How to Fish Best Weapons: What to Buy on Every Island

The short recommendation

Buy the Knife on the first island, use the Pistol or upgraded Shotgun on the second, prioritize the SMG on the third, add the Sniper Rifle for aerial and precision targets, and save the Assault Rifle for the volcano endgame. Do not buy every weapon and attachment as soon as it appears.

Knife: best first purchase

The Knife offers a meaningful jump over bare hands and Brass Knuckles and remains useful long enough to defeat the Spider Crab. Upgrade it for the first island, but stop investing once guns become available.

Pistol versus Shotgun

The Pistol is cheaper and flexible for general fishing combat. The Shotgun is more expensive but delivers strong close-range burst and is widely recommended for the Giant Piranha. Solo players who struggle with that boss gain more from the Shotgun than players in a coordinated group.

SMG: best overall value

The current full walkthrough makes the SMG the central island-three purchase and recommends keeping it for later encounters because it remains useful across several islands. Buy the Compensator to control recoil, improve bullet damage and magazine capacity, and use controlled bursts while moving. It is the safest recommendation for the Pufferfish and several midgame minibosses.

Sniper Rifle: specialist value

The Sniper Rifle is not the universal answer, but it becomes important when targets fly or when safe long-range damage matters. It pairs well with a teammate using the SMG because the team then covers both sustained close pressure and precision shots.

Assault Rifle: endgame purchase

The Assault Rifle is expensive and should not delay essential island upgrades. Buy it when the volcano route and Bowhead Whale are next. Fully upgraded, it becomes the most direct answer to the final health pools, while the earlier SMG can remain useful for ordinary targets.

Purchases to delay or skip

Brass Knuckles offer too little improvement for their cost compared with saving for the Knife. Cosmetic sights are lower priority than damage, magazine, and recoil upgrades. Dynamite is situational but valuable for groups of small enemies and certain bosses; treat it as a utility purchase rather than a primary weapon.