Key Points
- You will get the quest to collect 3 leeches upon reaching Island 2.
- After handing over all leeches to the NPC on the island, you will get Leech Bait.
- Leech Bait can be used to lure the Giant Piranha boss fight.
In How to Fish, you need to defeat the boss on each island before you can get the coordinates to explore a new one. While Island 1 acted as a tutorial, the real challenge lies after reaching Island 2. At first, things might seem unassuming, but there is a very challenging boss hidden on the island here too.
How to Fish – Leech Overview
| Location | Island 2 |
| Leech requirement | 3 |
| Special equipment required | None |
| Used for | Summoning the Giant Piranha |
How to Start the Leech Quest
You need to unlock Island 2 before you can find the quest here. That involves beating the Spider Crab boss on Island 1 and completing all the quests there before setting sail. You will easily spot the second island from a distance with its lush, dense forest. In case you can’t find the island, head northwest from Island 1 to find it.
After docking your ship, walk around the island to find a woman. She will tell you that she has a special bait recipe, but you need to hand over three leeches. The only drawback to this task is that leeches can’t be found in the ocean, so you need to look elsewhere to get them.
How to Find Leeches
I could find leeches while walking around the grassy areas of the island. While walking around, keep your eyes down on the floor at all times. You will get an interact button whenever you find a leech; just press E to pick it up.
You don’t require any fancy tools or weapons to pick it up, nor do you need to kill it. Pick up any leech you can find and hand it over to the woman NPC. You will need 3 of them to complete the quest, so continue to look around and hand over the leeches one by one.
Using Leech Bait
After handing over the leeches, the woman will automatically hand over the Leech Bait. Use this bait as you would any other bait and start fishing. Eventually, you can draw in the Giant Piranha boss. I recommend first upgrading all your equipment or purchasing new ones before you start the boss fight. After drawing the boss to the island, it will chase after you, so keep your distance or else it will bite back.
Giant Piranha Boss Fight
My ideal choice of weapons is the pistol and the shotgun. I also own a couple of dynamites in my arsenal too. With the shotgun, I added the laser sight for easy aiming and also maxed out my bullets for both weapons. Reload your weapons before starting the fishing process.
With the Leech Bait, you can quickly draw in several piranhas and, ultimately, the piranha boss. Each time you kill a piranha, I recommend consuming them. Once you nab the boss, flick it away from you and switch to your shotgun first. Land a couple of shots and toss a dynamite at it.
The piranha will follow you, and what I liked to do was drop a few dynamites along my path. Eventually, I would turn back and shoot the piranha boss a couple more times before evading it. Eventually, when the boss reaches half health, it will spawn several mini piranhas.
A couple of dynamite sticks and switching to the pistol will take care of them. Don’t forget to consume any fallen piranha to restore health. After killing the boss, kill all remaining piranhas on the island, then pick up the Giant Piranha skeleton. Hand it over to the woman NPC to get the coordinates to the next island.
FAQs
I can’t find any leeches, what do I do?
You need to step into the central grassy areas and look down carefully to find the leeches. In case you still can’t find any, it could be a bug. Restarting the game will usually fix it.
Why doesn’t the NPC hand over the new bait recipe?
You need to hand over three leeches to complete the quest and get the new bait from her.
Is there an easier way to kill the Giant Piranha boss?
You could toss a couple of dynamites into the water before spawning the boss to thin out the piranha herd. Another method to use the dynamite is to line up the dirt path with a few dynamites, then lure the boss down the path. Turn around and shoot the dynamite to cause the explosion. Playing co-op will also help in killing the boss.
