Hello Kitty Island Adventure fishing unlocks once you reach friendship level 3 with Badtz-maru and start his "Keep It Reel" quest, which gives you the Fishing Rod crafting plans (10 Sticks, 3 Thread and 1 Gizmo). After that you can cast into almost any water on Friendship Island, plus certain lava pools on Mount Hothead. Every species comes in tiny, regular and huge sizes, and the right bait or lure makes your target bite faster. Below are the unlock quests, exact lure recipes and where each region's rare fish live.
The details reflect the official wiki and official announcements as of October 16, 2026, after the free Welcome Home update (version 3.0, released October 8, 2026). Fish data comes from the wiki, not hands-on testing, and new content often reaches Apple Arcade first, so details can differ by platform and version.
01
How to unlock fishing
"Keep It Reel" is a "The Right Tools" quest from Badtz-maru that appears at friendship level 3. He gives you the Fishing Rod plans, and you craft the rod at Chococat's Crafting Table near the Resort Gate in Seaside Resort. Then you meet Badtz-maru at the end of the Resort Docks for a quick tutorial and catch one fish off the dock, which is easier than usual. According to the official site, fishing with Badtz-maru is part of the free Hello Kitty Island Intro preview on the App Store.
Fishing lures come much later, after Badtz-maru's chain of fish-tale friendship quests. In order, the wiki lists "A Fishy Investigation", "A Bigger Fish Tale", "Swimming Upstream", "Fish Derby Fun", "Call me Fish-mael!" and "Lure Lore", with waits of one to five days between several of them. In "Lure Lore", My Melody meets you by the Creation Station in Merry Meadow and hands you the Fishing Lure Instructions, and you craft a Shell Seeker Lure for Badtz-maru. The follow-up, "Crafting for Casting", rewards the Prickly Puller Lure Instructions. The quests guide covers the wider quest order.
02
How fishing works
Select the Fishing Rod in your toolbar and cast. A successful cast spawns a random group of the fish available in that spot at the current time of day. When a fish bites, a red exclamation point appears above it, and you press the rod button to hook it.
Then keep the tension bar's indicator in the green or yellow area by tapping and holding the directional buttons; green reels the fish in faster. If the indicator crosses the white center line, the fish may start pulling hard the other way. If it gets pulled all the way to one end, a red stamina circle appears, and when that circle empties the fish escapes and may not bite again right away.
More mechanics to know:
- Pressing the rod button before a bite pulls the hook back slightly and swaps the current fish for the next one in the group.
- Rarities are Common, Uncommon and Rare; the wiki lists no Legendary fish yet.
- The first catch of each species and size gives a specific item, and some catches also drop Sticks or music discs.
- Some fish only appear at certain times (morning, day, evening or night) or during weather such as rain, snowfall, steam or starfall. Weather is usually unlocked through quests later in the game.
- You can change the time of day by using a bed in a Visitor Cabin or with Pekkle's Dance All Night ability.
Badtz-maru's Fish Whisperer (from his friendship level 5) makes fish bite faster, with the chance rising from 25% to 100% by friendship level 17. Hangyodon's Fish Friend (from his friendship level 10) raises the chance of a rare fish spawning by 25%.
03
Fishing bait: which food to use
Bait is any cooked food, potions included. After you cast and before a fish is hooked, you can place an item on the hook. Any bait slightly raises the chance of a bite, but each fish has one preferred bait that makes it more likely to bite and easier to catch. When you've picked the right one, a red heart pops up above the fish before it bites. Bait is used up when you hook a fish, and fiddling with it makes the current fish lose interest for a moment.
If Badtz-maru is nearby, talk to him for bait tips. The Fish Almanac comics also reveal preferred baits. The wiki lists 59 of them, each found in one specific spot, once per save, and they can't be bought at the Comic and Bait Shop.
Several common early fish prefer simple dishes with just one extra ingredient:
- Citrusfin (Seaside Resort): Mama's Apple Pie.
- Peppermint Tetra (Seaside Resort): Pineapple Stack Cake.
- Seaweed Skipper (Seaside Resort): Strawberry Shortcake.
- Masked Wrassler (Rainbow Reef): Joke Soda.
The recipes guide lists the ingredients for each.
04
Fishing lures and lure recipes
Hello Kitty Island Adventure fishing lures are specialized bait crafted at the Creation Station. Each lure needs one or two key materials, and any extra materials only set its size: 1 to 2 materials in total makes a Tiny lure, 3 to 4 a regular lure, and 5 to 6 a Huge lure. Each lure size attracts the matching fish size, and fish that prefer that lure type and size are more likely to spawn while you use it. Lures are used up when you hook a fish.
These are the Hello Kitty Island Adventure fishing lure recipes from the wiki:
| Lure | Key materials | Fish that prefer it |
|---|---|---|
| Shell Seeker | Seashell | Briny Clamfish, Galaxy Grouper |
| Prickly Puller | Cactus Cream | Halfmoon Herring, Nebula Peeper |
| Twig Twirler | Stick | Coastal Clamfish, Steamy Sunfish |
| Glimmer Glider | Shiny | Starlight Floater, Summer Sole |
| Petal Plucker | Lotus Blossom | Crescent Minnow, Tropical Sunfish |
| Metal Magnet | Ingot | Golden Loach, Magma Clamfish |
| Gourd Grabber | Pumpkin | Bog Clamfish, Midnight Pike |
| Marsh Muddler | Swampmallow | Geranium Gar, Spirit Betta |
| Fizzpop Flinger | Fizzy Crystal | Cavern Clamfish, Half-Dipped Dace |
| Brewed Bouncer | Candlenut | Sandy Puffler, Snowdrifter |
| Shadow Spinner | Obsidian Shard | Moonla, Twilight Eye |
| Streamer Snagger | Ribbon | Floral Flyer, Pastel Perch |
| Spicy Spinner | Magma Bloom + Cinna Bloom | Burning Perch |
| Fruity Flinger | Apple + Strawberry | Sailing Charmfish |
| Tropical Twister | Pineapple + Coconut | Jeweled Goby |
| Stellar Snagger | Starfruit + Starfish | Flurry Flyer |
| Blossom Buzzer | Pollen Puff + Sakura | Cherryfin |
| Kelp Clipper (City Town) | Seaweed + City Coin | Marbled Mackerel |
| Grain Grabber (City Town) | Rice | Sunbarb |
The first time you make a lure from the general Fishing Lure Instructions with its correct materials, you unlock that lure's own instructions. With a lure's own instructions, the filler materials don't matter and you always get the right lure. The general instructions can also produce a Strange Lure if your materials include the full key materials of two or more lures, or none at all. No fish prefers Strange Lures, but they still work as generic bait. The wiki's tip is to craft each lure in Tiny size first, using only its key materials, to unlock its instructions cheaply.
05
Where fish live by region
The wiki's fish table currently lists 62 species across nine regions, summarized here with each region's rare catches.
| Region | Fish listed | Where to cast | Rare fish |
|---|---|---|---|
| Seaside Resort | 7 | Ponds, beaches, Resort Docks, Home Island bridge | Steamy Sunfish (steam weather) |
| Rainbow Reef | 13 | Open water and shores around Home Island, Hopscotch Islands, Moon Island | Sailing Charmfish (night), Starry Snipe (starfall, night) |
| Spooky Swamp | 6 | Rivers, moats, ponds by the Witch's Hut, Nature Preserve | None; Bog Clamfish, Midnight Pike and Spirit Betta are Uncommon |
| Gemstone Mountain | 6 | Gemstone Mines caves, Oasis lake, ponds | Jeweled Goby (day) |
| Mount Hothead | 7 | Pier, Hot Springs ponds, lava in the Lava Caves and Caldera | Burning Perch (morning), Shower Springtail (rain) |
| Merry Meadow | 8 | Ponds and streams on each level | Cherryfin (day), Flurry Flyer (snowfall) |
| Icy Peak | 5 | Snow Village ponds, Icy Caves | Aurora Beta (evening, night) |
| Cloud Island | 4 | Circle, moon and star ponds | Starlight Floater (morning, day, night) |
| City Town (DLC) | 6 | Shores, boat dock, Sewers, pool above City Critter Park | Marbled Mackerel |
Exact spots and baits for the rare fish:
| Rare fish | Exact spot | Preferred bait | Lure |
|---|---|---|---|
| Steamy Sunfish | Around the Home Island bridge | Cookie Nut Shake | Twig Twirler |
| Sailing Charmfish | Stone arch near Mount Hothead (tiny ones at the Mount Hothead pier) | Beignets with Pineapple Dip | Fruity Flinger |
| Starry Snipe | Above the Kelp Maze and near the Comedy Club | Chocolate Crepe | None listed |
| Jeweled Goby | Ponds by the Icy Peak Entrance | Boulder Bits Ice Cream | Tropical Twister |
| Burning Perch | Caldera lava pools | Spicy Pizza | Spicy Spinner |
| Shower Springtail | Near the Hot Springs and southern shores | Pineapple Lava Soda | None listed |
| Cherryfin | Pond by the Greenhouse | Strawberry Almond Galette | Blossom Buzzer |
| Flurry Flyer | Near Merry Meadows Plaza and the south side | Nutty Crepe | Stellar Snagger |
| Aurora Beta | All Snow Village ponds | Fantasy Omelet | None listed |
| Starlight Floater | Star pond near Cloud Island Ponds | Three Cheese Pizza | Glimmer Glider |
| Marbled Mackerel | Southern end of the City Town boat dock | Snow Ice | Kelp Clipper |
City Town fish need the City Town DLC, which the wiki says is included with Apple Arcade; see the DLC guide and the map guide.
06
What to do with your fish
In the wiki's recipe data we checked, no cooking recipe uses a rod-caught fish (City Town sushi uses Imaginary seafood, which you catch like critters), but you have plenty of other uses:
- Release them to Badtz-maru at the Comic and Bait Shop. The first 10 you release each day pay out regional currency by tag: Sand Dollars for Seaside Resort, Cloud Island, Icy Peak and City Town fish, Seashells for Rainbow Reef, Mushrooms for Spooky Swamp, Shinies for Gemstone Mountain, Obsidian Shards for Mount Hothead and Pollen Puffs for Merry Meadow. You get 1 for a Common fish, 2 for an Uncommon and 5 for a Rare.
- Donate them at the Fwishing Well in Spooky Swamp, unlocked at Hangyodon friendship level 8 when you begin "When You Fwish Upon a Fish", or at the second well on Cloud Island. It's the only source of Fwish Furniture; rarer fish and bigger batches (ideally at least 10) improve your odds, and size doesn't matter.
- Gift them. Hangyodon likes the Fish and Aquatic tags, so Rainbow Reef fish such as the Galaxy Grouper are 2-heart gifts for him; the gift guide has the full tag lists.
- Display them in aquariums in Visitor Cabins, one fish per aquarium. The visitor Pam asks for two fish in Aquarium Tanks.
The Fishing Goals achievements pay off too. Catching every fish in Seaside Resort, Rainbow Reef, Spooky Swamp, Gemstone Mountain or Mount Hothead earns 10 of that region's currency, and the wiki notes you need all three sizes of each species for these goals. Catching 100 fish earns a Mermaid Figure, Hangyodon's 3-heart gift, and catching a fish in lava earns a Volcanic Guitar, Retsuko's 3-heart gift.
07
Fishing events: Fish Derby and Under the Sea
The Fish Derby is a weekly activity next to the Comic and Bait Shop, unlocked by "Fish Derby Fun". Each week the billboard lists three targets: 10 tiny fish, 6 regular fish and 3 huge fish, each of a named species. Once you've caught them all, turn them in to the Nul wearing a Pirate Hat for that week's prize, which is a piece of past event furniture. Targets and prizes are randomized per player, never ask for fish from areas you haven't unlocked, and can be turned in more than once per week.
The 2026 Under the Sea Celebration ran from May 13 to June 29, 2026, and your first fish each day earned 10 Barnacles, its event currency. Earlier runs also started in late May, but the next dates aren't confirmed yet.