Bait: What does it do?

[Wik L. Dash]

So I have gone trought a full 10 stack of bait and haven't seen one fish try and nibble on it or show at all. Does anyone actauly know what it does? If so, Please enlighten me as I haven't a clue.

[Ridennator]

try not looking at the water while aiming the spear so they have more space to spawn

[Wik L. Dash]

I'm not sure what you mean cause I have had fish literaly spawn in right where I am looking (without bait of course).

[Vulbjorn]

Bait baits out rarer fish and attracts all approripate types of fish close to it. Without bait you can effectively only catch common type fishes reliably.

[Wik L. Dash]

So there is basicly no use for the non specialized type of baits? Thats pretty lame. See I hear bait and i think to myself it makes them spawn more then normal not just atracts the 1 that has spawned.

[chaosbringer42]

Some baits attract more types of fishies, some baits just make fishies more visible.

[Vulbjorn]

Originally posted by Wik L. Dash:

So there is basicly no use for the non specialized type of baits? Thats pretty lame. See I hear bait and i think to myself it makes them spawn more then normal not just atracts the 1 that has spawned.

No. Peppered bait, for example, will attract attention of ALL types of fish, increasing chances of uncommon and rare fish spawning and increasing your spawn overall. Twilight attracts predatory fish strictly. Other baits are specialized. Peppered (lvl 1) bait is very, very useful.

[Wik L. Dash]

Maybe I just dont understand how to use it. I'm not seeing any difrence in using bait and not using bait (sometimes I feel not using bait spawns them faster) and I am using peppered bait.

[Vulbjorn]

Originally posted by Wik L. Dash:

Maybe I just dont understand how to use it. I'm not seeing any difrence in using bait and not using bait (sometimes I feel not using bait spawns them faster) and I am using peppered bait.

Here's generally what I do.
1. I find a spot where I am sure fish exists. Throwing bait into water where there is no fish will result in no fish.
2. I listen to fish with RMB to make sure one of them spawns.
3. I throw the bait.

The difference in fishing without the bait and with the bait is day and night. Without it all you'll be able to catch is basically just goopollas (talking about sea fish). With bait I get karkinas, sharracs, murkrays, even got a glappid (legendary fish) once. Keep in mind that fish has sorta "respawn timer", meaning that if you exhausted one source you really should move somewhere else and try fishing there. Then return and see if fish respawns (takes about 3-5 minutes).

[Wik L. Dash]

So bait doesnt spawn fish it just attracts whats around? Also you have any tips on sea fishing? I always have issues seeing into the water on the sea areas.

[Vulbjorn]

Originally posted by Wik L. Dash:

So bait doesnt spawn fish it just attracts whats around? Also you have any tips on sea fishing? I always have issues seeing into the water on the sea areas.

Long story short - I squint really, really hard.
Besides squinting I also periodically jump up (it's easier to see fish from directly up) to notice where exactly they are located, and position myself so the sun is either shining to my back or side (preferrably I sit under a rock).

All that, however, can be bypassed by buying some dyes from fishmonger, which serve as 2m long buff, which lights up all the fish in a pretty large area upon consumption. But they build one hour, so I prefer to squint really hard in the mean time.

And baits don't necessarily outright increase spawns, they mostly shift the quality of the fish in water from Common towards Uncommon and Rare.

[Wik L. Dash]

Ah ok. So you basicly do what I do in ponds and such lol. Find some place that gives you a 75+ degree angle on the water so you can see into it. I've tried those Dyes and IMO they either need to last a bit longer or get more for a craft. Thank you though.

[Wik L. Dash]

I do however have one more question and I'm not sure if you know or not. Does the bait only last as long as it shows in the water or does it last awhile after its gone?

[Vulbjorn]

Originally posted by Wik L. Dash:

I do however have one more question and I'm not sure if you know or not. Does the bait only last as long as it shows in the water or does it last awhile after its gone?

It stops working when it sinks. But fish it spawned sticks for a while, so don't throw another one immediately after this one disappeared.

[Wik L. Dash]

Ok and again thanks.

[Zaydin]

I'm still not sure if there's any reason to use more than one fishing spear, myself.