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# How to play

## How to catch fish

Bait your hooks, cast the line, wait for the bite, strike and the fight begins. 

Keep the tension within the boost area to charge the reel-in boost. When the boost bar is fully charged it triggers the boost phase that reels in the fish at high speed for a few seconds. 

[image3](images/ff_screenshot_boost.jpeg)

When the reel-booster is active, the fish loses a lot of stamina, which makes it easier to reel in. With every triggered boost, the critical stamina loss increases. Once a fish has lost all its stamina it is exhausted and will be reeled in automatically.

Keep an eye on your rod's and line's durability when reeling in a fish! If the fish weighs more than the maximum weight rating of your fishing rod or line it loses durability quickly. Keep the tension out of the red zone to protect your gear.

## How to customise fishing rods

With every fish you catch you earn **Rod Skill Points**. Once you collected enough **Rod Skill Points** you can level up your fishing rod. Most fishing rods have 20 upgrade levels. On each level you can choose one of three attributes to improve. So if you own two versions of the same fishing rod, you can customise them in different ways.

[image3](images/ff_screenshot_rod_level_up.jpeg)

Here are the attributes you can improve on your fishing rod:

[image2](images/icon_rodup_maxWeight.png)
### Maximum weight
The higher the weight rating, the less damage the rod takes when reeling in a big fish. 

[image2](images/icon_rodup_distance.png)
### Cast distance
Bigger fish often swim far from shore. Extending cast distance lets you reach distant fishing grounds and hook giant fish.

[image2](images/icon_rodup_reelSpeed.png)
### Reel speed
Increases the performance of the fishing reel. Reeling fish in faster can give you the edge in King-of-the-Spot and Speed Fishing competitions.

[image2](images/icon_rodup_castspeed.png)
### Casting speed
Casting over long distances can take precious time, especially if your target fish is fast moving. Increasing the casting speed helps to cast the bait just in front of your next giant catch.

[image2](images/icon_rodup_accuracy.png)
### Casting accuracy
When casting your bait can hit the water anywhere within the green circle around the casting target. The greater the casting distance the bigger the radius and hence the lower the casting accuracy.

Choose this attribute if you more accurate casting. This is especially helpful if you target a shoal of fish.

[image2](images/icon_rodup_control.png)
### Control
The reel booster charges while you keep the tension within the boost range of the tension meter. Levelling up Control speeds up the boost charging.

It also gives you more control of the fish during reel-in: a hooked fish will swim in different directions during the fight. More control means that you can force the fish to swim more sideways, which reduces tensions and increases reel-speed.

[image2](images/icon_rodup_power.png)
### Power
More Power results in a longer and faster Reel Booster Phase! It also reduces the sprint speed of the fish during reel-in.

## Catch Album

Meet your catch album! Each fish species comes in six rarities, from small to legendary. Catch all rarities of a species to unlock the Collector trophy.

[image3](images/ff_screenshot_album.jpeg)

Collect over 30 fish species:

[image3](images/ff_screenshot_album_2.jpeg)