How to Fish Desert Island — Pufferfish & Bing Bong
Endangered catch for a Carrot, Blue Shark for the grill, Coconut for the Peak doll.
Desert is Island 3, the yellow Radar marker west of Forest. It unlocks when the lake NPC accepts the Giant Piranha Skeleton. This rock holds the heal economy, the hardest mid-game story boss for many crews, and a hidden Peak crossover that does not appear on the everyday lure table. Patch 1.0.4 nerfed Pufferfish health. Patch 1.0.9’s Easy slider is a fair choice here. Boundary: FANART & PATCH 1.0.10.
Story travel still wants the Pufferfish trophy handed to the Tourist. The grill is a parallel route. Bing Bong is optional encyclopedia / joke content. Do not skip the Carrot because you are farming coconuts.
Creatures
| Creature | Bait | Type |
|---|---|---|
| Catfish | Standard Lure | Normal |
| Bluegill | Standard Lure | Normal |
| Yellow Boxfish | Standard Lure | Normal |
| Angelfish | Standard Lure | Normal |
| Needlefish | Standard Lure | Endangered, Tourist |
| Sea Urchin | Standard Lure | Normal |
| Clownfish | Standard Lure | Normal |
| Seahorse | Standard Lure | Endangered option |
| Bowlfish | Standard Lure | Endangered option |
| Blue Shark | Standard Boss Lure | Grill / Grillmaster |
| Pufferfish | Carrot | Story boss |
| Bing Bong | Coconut (~$350) | Hidden easter egg |
Needlefish, Bowl Fish, and Seahorse are the usual endangered hand-ins. Press F and read the label before you feed the Tourist a random boxfish. He returns a Carrot. That Carrot is the only Pufferfish bait. Standard Lure will not summon the story boss.
Grill and heals
Catch Blue Shark with the Standard Boss Lure (~$280). Talk to the Grillmaster beside the grill for the lighter. Cooking adds up to about 1.5× sell and is the heal you want before Pufferfish. Watch the multiplier; burnt fish is charcoal and also the Yummy in my tummy achievement if you eat it. Lava cooking on Volcano is faster later. Patch 1.0.10 lets you dip weapons in water to clean grill residue. Full loop: Cooking and Healing.
Pufferfish
It rolls, grows, and at half health trails a purple poison cloud. Sidestep; never cut through the path it just took. PC Gamer’s practical kit is an upgraded SMG plus cooked food, using trees and the merchant hut as cover. Patch 1.0.4 reduced its health. Keep the distinctive fin / tail. Return it to the Tourist for Rocks coordinates (red Radar dot). Vacation is the achievement for helping him swim.
Bing Bong
Center of the island, coconut trees. One tree sells a Coconut for about $350. Jump the rock, look up, buy the interactable nut — not every tree is a shop. Equip Coconut and fish on Desert. Bing Bong is a Peak doll with a large health pool (about 2500). An Assault Rifle from Volcano makes the fight kinder if you come back later. Kill it for Collector oddities; cook or sell the body. Dedicated steps: Bing Bong.
Another inventory slot is often sold on this island. Buy it when trophies and guns start fighting for pockets.
Related pages
- Forest Island — how Desert unlocks
- Rocks Island — Tuna and Albatross
- Lures & Bait — Coconut vs Standard
- Boss Fights — poison phase