The fastest way to get the Fish Bucket on Island 5 is to blast five fish out of the water with dynamite and hand them to the hazmat scientist, instead of slowly rod-fishing for them.
On Island 5, the volcano, a scientist in a yellow hazmat suit won’t hand over the Fish Bucket until you deliver five fish — and rod-fishing for them is slow, plus it’s easy to die if the whale is already circling. Dynamite turns that grind into a few seconds of work: one blast floats several fish at once, and the bucket you earn is the only bait that hooks the Bowhead Whale. Here’s the fast route, then what to do with the bucket once you have it.
How to get all five fish fast with dynamite in How to Fish
STEP 1/5
Talk to the hazmat scientist
Press E on the yellow-suited scientist to open the delivery quest, which starts the counter at 0/5.
STEP 2/5
Get dynamite
Grab dynamite from the green crate to surface the five fish.
STEP 3/5
Blast the fish out of the water
Throw the dynamite into the sea and shoot it with your SMG to detonate it, killing every fish nearby in one explosion.
STEP 4/5
Hand each fish to the scientist
Scoop up each surfaced fish and turn it in, repeating until the quest reads 5/5.
STEP 5/5
Collect the Fish Bucket
Press E to pick up the Fish Bucket the scientist drops — that’s the bait you need for the Bowhead Whale.
Lob every stick into one dense patch of water and detonate with the SMG — a single blast can float several fish at once, so three or four sticks usually clears all five hand-ins.
Video help
A beer alternative some players report
Some guides report you can skip the fishing part entirely: buy five beers (around $12 each) from the Volcano vendor and hand those to the scientist, and the game supposedly counts them as the five-item request. It’s cheap and quick if it works, but the on-screen quest and every other walkthrough describe five actual fish, so treat the beer route as a shortcut worth testing rather than a guaranteed swap. Keep dynamite ready in case the scientist wants real catches.
Using the Fish Bucket to fight the Bowhead Whale
The Fish Bucket isn’t for more fishing — it’s the bait that draws the boss. Equip the Fish Bucket and fish off the volcano to hook the Bowhead Whale. Bring your assault rifle or sniper rifle and any leftover dynamite; the fight is manageable, but watch for the moment it launches into the air and belly-flops back down, which can almost kill you in a single hit — sprint clear the instant you see it rise.
Key Killing the Bowhead Whale isn’t the finish. Pick up its body, then follow the wooden-plank path up the side of the volcano and throw the carcass into the crater. That’s what spawns the Mutated Bowhead Whale — the lava whale players fight as the game’s final boss — which drops the Whale Fin.
Slip-ups that waste time on this quest
A few mistakes can cost you a lot of time. Only catches made on Island 5 count toward the scientist’s tally, so don’t haul in fish from an earlier island. There’s also no need to chase a specific rare species — any ordinary Volcano fish the dynamite turns up will do. The costliest slip comes later: after you kill the Bowhead Whale, hold onto its corpse instead of selling it, because selling it strands you with no way to trigger the final boss.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I have to fight both the Bowhead Whale and the Mutated Bowhead Whale?
Yes, they’re two separate fights and you can’t skip the first. The Bowhead Whale is the mid-boss you summon with the Fish Bucket; the Mutated Bowhead Whale, the lava whale, is the game’s final boss, and the crater throw above is the only way to trigger it. Beating it drops the Whale Fin, which you hand to the scientist for the black military boat key that opens the mainland ending.
Do the five fish need to be a specific species?
No. Any five catches from the volcano satisfy the scientist — you’ll see whatever the dynamite surfaces, from Perch and Pike to Mackerel and Salmon, and the Scientific Lure fish like the Stonefish, Blobfish, Anglerfish and Oarfish all count too. There’s no reason to fish for a rare type.
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