Palia: How to Complete Something Fishy and Catch Infected Fish

Something Fishy is the main story quest in Palia that permanently unlocks infected fishing in the Elderwood. Until you finish it, the purple, goop-covered fishing nodes scattered around the region are unusable — you can see them, but a normal lure will not pull anything out of them.

Quick answer: Bring Einar 3 Elderwood fish and 10 Infected Essence to receive the Elderwood Lure, then equip that lure, catch 5 infected fish and 50 Infected Essence, and hand the samples to Subira at the Elderwood Central Stables.

How to unlock Something Fishy in Palia

The quest sits behind The Nature of Shadows. When that quest wraps up, Subira asks which kind of living sample you want to collect for her, and picking fishing starts Something Fishy immediately.

If you picked hunting or bug catching instead, you can still come back to it. Once Shot in the Dark or Bugging Out is finished, Something Fishy becomes available as a shorter version that ends after Einar hands over the lure — the second half only exists if fish are the samples Subira is waiting on.

Everything you need to collect

The quest is split across two turn-ins with two different characters. Here is the full material bill before you set out.

Stage	Requirement	Turn in to
Lure research	3 fish from the Elderwood (any rarity, stars not needed) 10 Infected Essence	Einar
Sample collection	5 infected fish from the Elderwood 50 Infected Essence	Subira

Infected Essence works as the Elderwood’s currency, so it lives in the currency tab of your inventory rather than taking up bag slots. You can track your running total there at any point.

Step-by-step walkthrough

Track down Einar and ask him about catching infected fish. He is usually at the Kilima docks around Fisherman’s Lagoon, and he can also be found at his home. He agrees to design a lure, but he wants to study Elderwood wildlife first.

Palia quest log with Something Fishy selected, listing the Elderwood fish and Infected Essence objectives — The Main Story tab tracking the first stage of Something Fishy: three Elderwood fish and 10 Infected Essence for Einar. Image: Singularity 6

Fish anywhere inside the Elderwood until you have three catches. Rarity and star quality do not matter here, only that the fish came from the region. De Mer Dock on the western side is the most convenient spot because it holds several nodes at once.

Pick up 10 Infected Essence while you are out there. The essence appears as glowing purple orbs floating around the map, and you grab them with the gloves Tamala gave you during The Nature of Shadows. Harvesting infected forage with an Elderwood Potion is the faster method if you already have potions on hand.

Return to Einar and talk to him. He examines the catch, designs the Elderwood Lure, and gives you one for free along with its crafting recipe. If fishing was not the sample method you chose for Subira, the quest closes out here.

Equip the Elderwood Lure, then head back into the Elderwood and look for fishing nodes bubbling with purple and black goop. Cast at those nodes only — a standard node will never produce an infected fish, and an infected node will not cooperate without the lure attached.

Reel in five infected fish. Each one also drops Infected Essence, which chips away at the 50 you owe Subira. De Mer Dock and Mallow’s Way are both reliable, and the Tuning Fork will point you toward nearby nodes as you move around, though it will not tell you which of them are infected.

Meet Subira at the Elderwood Central Stables and hand over the samples. A short conversation plays out and the quest closes.

Elderwood Lure recipe and where to craft it

Lures wear out, and the Elderwood Lure is the priciest of the region’s specialist tools. Craft replacements at a work table using the recipe Einar hands over.

Material	Amount
Silk	20
Palium Bar	1
Ogopuu Skin	3
Infected Essence	50

Note: the lure replaces whatever attachment you normally run, so the safe-zone widening and reel-speed bonuses from your usual lure are gone while you fish infected nodes. Expect rare and epic infected catches to take longer than their clean-water equivalents.

How to tell it worked

After the first turn-in, the Elderwood Lure appears in your inventory as a fishing attachment and the quest log flips to the second stage with the 5 fish and 50 essence counters. That is the confirmation that infected fishing is unlocked for good.

Finishing at the Central Stables awards 25 Renown plus friendship with Subira, and One Step Behind lands in your quest log. Talk to Subira again straight after and she will offer Bugging Out and Shot in the Dark if you have not run them yet.

Why infected fish are not biting

The Elderwood Lure is in your bag but not equipped as your active attachment.
You are casting into a normal node — infected ones are visibly darker, with purple and black goop bubbling at the surface.
Your lure broke mid-session and needs recrafting before the next cast.
You are fishing outside the Elderwood, which will not count toward either objective.

Since One Step Behind pulls you across several corners of the Elderwood, it is worth clearing the bug and hunting unlocks before you follow those tracks. Having all three shade-creature methods available means you can collect anything you stumble across along the way instead of backtracking later.