How to reach 120 m — dodging your way to the swordfish
Everything below 70 m is swordfish water, and a swordfish pays $40 — as much as a whole chain of shallow fish. But you only get there by not touching anything on the way down: one brush and the reel starts, wherever you are. This guide is about surviving the descent.
What you need first
The 120 m line costs $600 and is the last upgrade on the board (full order here). Until then, practise the dive on the 80 m line — the top of the swordfish band starts at 70 m, so an 80 m line already buys you a shot at one.
Your hook sinks at 20 m/s: a full dive is only six seconds. Your horizontal steering is capped, so you can cross about the full width of the water in under a second — fast enough to dodge anything you saw coming, not fast enough to fix a panic.
Band by band
0–30 m: the crowd. Sardines (60 px/s) barely move; bass (90 px/s) are half again quicker. Neither is dangerous alone — the danger is density. Pick a lane between two fish and commit to it; most first-run failures come from flinching sideways into a bass you'd already dodged. If the surface looks crowded, wait: the fish wrap around the edges, and a gap always comes back around.
30–70 m: the two-speed trap. Mackerel (130 px/s) cross your path fast and often in loose groups — treat them like traffic and time your crossing behind one, not in front of it. Pufferfish (50 px/s) are the opposite problem: slow, wide, and exactly where you wanted to steer. Because puffers barely move, plan around them early; because mackerel move fast, dodge them late. Mixing up those two reactions ends more dives than anything else.
70–120 m: the blink. Swordfish move at 200 px/s — more than three times a sardine — and the band is otherwise empty. You'll have long stretches of open water, then a swordfish crossing your whole screen in about a second. Keep to one side of the water rather than the middle: it halves the directions trouble can come from, and gives you the full width to dodge into.
The turn is where the money is
Reaching depth is only half the trip. The moment you touch bottom (or a fish), the reel starts and every rule flips: now you want to hit everything, up to the eight-fish limit. On the way up, swordfish are the best hook in the game — fast in the water but each worth nearly three pufferfish. A full-depth run that comes back with even two swordfish plus a mid-band chain is $100+ before the combo multiplier, and a clean shooting phase can push it well past $150.
A route that works
- Enter the water off-centre, on whichever side has fewer sardines.
- Hold your lane through the shallows; move only when a bass forces it.
- At 30 m, find the pufferfish first and pick your side of it, then watch for mackerel.
- Below 70 m, hug one edge and enjoy the quiet.
- On the reel, swing across the whole width — the fish guide tells you what's worth the detour.
Your deepest dive is saved with your progress — 120 m is the number that says you've learned the whole water column.