There are tons of new activities in Dave the Diver: In the Jungle, from turn-based jungle combat against spiders and snakes to hunting game birds in the woods with a rifle. But one activity had me more excited than all the rest combined: fishing.
Weird to say it, but after catching hundreds of fish in Dave the Diver, Dave can finally do some fishing—not with a harpoon or net gun or an underwater shottie, but with a good old-fashioned fishing rod. Once you’ve got it you’ll be able to fish in several ponds scattered around the jungle and start collecting new fish types you won’t find anywhere else. But first, you’ve got to acquire a fishing rod, and that means bringing down a very mean fish.
How to get the fishing rod in Dave the Diver: In the Jungle
To get the fishing rod, you’ll first need to do a favor for one of the villagers. Look for Basu, a friendly fellow who lives east of Dave’s cabin, just on the edge of the lake. He’s usually just outside his house, though he may be fishing off his dock, so you may need to enter his house and walk out the back door overlooking the water.
Talk to Basu and ask him about his favorite things. He’ll start talking about Piraiba Catfish, requesting that you serve the fish in some form in your restaurant. He won’t mention the fishing pole, but that’s the reward for bringing him some Piraiba Catfish.
To find the Piraiba Catfish, go diving in the lake and start swimming to the right. You want to be at a depth of between 35-75 meters while you explore. The Piraiba Catfish will typically appear around the middle of the lake at that depth. It’s dark gray with a white underbelly, it’s about three times larger than Dave, and it’s got long whiskers. Here’s what it looks like:
The Piraiba Catfish is a tough customer, so make sure you have extra ammo as one of your hotbar items and spare oxygen (healing) as the other. It has a tendency to swim directly toward you and try to suck you into its mouth.
As it tries swallowing you, you’ll have to beat a quicktime event to avoid it, and if you fail, you’ll have to play another quicktime event to escape from its stomach. I’d recommend circling it while taking shots with the sniper rifle, switching to your shotgun when it’s close up, and swimming either directly up or down when it’s charging at you to avoid its mouth.
After you’ve killed the catfish, either summon your salvage drone to take it away or cut off some of its meat with your knife. Leave the lake and head back to Basu. Once you’ve delivered a piece of Piraiba Catfish to Basu, he’ll give you the fishing rod. His shop also becomes available, where you can buy bait and fishing rod upgrades.
Now you can go fishing at any of the fishing spots in the game! They’re all marked on your map with a fishing rod icon. There’s a pond to the west of the village by the waterfall near the shooting range, and there are three fishing ponds on the jungle map. You can also fish off of Basu’s dock next to the lake.
