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How to Fish Performance: Fix 100% GPU, Stuttering & Tearing

Last verified August 28, 2026 · Game version 1.0.10

First, which problem do you actually have?

  • GPU pinned at 90–100%, fans roaring, even at the menu → it is the uncapped framerate. Fix #1 below solves it in two minutes.
  • Regular stutters or screen tearing while playing → Fix #2, with honest notes on what works and what is still unresolved.
  • Ran fine before, laggy since a game update → Fix #3: update-era checklist.

Fix #1 — Cap FPS in Your GPU Driver (Not In-Game)

This is the accepted answer on the game’s own forums, and it comes with before/after numbers. The in-game limiter does not hold — one player set it to 60 FPS and still measured 400+ FPS, with V-Sync on top. The game keeps rendering every frame your hardware can push, so utilization sits at 90–100% and the card cooks itself.

  1. NVIDIA: open NVIDIA Control Panel → Manage 3D Settings → Program Settings → How to Fish → enable Max Frame Rate and set it to your monitor’s refresh rate (or 60).
  2. AMD: open AMD Adrenalin → Gaming → How to Fish → enable Frame Rate Target Control (or Radeon Chill) with the same target.
  3. Launch the game and check utilization in the driver overlay: a capped setup should show the GPU loafing instead of pegging.
  4. Emergency fallback: drop the resolution — a 3080 Ti owner went from “jet engine at 4K” to comfortable play at 1080p even before capping.

Measured result from the thread: “Changing my GPU’s max frame rate worked for me. I’m now at 15% GPU utilization and not 90+.”

Aim for a cap at or below your monitor refresh — frame rates far above it only add heat and tearing. Our settings guide covers the rest of the options menu, including the 30 FPS floor behavior for very low caps.

Fix #2 — Stuttering and Screen Tearing on a Strong PC

The honest picture from the forums: tearing and stutter get reported even on a RTX 4090 with a Ryzen 9800X3D, with or without V-Sync and frame limits — while other players with mid-range hardware report flawless high-setting play. That split means it is not your PC being weak, but also not a guaranteed bug on every machine. What the reports support:

  • Cap frames in the driver first (Fix #1) — smoothing frame pacing is the single most-repeated improvement, and uncapped rendering amplifies tearing.
  • Prefer G-Sync / FreeSync over in-game V-Sync if your monitor supports it — the community suggestion for tearing with less input lag, which matters for casting and reeling timing.
  • Try a different display mode — borderless windowed versus fullscreen changes the compositor path and has helped tearing in other Unity games; treat it as an experiment, not a verified fix.
  • One unconfirmed pattern: a single thread saw NVIDIA laptop GPUs stutter while an AMD desktop did not. Interesting, but one data point — do not buy hardware over it.

No patch note through 1.0.10 claims optimization or limiter fixes. If stutter is your only symptom, the driver cap plus patience for the next patch is the current state of the art.

Fix #3 — It Ran Fine Until an Update

Several players date their lag to a specific August update — one reports a machine that “ran fine on Friday” lagging by Saturday while other AAA titles stayed smooth. The encouraging part of that same thread: after the next game update, the affected machine “now runs fine.” The checklist:

  1. Update to the current build — patches have been landing every day or two; check the patch history for the latest.
  2. Verify game files (Steam → Properties → Installed Files → Verify) — one affected player confirmed doing this; harmless and rules out a bad download.
  3. Re-apply the driver-side cap after driver or game reinstalls — program-specific profiles can reset.
  4. Still lagging? Add your hardware and timing to the forum threads — the repeated post-update pattern is what gets optimization onto the developers’ radar.

Performance FAQ

Why is How to Fish using 100% of my GPU?

The game renders uncapped frames: with the in-game limiter unreliable, it pushes as many FPS as the hardware allows, which pins utilization (and fan noise) at maximum. The accepted fix from the community: set a maximum frame rate in your GPU driver — NVIDIA Control Panel (Max Frame Rate) or AMD Adrenalin — instead of inside the game. One player measured utilization dropping from 90%+ to about 15% after capping in the driver.

Does the in-game FPS cap work?

Multiple players report it does not hold: one set the in-game cap to 60 and still measured 400+ FPS with V-Sync toggled as well. Treat the in-game limiter as unreliable on current builds and set your cap in the NVIDIA Control Panel or AMD Adrenalin. A resolution drop is an emergency fallback — it cut load immediately for a 3080 Ti owner.

Why am I stuttering with a high-end PC (even an RTX 4090)?

Screen tearing and stutter have been reported on flagship hardware — one 4090 / Ryzen 9800X3D owner sees it with and without V-Sync and frame limits — while other players with mid-range cards run the game smoothly at high settings, so it is not a pure hardware ceiling. Driver-side frame caps smooth out pacing for many, and one owner resolved stutter after the next game update. No single universal fix is confirmed yet; no patch note has claimed a performance fix so far.

Will a patch fix the performance issues?

The developers have been shipping frequent patches (see our patch history), but none of the notes through 1.0.10 mention the FPS limiter or optimization. Reports also show the problem shifting between updates — lag that appeared after one August update cleared for one player after the next one — so updating to the current build and verifying game files are worthwhile first steps, followed by the driver-side cap.

Sources & Verification

Data on this page is re-verified against the sources above after each official patch. See our editorial policy for how we source and correct game data.