How to defeat Pufferfish

Quick answer

Pufferfish is a story boss on Desert Island. Start the encounter with Carrot using the Fishing Rod, then fight it on open ground. The recorded raw base value is 12,000 coins before killscore, cooking or other modifiers.

Pufferfish catch setup

How to get Pufferfish

1. Reach Desert Island. It is stage 3 of the main route and follows the yellow Radar marker.
2. Equip the Fishing Rod and use Carrot only after the fight area, ammunition and healing are ready.
3. Trade Needlefish, Seahorse or another accepted endangered catch for the Carrot. After the encounter starts, follow the dedicated fight plan and preserve its route item or body.
4. Secure the encounter result. Route result: Pufferfish fin; return it to reveal Rocks Island. Check the base creature entry before marking this page complete.

Pufferfish encounter notes

The Desert route boss turns an endangered-species trade into a charging, poison-aware arena fight.

Prepare

• Trade Needlefish, Seahorse or another accepted endangered catch for the Carrot.
• Bring sustained ranged damage and a reserve of food.
• Pick a loop with solid terrain and room to dodge.

Fight plan

• Bait a charge, move across its path and attack after the miss.
• Respect poison space rather than standing still to empty a magazine.
• Keep the fin separate from ordinary sale items.

Desert Island context

The Standard Lure stage combines an endangered-creature trade, a Carrot-triggered story boss and the optional Grillmaster route.

Unlock: Return the Giant Piranha trophy and follow the yellow Radar marker.

Boss trophy and Collector guidance

Pufferfish is tracked through its dedicated encounter. Complete the fight, preserve the trophy, body or route item described in the encounter result, and confirm the base entry before checking it off.

• Prepare before consuming or placing a single-purpose trigger.
• Protect the trophy, body or quest reward from sale, cooking and gambling.
• Use the local checkbox only after the encounter result is secure.

Related creatures

Sources and version boundary

This page records the released-build creature directory and uses original route notes written for this guide. Game identity and update status are checked against Dazed Games' official Steam pages; raw values are shown as reference data rather than guaranteed final sale payouts.

• Official How to Fish Steam listing ↗
• Official Steam announcements ↗
• Site sourcing, extraction count and correction method

Verified for Patch 1.0.10 on August 28, 2026. Patch 1.0.10 slightly reduced Anglerfish health but did not announce new creatures or a changed bait route.