How to Unlock Island 3 in How to Fish

Make sure you are on the Forest quest

The Forest is the second island, reached after the Spider Crab, keys, and radar sequence at the Lighthouse. Once you arrive, the important progression thread is the lake quest. Follow that thread until it leads to the Giant Piranha. Wandering toward a yellow contact before this quest is complete skips the condition that opens the route.

If you have not reached the Forest yet, solve that earlier unlock first. Island numbers describe progression order, not a menu where any destination can be selected. The Desert depends on the Forest boss item, so it cannot be treated as an independent discovery.

Use the Modified Leech for the Giant Piranha

The current player-tested lure table pairs the Modified Leech with the Giant Piranha. Check the lure name carefully. A regular Leech and a Modified Leech are separate entries, and using the shorter name as if it were interchangeable is a common source of wasted attempts.

Treat encounter technique beyond that pairing as community-tested and patch-sensitive. The lure match is a useful preparation check, but this guide does not invent a spawn coordinate, health value, cast count, or guaranteed fight pattern. Patch 1.0.9 is the verification point for the page.

Keep the skeleton after the fight

The word skeleton matters. Do not look for a generic key, fin, or head in this step; those belong to other parts of the route. Keeping the item names tied to their NPCs makes the chain much easier to diagnose.

1. Defeat the Giant Piranha as part of the Forest lake progression.
2. Confirm that you obtained the Giant Piranha skeleton. Winning the encounter is not the end of the island unlock.
3. Carry the skeleton back to the lady by the lake in the Forest.
4. Complete the hand-in and let the quest state advance before returning to the boat.

Follow yellow west to the Desert

After the hand-in, use the radar again. The Desert is the yellow contact west of the Forest. The direction is relative, and the map is schematic rather than a scale nautical chart. Watch the radar color while traveling instead of trying to reproduce an exact coordinate from a screenshot.

The Desert is also described as the Palm Trees island or simply the yellow island. These labels all point to Island 3. When you arrive, your next major progression target becomes the Pufferfish encounter, but the Desert unlock itself is complete as soon as the hand-in has opened the route and you reach the yellow destination.

Diagnose a missing yellow route

A save resumed mid-quest is easiest to read from the item state. Carrying the skeleton points back to the lake lady. An active yellow contact points forward to the boat. That distinction saves another unnecessary boss attempt.

• No Giant Piranha victory: continue the Forest lake quest and prepare the Modified Leech.
• Boss defeated but skeleton absent: recheck the encounter outcome before leaving the quest area.
• Skeleton still in your possession: take it to the lady by the Forest lake and finish the dialogue or interaction.
• Hand-in complete but sailing feels directionless: use the yellow radar contact and travel west from the Forest.
• Already at a palm-covered yellow location: you have reached the Desert; stop repeating the Forest hand-in.

Questions players ask

Continue with the right tool