and the catch prompt reads differently. Crucially, common creatures and their drip variants are counted separately โ€” catching the normal version never fills the drip slot, and vice versa.

  • Same rod, same bait, same water: drip variants appear randomly from the same pool as the regular version
  • Community reports put a drip appearance at roughly 10% of non-boss catches โ€” unofficial, treat as direction not fact
  • You must KILL the drip creature for it to count; catching alone does nothing
  • Boss creatures have drip variants too โ€” re-trigger the boss with its lure as needed
  • Drip creatures regenerate infinitely, so nothing is ever missable
  • Do not over-farm drip mid-story โ€” the efficient window is after the ending, with all islands open

The Reel of Fortune and Gambling Achievements

Drip creatures have a use beyond the Fishipedia: each island has a Reel of Fortune machine, and feeding it a drip creature draws a random weapon or equipment skin โ€” a legendary draw is the "GOLD GOLD GOLD" achievement. After winning a skin, equip the weapon and press Z or C to switch its appearance.

  • No official odds exist for the machine โ€” it is pure RNG, and drip creatures regenerate infinitely so you can keep drawing
  • All in: bet on green at roulette and win โ€” pure chance
  • Rich! Millionaire: sell a single item worth $100,000 or more โ€” high-value creature plus killscore and cooking multipliers (our Money guide has the stacking math)

Skill and Challenge Achievements

  • Noob: one kill with zero killscore multiplier โ€” a deliberately plain kill
  • Impressive: a single 5x killscore kill โ€” combine spin, airshot, headshot and hip-fire on one target
  • 360 no scope: weaken the target first, complete a full rotation, then hip-fire the kill โ€” open areas make it easier
  • Easy: kill any boss within 10 seconds โ€” late-game firepower against an early boss is the standard route
  • Everyone's dream: kill a seagull with dynamite (do not confuse it with Let me go, which is being grabbed by one)
  • Handyman: only the final blow on the final boss must be bare-handed โ€” damage it normally with weapons until it is nearly dead, then switch to fists
  • Bean: finish the entire game within one hour โ€” start a fresh save, skip optional quests, collectibles and the casino, and push only the main islands and essential upgrades

๐Ÿ’ก For Bean, a new save is the clean approach โ€” your completed save stays untouched for the collection grind.

The 100% Route: What Order to Finish Things

Three passes, in the order the game makes them cheap:

  • Pass 1 โ€” the story: progress normally through all islands and quests; most achievements land here; stay alert for Drip, Grillmaster and Let me go
  • Pass 2 โ€” post-game cleanup: keep your gear and finish the skill kills, the grill gags (Yummy in my tummy, Competitive eating), the gambling pair, the flying boat (I'm the bird now), the $100,000 sale, and Handyman's fists-only finisher
  • Pass 3 โ€” collection: common creatures first for Collector, then drip variants by island pool for Fishipedia; update to Patch 1.0.5+ before counting the final entry

๐Ÿ’ก The recommended cleaning order inside pass 3: common rod-and-lure pools โ†’ boss-lure creatures โ†’ any missing mainline creatures โ†’ drip clears island by island.

Published August 26, 2026 ยท Last updated September 21, 2026

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