The best way to catch fish in Stardew Valley is to have bait. While there are plenty of bait options, you can start making fish-specific bait to catch the exact fish you’re looking for. Here’s how to get a Bait Maker and start creating your bait.
How to Make Bait in Stardew Valley
You’ll need a Bait Maker to start making your bait. This new station will process fish into bait for that same fish. Making bait for a particular fish will make it much easier to catch them consistently.
How to Unlock the Bait Maker
To unlock the crafting recipe for the Bait Maker station, you must reach level 6 of the Fishing skill. This can take time since you’ll have to earn XP and sleep steadily. The best way to level up quickly is to keep fishing every day or purchase some Bait and Bobber books from the Bookseller.
How to Get the Bait and Bobber Book
The Bookseller only comes around twice every month, but you can check the calendar outside of Pierre’s shop to see the exact days. Once he arrives, make your way through town and head up above Jojo’s Mart/Movie Theater, and he’ll be on the hill near his air balloon. You can purchase the Bait and Bobber book from him for 5,000 gold. Then, read it to increase your fishing skills more quickly.
When you reach level 6 of fishing, by reading and fishing as much as possible, you’ll earn the crafting recipe for the Bait Maker when you sleep and wake up the next morning.
How to Craft the Bait Maker
With the Bait Maker unlocked you can open your Crafting menu to make it. However, you’ll need a few essential ingredients.
- Iron Bars x3
- Coral x3
- Sea Urchin x1
Iron Bars are made from Iron Ore in your furnace. After repairing the bridge with 300 wood, you can get Coral and Sea Urchins from around the Tide Pools area of the beach.
How to Use the Bait Maker
Once you have the Bait Maker made and placed in your Valley, you can start using it to make your own bait. To start, ensure you have some fish in your inventory, particularly the type of that you want to make bait for.
With the fish in your inventory, select it and approach the Bait Maker. Place the fish inside the Bait Maker to start processing it into bait. This will take a few seconds to complete, and then an image of your completed bait will be above the machine. Now, you can grab the fresh bait and start using it!
How to Attach Bait to a Fishing Rod
You can only start using your bait after first attaching it to your fishing rod. To do this, ensure you have both your fishing rod and the bait in your inventory. Then open up your inventory to view both of them.
Equipping bait only seems to work when doing it in your opened inventory, not in your quick slots. You will also need to make sure you don’t have any bait already equipped. Hover over your fishing rod to see if the bait slot is open. If it isn’t, right-click or press X on your fishing rod to pull the bait off. With the slot free, grab your fresh bait and right-click or press X on the fishing rod to apply it. It will put the whole stack if you have more than one.
Now you’re ready to hit the water and start catching fish. Unlike ordinary bait, the bait you make in the Bait Maker will help you catch the specific fish you made bait for. It won’t change how fishing works, but it will entice more fish to you, hopefully saving you some time!
Want to smoke your fish after catching them? Check out how to get a Fish Smoker on GameSkinny’s Stardew Valley hub, or follow along with our other guides like how to get a Big Chest.
