Fishing in Stardew Valley is notoriously difficult, especially when the player has a low Fishing skill level. However, by using the right tackle, it can be made a bit easier. There are two different categories of items that can be attached to a fishing rod: lures and bait. Lures, or tackle, are typically used to make the actual process of catching fish easier, while bait is mostly used to attract the fish in the first place.

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There are a handful of types of tackle and bait in Stardew Valley, and they're obtained in a variety of different ways. Some of them are bought from Willy's shop, some can be crafted by the player, and others are found in unique ways. Here's how to find them all, how to use them, and what they do.

How to Use Bait and Tackle

Attaching bait or tackle to a fishing rod is a bit convoluted, so let's go over that first.

The first fishing rod the players obtains is the Bamboo Pole, which is given by Willy at the beginning of the game. Unfortunately, this rod cannot be equipped with bait or tackle. The same goes for the Training Rod that Willy sells.

• At Fishing Level 2, Willy will begin selling the Fiberglass Rod. Bait can be used with this rod, but not tackle.
• At Fishing Level 6, the Iridium Rod is unlocked and sold at Willy's shop. This rod allows the player to use both bait and tackle.

To attach bait or tackle to a rod, head to the inventory screen. Select the bait or tackle, then hover the cursor over the fishing rod and place it. Here's how to do it on each platform:

*There is currently no way to outright remove bait or tackle from a fishing rod on mobile devices. One workaround players have discovered is to craft another type of bait or tackle and replace the attached bait or lure with it.

Spinner and Dressed Spinner

These are the most basic lures in the game, but they can be very useful, especially to the impatient or speedrunners.

Both of these lures will reduce the maximum amount of time that can pass before a fish bites. A number of factors, including bait, Fishing skill level, and more will all influence the maximum waiting time before a bit, but the absolute max is 30 seconds.

The standard Spinner will reduce the maximum time while casting by 3.75 seconds, and the Dressed Spinner reduces it by 7.5 seconds.

Barbed Hook

This lure can be hit or miss. What it does is cause the fishing bar (the green bar in the mini-game) to "cling" to the fish icon as it moves up and down. However, this can be a bonus or a detriment, depending on the fish that bites.

The bar will only cling to the fish icon when it's actually over it, so fish that move back and forth quickly will escape its grip very easily. On slow fish, though, the Barbed Hook can be a helpful item, especially for newer players.

Cork Bobber

This lure increases the size of the green bar in the fishing mini-game, adding a flat 24 pixels to it. Fishing skill levels also increase the size of the bar, meaning the Cork Bobber is much more useful at lower Fishing skill levels as the 24 pixels represent a higher percentage of the bar.

Lead Bobber

The Lead Bobber is helpful when the player struggles with the mini-game bar bouncing on the bottom of the window. This lure prevents this bounce from happening, giving the user much more control.

This lure can't be crafted and must be bought from Willy.

Quality Bobber

To unlock this lure, the player must complete Willy's Special Order, titled "Juicy Bugs Wanted!" The Special Orders board can be accessed starting on Fall 2 in Year 1. Willy tasks the player with collecting 100 batches of Bug Meat and placing it in the box outside his store. The Bug Meat must be collected while the quest is active and can't be from the player's existing storage.

The Quality Bobber increases the quality of any fish caught by one. This is one of only two ways to catch iridium quality fish; the other is by attaining a perfect catch. This is done by catching the fish without it ever leaving the green bar during the mini-game.

Trap Bobber

This is perhaps one of the most useful tackle options in the game. The Trap Bobber makes the catch meter fall more slowly when the fish is outside the green bar. It slows down the meter's drop rate by 33%.

Treasure Hunter

The Treasure Hunter is not concerned with helping catch fish. Instead, it increases the rate at which treasure chests appear while fishing. The standard base rate for treasure chests appearing is 15%, and this lure adds 5%.

As a bonus, this lure also prevents the catch meter from decreasing while the player is unlocking the treasure chest.

Those who love finding treasure while fishing should also consider two other options for increasing the chance:

• The Pirate profession, which is an option at Fishing Level 10 if Fisher was chosen at Level 5 — it increases the chance by 15%
• Magnets, which use the bait slot on a fishing rod — they also add 15%

The player's Daily Luck can increase or decrease the chance of finding a treasure chest as well, as can Luck buffs from the Special Charm or food.

Curiosity Lure

This lure cannot be bought or crafted. It can only be found by smashing crates and barrels in Skull Cavern, the Volcano Dungeon, or the Quarry mine. Some monsters in Skull Cavern can also drop them from time to time.

The Curiosity Lure increases the chance of finding rare fish, with some exceptions.

Exceptions:

• Glacierfish and Glacierfish II (other Legendary fish do receive the increase)
• Lava Eels at the Volcano Caldera (Lava Eels do receive the increase in the Mines on Level 100)
• Some catches on the Submarine ride receive a decrease (Midnight Squid, Octopus, Sea Cucumber, Octopus, and Seaweed)

The percentage increase for everything else is dependent on a number of factors. Check out the Stardew Valley Wiki's full analysis for individual species and locations.

Bait

Moving on to bait from tackle, let's start with the standard Bait. This item is fairly straightforward: it reduces the maximum time for a fish to bite by 50%. As a bonus, it also reduces the chance of finding trash items when fishing.

It should be noted that standard Bait can be produced passively with the help of Worm Bins, which produce a handful each day.

Wild Bait

This is essentially the upgraded version of standard Bait. It reduces the maximum time before a bite by 62.5%. It also adds a chance to catch two of a fish at once, however, this effect does not apply to Legendary Fish.

To unlock this crafting recipe, level up friendship with Linus. He'll teach the player how to craft it during his four-heart event.

Magic Bait

Magic Bait is a late-game item with an interesting function. It will remove any time, weather, or season restrictions to a location's pool of catchable fish. This means that the player can catch fish from any season, during any weather, at any time of day.

The recipe can be purchased from Qi's Walnut Room rewards for 20 Qi Gems. Magic Bait can also be purchased pre-made in stacks of 20 for 5 Qi Gems from the reward list.

Magnet

Despite this item looking much more like a lure, it actually functions as bait and goes into the bait slot on a fishing rod. It will increase the chance of finding a treasure chest while fishing by 15%.

Its description says fish don't like the taste, but it actually decreases the maximum bite time by 50%, just like regular old Bait.

Stardew Valley is available on PS4, PS Vita, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, PC, Android, and iOS.

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