Giant Piranha — Unlock Island 3

The kill is only half the unlock. When it dies, pick up the Giant Piranha Skeleton and hand it back to the lakeside NPC. Sell or leave the skeleton and the quest stays stuck — Island 3 never opens.

This is the Island 2 / forest gate in How to Fish (Steam, Dazed Games). Players get stuck here more than on the fight itself.

Do this in order

1. Talk to the woman by the lake on the second island. She wants a big fish that likes leeches.
2. Pick up 3 leeches from the grass — they are ground pickups, not something you catch with the rod. Sweep paths and watch for the pickup prompt in tall grass.
3. Hand all three in. She gives you the Modified Leech bait. That is the summon, not a shop lure.
4. Buy the shotgun if you can. Use shotgun on the boss; punch / melee the small piranhas it spits so you do not waste ammo.
5. Equip the Modified Leech, cast from shore, and pull the Giant Piranha onto land. Fight it there — do not back straight into water or a wall.
6. On the kill, grab the skeleton first. Meat chunks nearby are not the quest item.
7. Carry the skeleton back to the same NPC. When the hand-in completes you get Island 3 coordinates. Check the Radar on the boat.

If you already killed it and nothing happened

• You probably sold, cooked, or dropped the skeleton. The NPC will still talk like the leech quest is open.
• If the Radar vanished after a reload on this island, look under the signposts — a replacement radar often leans against a post.
• You cannot skip this gate. Catching more fish does not open Island 3.

Tick the gate

Same list lives on the verified quest items page. Island map: unlock order.

What this page is not

Not a full species table and not guessed bait names. Steps above match what stuck players ask in Steam discussions. Related: island order · first-hour guide.