The One Fish Tier List: Best Catches Ranked S to D
The One Fish tier list ranked S to D: best fish for safe high-value scoring, clownfish feeders, junk boot pulls, and dangerous fish like the bomb fish to avoid.
The One Fish tier list ranks every confirmed catch S to D, and the short version is: S-tier fish are the high-value, safe scoring pulls worth 500 and 1500 points, and D-tier fish are the dangerous ones — the bomb fish, the anglerfish and the pink-dreams fish — that should never reach your net. In between: A-tier safe feeders like the clownfish, B-tier ability fish that only pay off when controlled, and C-tier junk pulls (boots, shoes, hats) worth almost nothing. Before the ratings, one frame: this is an editorial ranking, not an official one — re:try has published no tier list. The tiers below are built from launch-week sources on a small sample, checked on August 14, 2026, two days after the August 12 Early Access launch.
Version note: ratings on this page were checked on August 14, 2026 against the Early Access launch build of The One Fish; player-reported values and effects come from launch-week streams and can change with patches.
How This Tier List Works
Every fish is rated on four questions: how much it scores when deposited, how safe it is to hold and carry, what its ability does to you or the crew, and what it does to the net once inside. The numbers come from launch-week gameplay — the 4-player Turkish launch stream measured per-fish values from 15 points up to 1500+, the 3-player Portuguese stream adds the rest — and abilities come from those streams plus the official Steam store page, which names the clownfish and the bomb fish as the two poles of the catch spectrum. Steam reviews (70 at check time, Very Positive) cross-check the player experience.
Two warnings apply everywhere. This is two days of Early Access data: the full roster, official fish names, and the complete ability list are not yet confirmed. And the tiers are our judgement call — positions reflect what the launch crews experienced on camera, and they will move as patches land.
S-Tier (High-Value Pulls)
S-tier is the fish worth 500 and 1500 points, the high-value pulls players measured in the 4-player Turkish launch stream (day-one catches there ranged from 15 up to 1500+). These catches win the day: a 1500-point pull covers a whole 4-player quota — 175 points on day one — with room to spare, and surplus beyond quota converts into money when The One Fish eats.
Two things keep the tier honest. The high-value pulls shown on camera were safe to handle, with no dangerous ability attached — that is what separates S-tier from merely expensive. And which species sits behind the 1500-point pull is not yet confirmed, so on the water you rank by the value that appears when a fish lands, not by its name. For more S-tier chances, the shop’s rarity upgrade raises the odds of rarer fish, and shiny variants — extremely rare — are S-tier candidates on rarity alone. Quota basics are in how-to-feed-the-one-fish.
A-Tier (Safe Feeders)
A-tier is the reliable middle: fish with no observed harmful ability that quietly fill the quota. The clownfish tops the tier and is the one catch with official backup — the Steam store description uses the harmless clownfish as the safe end of its pull range, and the Portuguese stream crew, who nicknamed it Nemo, observed no ability at all. The other quiet catches join it on the same evidence: goldfish, seahorse, jellyfish, sunfish, flying fish and dog-balloon fish, all seen in launch-week footage with no harmful effect attached.
A-tier fish are rarely exciting, but they are the correct default. When the quota bar is low or hunger is tight, spam safe catches and deposit immediately — the full species directory is in fish-list. A-tier pulls never end the day, and a crew that fills the net with safe fish lives to spend the money on rarity upgrades.
B-Tier (Situational Ability Fish)
B-tier holds the ability fish that are only good when someone controls the situation. The official store copy says some fish have abilities that “can come in handy”, so helpful ability fish are part of the design — but none has been documented by name yet, so that half of this tier is not yet confirmed. Launch footage shows the funny, harmless side: the dancing fish forces the holder to dance, and the music fish plays music around itself.
These are B-tier because the effect is a time tax — a player locked into a dance cannot deposit while the hunger bar drains. Reel them in when the quota is covered and the crew is ahead. The swordfish or marlin is the tier’s question mark: a huge fish that is very hard to reel in, seen in the 3-player Portuguese stream, with its official name and value not yet confirmed. It looks like an S-tier candidate, but until its payout is verified it stays situational. Ability mechanics are in ability-fish.
C-Tier (Junk Pulls)
Not everything on the line is a fish. Boots, shoes and hats come up in place of a catch in both launch streams, and they are worth very little — the bottom of the value curve. Whether junk pulls count toward the day’s quota, or score anything at all, is not yet confirmed; neither stream makes the scoring clear.
Junk is C-tier rather than D-tier because it is harmless: no ability, no explosion, no crew risk — pure lost time. The practical rule from the feeding guide: a heavy pull is not automatically a good feed, so check what you actually caught before carrying it across the deck.
D-Tier (Dangerous Fish)
D-tier is the fish that should never go into the net. The bomb fish leads it and is the only one with official naming — the store page’s pull range runs “from a harmless clownfish to an explosive bomb fish” — and launch footage shows why: in the 3-player Portuguese stream a bomb fish detonated and wiped the whole crew. The blast hits everyone near the catch, not just the holder.
The anglerfish is the quiet killer. It attacks players and has one specific rule the 4-player Turkish crew called out on camera: do not throw it into the net, because inside the net it attacks and eats the fish you already stored. The pink-dreams fish inverts your view, makes players dizzy and can trap them; the shark attacks and drags players into the sea, where drowning is a death cause, and the tornado shark joins the same aggressive column. The spiny fish and the skeleton hurt whoever holds them. The rule for all of D-tier: call it out before it clears the water, and never let it near the net.
Caveats
Read the tiers as a launch-week snapshot, not a permanent ranking. The sample is small: two launch-week streams, roughly 70 Steam reviews, and official material that names only two fish. Values are player-measured and can change with patches; the species behind the 500 and 1500-point pulls, the helpful abilities the store page hints at, and the full official roster are all not yet confirmed. Rarity upgrade odds are unpublished, and whether junk counts toward the quota remains open. This is an editorial page, not developer documentation — if a patch rebalances values or abilities, watch the Steam announcements hub and this page will be re-checked.
Sources
Verified August 14, 2026.
- Steam store: https://store.steampowered.com/app/4883580/ (official)
- Steam announcements: https://steamcommunity.com/games/4883580/announcements (official)
- Official X: https://x.com/theonefishgame
- Official YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@theonefishgame
- Launch-week gameplay: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B73S_X4CY3o (3-player Portuguese stream), https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZOJLK4WWceY (4-player Turkish stream)
- Steam reviews: https://steamcommunity.com/app/4883580/reviews/
Fan-made guide. This site is not affiliated with re:try, Steam, or Valve; all game content and media belong to their respective owners. Factual details were last checked on August 14, 2026.