Where they are

Talk to the quest giver on the second island. The Steam achievement calls her the lady in the forest, and her lines say the big fish likes leeches and that you can find them crawling on the ground everywhere.

The Leech item is not on any bait catch table reviewed in build 25604825. Casting a rod does not start this hand-in. Look along the ground after the quest is active.

This is Dazed Games' How to Fish, App 4001890. The steps are not for a real pond or another game with the same word in the title.

How many to turn in

The quest asset I2 Bait Quest sets the required count to 3 and the requested item to Leech. When a quest wants more than one item, the NPC prints your progress over that total, so the counter reads toward 3/3.

Some player videos say five. That number is not this build's quest asset. Follow the counter on the NPC, which is filled from the stored total.

What Leech Bait catches

After the third Leech, take the reward. The quest type gives a bait, and the reward is Leech Bait. The game also selects that bait for the rod. The item description calls it bait for the island 2 boss.

Its catch table has one row: Giant Piranha. It is not a general fish lure, and it is not one of the Beginner, Standard, Professional, or Scientific lures.

Her completed line says to have a gun, because fighting that creature with bare hands is dangerous. After the fight, turn in the Giant Piranha Skeleton. That hand-in, not the leeches themselves, raises the unlocked island count to 3. The rest of the route is the walkthrough.

Why the counter sticks

  • The quest is not active yet, so picked-up creatures are not counting toward this hand-in.
  • You are searching the water. The quest item is a ground Leech, not a hooked fish.
  • You stopped at two because a video said five, or you kept searching after the counter reached 3/3.
  • You sold the Giant Piranha Skeleton. The island unlock is that turn-in, described on the boss page.