Bait nerf is bad! Plus Fishing Hat [spoiler] and tips

[Malnaur]

We got the short end of the bait change. Why? Bait recipe now yields half the bait (20) but every cast still consumes one unless you reel all the way in. Wave washes over you so you're now swimming? Suddenly have to defend yourself and switch to a weapon? Too bad. Please fix this! Only hooking a fish should consume the bait.

Otherwise, the fishing is pretty good now. For the complainers, you no longer have to climb the bait chain (only trophies and normal bait needed). You also need to understand the new reeling mechanic: you don't blindly reel in anymore! The fish go through a fight/rest cycle now and reeling only during the rest cycle is a must to preserve stamina. The fishing mini-game is now much more interesting. I would prefer the Ulv trophy to the Fenris trophy for cold bait though. Finding a tetra pond was hard enough!

Now, the Hat!
The Fishing Hat requires 1 of all 12 fish species to craft at the workbench. The recipe will unlock as soon as you catch your 12th species. See the wiki for some more info. What the wiki does NOT tell you is about upgrades! You continue to need all 12 fish species for each upgrade: 1ea for Level 2, 2ea for Level 3 and 3ea(!) for Level 4. So, 7ea total. I assume 4 is max level as I haven't assembled enough fish to get past L3 yet. The upgrades add 4ea to the armor and 200ea to the durability.

[Suzaku]

Originally posted by Malnaur:

We got the short end of the bait change. Why? Bait recipe now yields half the bait (20) but every cast still consumes one. Please fix this!

You have to reel in the cast to get the bait back.

[Capnflag]

Thanks for the fishing tips Malnaur! I gave fishing a go the old way and wasn't happy about it. Which is why I came in search of possible solutions. LOL. Great timing!

[Hobo Misanthropus]

You need the fish from the Ashlands to get the hat, I really don't think it's worth corrupting your ashlands for it. I suppose you can avoid this by making a blank world and bringing your character over with supplies for a longship and Hot bait.

[Philthy]

only hooking a fish consumes a bait. i recast all the time and no bait gets consumed.

[Goodest Boi Hugo]

I'm not risking going to unfinished biomes just to fish. I want the area to update, not be a resourceless wasteland.

[Malnaur]

"only hooking a fish consumes a bait. i recast all the time and no bait gets consumed."

Not correct. Reeling in or recasting will preserve your bait. Anything that switches mode will lose your bait, both changing to another tool/weapon or swimming (on purpose or accidentally). Since getting attacked and being washed out by a sudden wave are frequent occurrences when shore fishing, this costs a lot of lost bait.