Josie

> *"This fish is rare and powerful, providing more experience than any other in the sea. Perhaps better to release upon catching it."*
>
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## Josie

### Location

Coral Reef

The Josie is a rare and particularly special Large fish that lives in the waters of the coral basin. It is purple in colour with a distinctive heart-shaped tail and tall fin. It is very valuable and gives the most Fishing XP out of any fish when caught.

The Josie is one of the few ways to unlock the game's secret ending. This ending prior to the 2022 update couldn't be unlocked if the Josie is fished up and sold, since it didn't respawn and there was only ever one Josie in the game then.

Since the 2022 update, if you catch her, she will respawn and follow fish in the Silo area, like Goldbeard and Snuggler. You can still attain the secret ending this way.

### Location

The Josie is found at the easternmost point of the Coral Reef (at the far east end of the coral basin) and sometimes to the far east of the Silo as well where it is usually found trailing a Goldbeard. It swims in the midwater region above the Depths.

A very easy way to locate it is by closing the game and re-opening it, the Josie will always spawn far east of the Coral Reef, West of the Bloopers, you must act quickly though as it will continue swimming East until it reaches past the Silo where it will move freely wherever it desires.

## Catching Guide

The Josie is a relatively simple Large fish to catch, and requires large bait. It moves quite slowly and but it is easy to attract its attention. In Realism Mode, it will pull against the line violently and can easily drag your line all way down to the ocean floor, it is best to lure the Josie near the boat before reeling it up .

HOWEVER, it is in the player's best interests to not catch the Josie at all, or to wait until after they have unlocked the game's ending to do so.

If in the boat, Josie will jump out if you get close to an area where it can be sold.

**Tip :** You can catch Josie, release it, find it again quickly and repeat, which causes the player to get massive amounts of experience. If you can't find Josie after doing that, use a nightfall hat and use another hat. Quickly go to the easternmost point of the Coral Reef and using a deep sonar, you can spot the Josie swimming away.

Another thing, after catching and releasing a Josie once already the same fish will suddenly become incredibly simple to reel in by not fighting at all, but the effect diminishes once you exit the game.

## Reaching the Secret Ending

The only two things required to unlock the secret ending are the Josie and the ability to swim. Swimming is unlocked when the player reaches level 42.

Using Q to enter the water and arrow keys to navigate, exit your boat and swim down to the Josie. Use CTRL to grab onto it, and hold on (a message reading "Don't let go!" will appear).

The Josie will proceed to swim east until it exits the map boundary, taking you with it. When you leave the screen, credits will begin to roll, and you will be awarded the **Escape The Map** achievement.

After this, pressing Q again or restarting the game will put the player back in their boat as if nothing had happened.

### Alternative Methods

Previously it was possible to reach the secret ending by manually Swimming to the end of the map, but this was patched out with the 2022 update. However, there are still a couple of unintended methods of reaching the secret ending without using Josie:

* When nighttime begins, all Seraphs will swim to the bottom edge of the map. If you grab one while swimming, it will eventually take you to the credits.

* If you bait a Great Cusper upwards with a small or medium bait, it will eat your bait and begin to swim downwards again. If you grab onto it during this time, it will also take you to the credits.

Interestingly, using any non-Josie method will give you a shorter, more cut down credits scene.