Summary
- Standard Bait is ideal for beginners, reducing wait time for bites by 50% and minimizing trash finds.
- Magnet bait doubles treasure finds but doesn't affect fishing directly, making it a useful bonus.
- Magic Bait bypasses weather and seasons, allowing you to catch any fish in the area, but is harder to obtain.
With the 1.6 update, Stardew Valley has stepped up everything fishing. Where the game only previously had four types of bait, you can now choose from seven. These new types of bait offer a versatile range of options for your many needs, but that doesn't mean they're all going to be equally useful.
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PostsAfter spending some time with each type of bait, we've ranked them based on how difficult they are to obtain versus the reward for using them. So, while you'll probably use them all at some point, here are the ones you'll want to prioritize.
Bait of any kind cannot be used with the Training Rod or the Bamboo Pole. If you want to use these baits, you'll have to upgrade to the Fiberglass Rod, the Iridium Rod, or the Advanced Iridium Rod. Bait can also be used in Crab Pots.
7 Standard Bait
A Good Starting Place For Beginners
Crafting
Purchase
Level:
Ingredients:
Location:
Cost:
Fishing Level 2
Bug Meat x 1
Fish Shop (at Fishing Level 2)
5g
Standard Bait decreases both the time taken for a fish to bite and the chance of finding trash; the time between fish biting being reduced by half, 50%, is useful for catching more fish, and for getting you leveled up much quicker. Compared to the others, standard Bait does the least, but it's all you'll have access to when starting.
If you don't want to craft, buy, or wait to find Bait in Fishing Treasure Chests or the Traveling Cart, you can also craft the Worm Bin at Fishing Level 4, which will produce 4-5 pieces of Bait each morning. The Worm Bin is useful because it can be placed outside the farm, next to fishing spots, and save you a trip.
6 Magnet
Bait For Treasure Hunters
Crafting
Purchase
Level:
Ingredients:
Location:
Cost:
Fishing Level 9
Iron Bar x 1
Fish Shop (at Fishing Level 9)
1,000g
Casino
1, 000 Qi coins
This bait does not affect fishing, but it does increase the chance of finding treasure from 15% to 30%. Since treasure can have all sorts of useful items (like geodes, bait, and artifacts), this bait gives standard fishing a nice bonus, which it's useful when you aren't on the lookout for a specific fish or between other types of bait to try and replenish your supply via Fishing Treasure Chests.
There are several other ways to acquire this bait, including winning the Ice Festival Fishing Contest, finding it in Golden Fishing Treasure Chests, receiving it as a gift from Willy at the Feast of the Winter Star, and checking both the Traveling Cart and Krobus' shop. Overall, though, crafting the Magnet is going to be your fastest and cheapest option.
While you can use the Magnet in Crab Pots, it will simply act as standard Bait, since Crab Pots don't produce Fishing Treasure Chests.
5 Magic Bait
Bypass Weather And Seasons
Crafting
Purchase
Source:
Ingredients:
Location:
Cost:
Qi's Walnut Room for 20 Qi Gems
Radioactive Ore x 1 Bug Meat x 3
Qi's Walnut Room
5 Qi Gems
If you don't want to wait around for a specific weather or season, Magic Bait allows you to bypass those restrictions and catch any fish that can be found in the location you're fishing. There isn't any guarantee you'll find the fish you want using Magic Bait, but it can save a lot of waiting; however, its usefulness is offset by being one of the most difficult types of bait to obtain, so you should save it for when you need it.
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PostsSome things that might be of interest to those of you out there hunting every fish: the Magic Bait works on Legendary Fish, and it also allows you to fish Night Market fish at any time if used in the southwest corner of the beach.
While you can use the Magic Bait in Crab Pots, it will simply act as standard Bait, since Crab Pots aren't impacted by Weather or Season to begin with.
4 Targeted Bait
Target A Fish Of Your Choice
Crafting
Purchase
Tool:
Ingredients:
Location:
Cost:
Bait Maker (at Fishing Level 6)
Targeted Fish x 1
Fish Shop
0.2g x Targeted Fish price
The Targeted Bait is the most useful bait when it comes to completing quests that ask for multiples of one kind of fish, as you can bypass wasting energy on unwanted catches and raise your chances of getting the fish you want, all while getting the standard Bait bonus of reducing the time between bites by half. What it does is increase the Spawn Rate for the fish that's being targeted by 1.66, but it's important to note that this doesn't guarantee always hooking this fish and that this bait is still limited by weather and season.
To make this bait, you can craft the Bait Maker at Fishing Level 6, and once it's crafted the Bait Machine will create Targeted Bait out of whatever fish you put in, including Legendary Fish and Crab Pot caches. With those last two, it's important to note some expectations because he Legendary Fish don't use the spawn rate, so they are unaffected, and most Mine fish don't either, so the Spawn Rate bonus is substituted for a better hook chance.
When used in a Crab Pot, most of the chances are doubled. Lobster is quadrupled, and Clam, Crab, and Oyster are tripled.
3 Challenge Bait
A Bait For Master Fishers
Crafting
Purchase
Level:
Ingredients:
Location:
Cost:
Fishing Mastery
Bone Fragment x 5 Moss x 2
N/A
The Challenge Bait is best used by those who have already mastered the fishing mini-game; that's why you don't unlock the recipe for it until you reach Fishing Mastery. It allows you to catch three of the same kind of fish at once, but only if you catch it perfectly; if you don't manage to catch the fish, one of the three possible fish will leave each time the fish leaves the fishing bar.
While it does decrease the rate between bites by 62.7%, which is higher than the standard Bait, Magic Bait, and Targeted Bait, it also introduces more of a gamble. Since this bait can't be bought, only crafted or found in Golden Fishing Chests, it's more difficult to obtain than other types, so the best use for Challenge Bait is for those of you confident in your fishing skills to quickly fill quest counts.
While you can use the Magic Bait in Crab Pots, it will act as standard Bait.
2 Wild Bait
A Solid Bait With The Chance Of Doubling A Catch
Crafting
Purchase
Event:
Ingredients:
N/A
Linus' Four-Heart Event
Fiber x 10 Slime x 5 Bug Meat x 5
This special bait, which you can't buy, is unlocked via Linus' Four-Heart event, where he'll give you the recipe; before 1.6, this was the best bait in the game. It decreases the time between nibbles more than the standard Bait, by 62.7% from 50%, and it also gives you the chance to catch two of the same fish at once. However, that doesn't work on Legendary Fish.
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PostsThe ingredients to craft it aren't difficult to find, and it's a solid choice for fishers who aren't super experienced and still working on improving. While you don't get extra experience from multiples when fishing with bait, it's a nice bonus that comes with a faster rate, providing more fish for your time.
In a Crab Pot, Wild Bait also decreases the chance of catching trash. If you have the Mariner profession, this doesn't apply as your crab pots will never catch trash.
1 Deluxe Bait
The Best All-Around Bait
Crafting
Purchase
Level:
Ingredients:
Location:
Cost:
Fishing Level 4
Bait x 5 Moss x 2
Fish Shop (at Fishing Level 4)
100g
Deluxe Bait makes fishing easy by reducing the time between bites by the most of all the baits (67%) and by increasing the size of the fishing bar by 12 pixels. This way, you can more easily get perfect catches, catch more fish with less delay, and get more back for what you spend on the bait and ingredients.
This is also an easy bait to find, found trading at the Bookseller, sometimes sold at the Traveling Cart, and as prizes for the Trout Derby festival and SquidFest. If you've already crafted the Worm Bin, to create Standard Bait, then you can upgrade it to the Deluxe Worm Bin at Fishing Level 8 since you receive 4-5 pieces of Deluxe Bait every morning, this bait has the highest return on usefulness for the least amount of effort.
In a Crab Pot, Deluxe Bait increases the quality of your catches to silver, and it decreases the chance of catching trash compared to the normal bait. If you have the Mariner profession, this doesn't apply as your crab pots will never catch trash.
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