In How to Fish, eat the creatures you catch to refill hunger and restore health. Once you unlock the grill, cook those creatures to make stronger food or increase their sale value, but remove them before they burn.
Keep the hunger bar beside your health bar filled by eating the creatures you catch and kill. This survival loop runs underneath all the fishing, shooting, and boss fights. After reaching the grill, cook your catches for stronger food and a major value boost. The route below covers eating, healing, cooking, and the burnt-food method that unlocks two achievements at once.
- How the hunger bar works and how to refill it
- Why eating keeps you alive while fishing and fighting
- Starting the grill on island 3
- Cooking, burning, and reading the inspect screen
- When to eat, sell, or deliberately burn your catch
- How to eat a burnt mini-boss for both eating achievements
- Frequently Asked Questions
How the hunger bar works and how to refill it
Key Catch a creature, kill it, and eat it whenever your hunger runs low. Early on, unequip whatever you’re holding and punch the creature to death. After buying a weapon, you can shoot it instead. Eating the creature refills hunger, so feed yourself between catches to avoid starving mid-session.
Use whatever food the starting island gives you. Clams lie on the ground and can be eaten immediately. Once you have a fishing rod, catch shrimp and crabs, kill them, and eat them. Hunger restoration varies by creature; one shrimp restores roughly a quarter of the hunger bar.
Why eating keeps you alive while fishing and fighting
Eat between catches to stay alive while fishing, dragging creatures inland, and fighting bosses. Letting your hunger and health bars fall leaves you vulnerable to drowning and enemy attacks.
Fish refill hunger and restore health, making them your in-combat heals. Against a tougher enemy such as the island 3 pufferfish boss, dodge, shoot, and eat fish between hits to recover. Buy extra inventory and hotbar slots as you progress. The added space lets you carry more cooked fish, and that stocked food supply keeps you alive during later boss fights.
Starting the grill on island 3
Take the shark request
Speak to the grill master and accept his request to bring back a shark. Completing it opens the grill.
Buy the Standard Boss Lure
Buy the Standard Boss Lure for $280 and use it to pull up the shark.
Fish up and kill the shark
Hook the shark with the lure and finish it off. A maxed Uzi has enough firepower, and the island’s coconut trees occasionally snag the shark so you can deal free damage.
Bring it back to unlock grill access
Carry the shark back to the grill master. He unlocks the grill and awards the Grillmaster achievement.
Cooking, burning, and reading the inspect screen
| Readout | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Value | The item’s sell worth, which rises as it cooks and peaks at 1.5x before crashing to 0. |
| Cooking multiplier | The live cook bonus, running from 1x up to 1.5x, then to 0 once the item goes solid black. |
| Weight | How heavy the item is to carry in your inventory. |
| Killscore | The style multiplier from how you killed the creature, which feeds into its value. |
After unlocking the grill, use it as your main money multiplier. Press F to inspect the item, hold it over the flame, and keep the inspect screen open. The readout updates in real time, letting you track the item’s value as it cooks.
Watch the value multiplier. It rises from 1x to a peak of 1.5x, then drops to 0 as soon as the item turns solid black. Remove the item the moment it reaches 1.5x. Burnt items sell for nothing and restore almost no health or hunger, so only burn an item deliberately when completing an achievement.
When to eat, sell, or deliberately burn your catch
| Situation | Best move |
|---|---|
| Hunger or health is low | Eat a raw creature on the spot to top the bars back up. |
| Selling a catch or a weapon | Grill it to the 1.5x peak first, then sell it for the higher value. |
| Prepping for a boss fight | Cook fish to peak and bank them in your inventory as mid-fight heals. |
| Chasing the eating achievements | Burn a creature solid black — the only time a worthless item is worth making. |
Keep the item inspected with F for the entire time it sits on the grill. Remove it the instant the cooking multiplier reaches 1.5x; leaving it on the flame any longer sends its value down to 0.
How to eat a burnt mini-boss for both eating achievements
Buy the Beginner Boss Lure on island 2
Buy the Beginner Boss Lure for $40. It is the cheapest lure in the game and summons the easiest mini-boss fight.
Fish up and kill the mini-boss
Hook the mini-boss with the lure and kill it.
Burn it solid black on the grill
Hold the mini-boss over the flame and press F to monitor its cooking multiplier. Leave it there until the multiplier reaches 0 and the creature turns solid black; merely charring it will not count.
Eat the burnt mini-boss
Eat the burnt mini-boss to unlock both Yummy in my tummy and Competitive eating with one bite.
Related How to Fish guides
Frequently Asked Questions
Are hot dogs actually food, or are they fishing bait?
The $1 hot dog is fishing bait, not a meal. Equip it on the line to attract creatures and sometimes trigger a boss encounter. It will not refill your hunger bar; eat creatures you catch and kill to restore hunger and health.
Does cooking only work on fish, or on weapons too?
The 1.5x cooking bonus applies to guns and other items as well as fish. Before selling a weapon, place it on the grill and remove it at the 1.5x peak, using the same timing as a catch to increase its sale value.
Video help
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