How to Fish Achievements — All 28 and How to Unlock Them

Which two achievements are missable?

Almost the entire list unlocks naturally across three playthroughs. These two do not forgive:

• “No Radio” — reach Island 3 without ever buying the boat radio. It’s a cheap, tempting early purchase and the achievement has no other gate. Decide on the dock of Island 1 and tell your crew, because one of them will buy it “to help”.
• “Return to Sender” — defeat Pufferfish Prime without using dynamite. It conflicts with the normal strategy in the Pufferfish Prime guide, so it needs its own planned run.

Group 1 · Free with play (12 achievements)

Unlocks from doing the main loop normally. You will get these without trying — do not chase them; let them come.

Achievement	Unlock condition
First Cast	Catch your very first fish. Welcome aboard.
Breakfast of Champions	Eat a grilled fish. Raw does not count, for good reason.
Pocket Change	Earn $100 lifetime. Roughly one good mackerel day.
Swarm Season	Clear your first leech swarm wave without losing the grill.
Islander	Reach Island 2, The Swarm.
Deeper	Reach Island 3, Deep Abyss.
Trophy Hunter	Defeat Pufferfish Prime for the first time.
Reef Runner	Reach Island 4, Coral Reaches.
Golden Hour	Reach Island 5, The Golden Isle.
Full Tackle Box	Own five different lures at once.
Deckhand	Complete one full co-op session without disconnecting.
Night Shift	Catch a fish during the night cycle.

The progression ones pair naturally with the island walkthrough — reach the island, bank the achievement.

Group 2 · Cash & casino (6 achievements)

Money milestones and casino moments. Lifetime counters survive between runs, so these accumulate quietly in the background of everything else you do.

Achievement	Unlock condition
High Roller	Own every casino charm at the same time.
Jackpot!	Hit the slot cabinet jackpot. Pure variance, full lights.
Drip Premium	Sell a rare fish at the high-roller table instead of the dock.
Five Figures	Earn $10,000 lifetime.
Chip Leader	Hold 1,000 casino chips at once without spending them.
Waste of Money	Eat a golden sardine. Yes, that one.

The jackpot is pure variance — budget 20 minutes and a stack of chips you were going to lose anyway. “Own every charm” is cheapest on Hard mode where payouts run about 40% fatter; the math is in Casino Economics.

Group 3 · Combat skill (5 achievements)

The trick-shot family plus one very brave no-dynamite boss clear. Ten mid-air catches sounds like a grind until you find a settled flying-fish school with the feather rig — then it’s a lunch break.

Achievement	Unlock condition
No Scope, All Fish	Land your first mid-air catch with a weapon tag.
Ten For Ten	Land ten mid-air catches. Find a settled feather-rig school.
Trick Trio	Land a mid-air catch with every gun in the cabinet.
Lone Wave	Clear a full swarm wave solo.
Return to Sender ⚠️ missable	Defeat Pufferfish Prime without using any dynamite.

Trick-shot mechanics and the payout table are in the Weapons & Money 101 guide. Return to Sender is the hardest of the five — bring the harpoon, not the bravery, and run it on Easy with full gear.

Group 4 · The grinds (5 achievements)

Catch-everything checks and two long-session ones. The species completion is where the fishipedia earns its keep — check lures and time-of-day windows before you farm, not after.

Achievement	Unlock condition
Fishipedia Complete	Catch every species in the database. Night lures and quiet decks required.
Chef’s Special	Cook one of every grillable fish in the recipe book.
Seven Days at Sea	Play a full in-game week without blacking out from hunger.
Golden Getaway	Catch the golden sardine. The jackpot fish jumps for no one.
No Radio ⚠️ missable	Reach Island 3 without ever buying the boat radio.

How do you track progress without a spreadsheet?

The in-game list sorts by unlock percentage, not by logical group — check it against this page at the end of every run and write down what’s left. The most common completionist mistake is discovering “No Radio” was blocked three runs ago by a helpful teammate with spare cash. Spend the thirty seconds. Save the run.