Economy & Gambling
Economy & Gambling — Cooking & CasinoHow to Fish — Economy & Gambling
How to Fish runs on a single currency, coins, and almost everything you buy costs them. The practical questions are the ones this page answers: what's the fastest way to earn, where should the coins go first, how does cooking change the math, and is the casino worth your time. The short version: income comes from trick-shot kills and cooking more than from grinding, and the casino is optional fun, not a money plan.
The One Currency
Coins are the only currency in the game — there's no premium or second tier. They come from three places:
Selling your catch
Fish and the other creatures you kill, including the seagulls you can snipe out of the sky and cook.
Quest turn-ins
Completing an island's NPC request pays out.
Trick-shot kill bonuses
The multipliers explained below.
Because there's no skill tree, the same coins buy everything: rods, weapons, bait, boat engines, attachments, and backpack space. How each of those is priced is on the Weapons & Gear and Fish & Creatures pages.
How to Earn Coins
The fastest income isn't the most fishing — it's stacking the multipliers.
The kill-score multiplier
Every kill can earn a multiplier for how it was done:
- Airborne shots
- Headshots
- One-shot kills
- No-scopes
- 360 spins
- Quickscopes
- Last-bullet kills
- Overkills
1.5x
a 360 spin kill on its own
5x
stacked conditions unlock the Impressive achievement
The practical version: throw a catch into the air and shoot it on the way down — that single airborne kill pays noticeably more than a plain catch, and it's the most reliable income trick in the early game.
The big catches
The bigger the creature, the bigger the payoff, and the top of the scale is huge: a single item can sell for 100,000 or more, which is the Rich! Millionaire achievement on its own. The lure-summoned boss fish on the Bosses page are the repeatable version of this.
100,000+
a single item at the top of the scale — the Rich! Millionaire achievement
Efficiency
Two upgrades pay for themselves by cutting trips:
Backpack slots
Let you carry more back to sell per run, so you make fewer return trips; the math is on the Weapons & Gear page.
Faster boat engine
Does the same thing for crossing between islands.
How to Spend Coins
Gear first, everything cosmetic later
The buying order that works for the early game — rod, then knife, then the boss setup — is laid out in full on the Weapons & Gear page's "What to Buy First".
Bait follows a fixed ladder
- Free 0
- Beginner 3
- Standard 15
- Professional 50
- Scientific 500
Detailed on the Fish & Creatures page.
The one big target
If you're saving for something specific, the one big target is the Assault Rifle before the final boss — don't bleed coins into the casino before you have it.
~20,000
coins for the Assault Rifle, before the final boss
Cooking
Cooking a catch before you sell it is the single biggest flat multiplier on your income, and it's available two ways:
The Grill — Desert island
It's locked until the Grillmaster quest: bring him a Blue Shark and he unlocks the grill.
The volcano lava — Island 5
The lava cooks the same way, so you don't have to sail back to the Desert.
~1.5x
what a cooked catch sells for — a no-tradeoff multiplier, so always cook the valuable stuff before selling
Cooked food is also what you eat to keep hunger topped up, and if you cook something past the point of edible, eating the burnt result is how the "Yummy in my tummy" achievement unlocks.
The Casino
The casino on Island 4 (Rocks) uses only your in-game coins and the fish you bring. The Steam page states this explicitly — there's no real-money gambling, and nothing from the casino is purchasable outside the game.
The Reel of Fortune
The slot machine is called the Reel of Fortune. You feed it the specific rare fish it asks for, then spin. Its payout is rod skins — cosmetic changes to your rod's look and effects.
Skin rarity tiers
- Green
- Purple
- Yellow
- Red
Hitting a legendary tier is the GOLD GOLD GOLD achievement.
Roulette
- Red & blackFrequent, small payouts
- GreenRare but huge — the All in achievement
- Straight numbersThe highest-risk bet
The reliable takeaway: your steady income from trick-shot kills beats the wheel's average, so treat roulette as entertainment, not income.
When gambling is worth it
The casino is entirely optional. It's worth a visit if you're chasing the rod skins or the two gambling achievements (All in, GOLD GOLD GOLD). It's not worth it while you're still saving for gear — gambling your weapon money away is one of the more common ways to stall your own progression. Full achievement details are on the Achievements page.
Common Money Mistakes
- 1
Grinding the cheapest fish
The flat sell price is the slowest income; kill-score multipliers and cooking are where the coins are.
- 2
Selling before cooking
Leaving 1.5x on the table for every valuable catch.
- 3
Gambling your gear money
The casino exists to take coins, not to fund your next weapon.
- 4
Buying expensive guns early
An assault rifle before you're earning at that level stalls everything else (see the buying order on Weapons & Gear).
FAQ
What's the fastest way to earn coins?
Stack the kill-score multiplier (especially airborne and 360 kills), cook everything before selling, and hunt the big catches. That combination out-earns grinding the cheapest fish by a wide margin.
Does the casino use real money?
No. It uses only in-game coins and fish, per the Steam page.
Should I gamble?
Only if you want rod skins or the two gambling achievements. While you're saving for gear, skip it.
What are rod skins for?
They're cosmetic — they change your rod's look and effects. They don't improve stats.
Which achievements are about money?
Rich! Millionaire (sell a single item worth 100,000+), All in (win a bet on green at roulette), and GOLD GOLD GOLD (hit a legendary skin on the slot machine) — all covered on the Achievements page. Achievements