How to Fish Infinite Boat Loading and Crash Fix
Safe checks for How to Fish infinite boat loading, a game stuck after Create Game, or a boat-screen crash when loading a save or joining a friend.
Checked 2026-09-16 · Applies to PATCH 1.0.12; community reports checked through September 16, 2026
Quick Answer
First identify whether the boat animation loops after Create Game or instead freezes before a crash. Session Type → Singleplayer has limited community confirmation for the looping branch, and joining another room is only a temporary workaround. Preserve the only save: no source confirms a shared cause or guaranteed fix.
Branch A: infinite sailing or stuck after creating a room
Community-reported / Repeated: players report an indefinitely looping boat animation after Host Game, Create Game, or loading a save. A September 15 report also describes Create Game staying stuck before the player could enter the map. Patch 1.0.12 does not claim that this symptom was fixed.
Safe checks for the looping or stuck branch
- Wait a reasonable amount of time once to rule out a slow first load after an update.
- Exit completely, restart Steam, and confirm there is no pending game update.
- Wait for active Steam Cloud synchronization to finish before reopening the save.
- Open Host Game and set Session Type to Singleplayer.
- Try entering the affected save once and record whether the result changes.
- If appropriate, try joining a trusted player's room only as a temporary workaround.
- Verify game files as a diagnostic step, not a promised solution.
- Back up the current save before moving, replacing, or otherwise touching any save file.
Branch B: boat animation freezes and the game crashes
Community-reported / Limited confirmation: a separate player report describes the screen freezing after the boat starts moving and the game then crashing. Reported entry points include selecting an existing save and accepting a friend's invitation. This is tracked separately from an animation that keeps moving forever.
Reported as unsuccessful
In that report, the following attempts did not resolve the freeze and crash. They are not listed as effective fixes:
- Updating drivers.
- Reinstalling the game.
- Restarting the PC.
- Changing graphics settings.
What to record for a crash report
- Whether the entry point was an existing save, Create Game, or a friend invitation.
- Whether the boat kept moving, froze, or froze immediately before a crash.
- Current game version, operating system, CPU, GPU, RAM, and graphics driver version.
- Host or client role, Session Type, Steam Cloud status, and whether solo loading differs.
- Any crash log or operating-system event recorded at the same time.
What remains unverified?
| Claim | Status | Boundary |
|---|---|---|
| The looping animation and freeze-then-crash have the same root cause. | Unverified | The visible boat sequence is similar, but the reported outcomes differ. |
| Session Type: Singleplayer can let a player enter. | Community workaround / Limited confirmation | It is not guaranteed for every save, build, or multiplayer state. |
| Joining another player's room fixes Create Game. | Community workaround / Temporary | It may bypass the blocked path for a session but does not repair it. |
| A damaged save, Steam Cloud, Steam Relay, invitations, or the network causes either branch. | Unverified | Available reports do not isolate any one cause. |
| A network accelerator resolves the loading problem. | Unverified | Community results conflict, so no accelerator is recommended here. |
What to include in a useful loading report
Record the game version, entry point, selected Session Type, host or client role, save age, Steam Cloud status, how long the boat sequence ran, whether the animation moved or froze, and the result of one controlled Singleplayer test.
Related: Troubleshooting Hub, Steam Cloud, Data Recovery, and backup safety, Singleplayer and co-op, and Patch 1.0.12.