There are a lot of activities that you may pursue inStardew Valley, ranging from farming to monster slaying. As with most cozy farming games, you’ll also be able to whip out a fishing rod and fish in any body of water that you come across.

While fishing can be done with just the rod, you can also use bait, which provides a variety of benefits such as causing fish to bite faster. In this guide, we are going to take a look at how you can attach bait to your rod, as well as the different types of bait options that exist.

A player looking at a rod in their Inventory in Stardew Valley.

What Rods Can Have Bait?

Onlythree rod types can hold bait,which you can find listed below.

The rod that you get for free at the start of the game cannot hold bait,so you will need to purchase the Fiberglass Rod for 1,800 if you want to start using this material. Eventually, you canupgrade to the Iridium Rod,which can hold bait and tackle.

A player looking at bait in their Inventory in Stardew Valley.

Once you claim Fishing mastery, you’re able to get the Advanced Iridium Rod,which can hold bait and two separate tackles.

How To Attach Bait To A Rod

Once you have one of the three rods listed above, you can put some bait on it. The exact methoddepends on where you are playing the game.Below, you can check out what to press in order to attach bait based on your console.

Remove Bait

PC

Left-click on the bait to pick it up, and then right-click on the rod to attach it.

Right-click on rod

Nintendo Switch

Press A to pick up the bait, and then Y on the rod to attach it.

Press Y on Rod

PlayStation

Press X to pick up the bait, and then Square on the rod to attach it.

Press X on Rod

Xbox

Press A to pick up the bait, and then X on the rod to attach it.

Mobile

Drag the bait (in your inventory) on top of the rod.

You cannot remove bait on the mobile version of Stardew Valley.

Bait can also be added toCrab Potsby holding it and interacting with the pot.

All Bait Types In Stardew Valley

Now that you know about attaching bait, let’s take a final look atthe bait options in the game.These are allattached the same way,regardless of the type.

Fish bite faster

1xBug Meat

Chance to catch 2 fish at once

4-Heart Cutscene with Linus

10xFiber

5xSlime

5x Bug Meat

Magic Bait

Catch fish from any season/time of day (from the associated body of water)

Purchase recipe for 20 Qi Gems

1xRadioactive Ore

Increases size of fishing bar

5x Bait

2xMoss

Challenge Bait

Getting a perfect catch causes you to catch 3x the fish

If the fish leaves the fishing bar, the total will be reduced by one (if the fish leaves the bar 3 times, then the fish will escape)

5xBone Fragment

2x Moss

Targeted Bait

Increases your chance to catch a specific fish

Put a specific fish in the Bait Maker to get its Targeted Bait

Fish of Choice

While theMagnetitem may look like a tackle,it’s technically a bait.This item increases the chances of finding a treasure chest while fishing, andcan be crafted with Fishing level nine.