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How to fish and get fishing bait in Raft

Sling your hook.

Raft has fishing bait now, one of many items introduced when Redbeet’s survival game left early access, but you can’t just make it yourself. To get fishing bait in Raft, you need to build one of the game’s new machines, but it’s worth the effort. You can exchange fish for a new item that nets you rare goods at the Trading Post.

Check out this Raft: The Final Chapter trailer!

How do you get fishing bait in Raft?

Fishing bait comes from the Trading Post and costs Trash Cubes. One Trash Cube gets you one piece of fishing bait, and since most Trading Posts have relatively few bits of fishing bait in stock – it is the end of the world, after all – you’ll need to travel around to other trading posts if you want to stock up on bait.

Getting Trarsh Cubes requires building the Recycler, so do that first.

Once you have the bait, you can choose it when deciding where to fish. This is separate from Shark Bait, which you actually need some fish on hand to use in making it.

How to fish in Raft

If you landed here wondering how to start fishing, you’re in luck because the process is something you can start fairly early in the game. The basic wooden fishing rod unlocks once you plunk one plank and one rope on the research table. That teaches you how to make a wooden fishing rod, and you can craft it with:

  • Six planks
  • Eight ropes

There’s also a metal fishing rod you can learn to craft by putting one scrap, one bolt, and one rope on the research table. Crafting it requires:

  • 3 Scrap
  • 1 Bolt
  • 8 Ropes

The catch rate differs between the two for certain fish and other items. The metal rod, for example, has a higher chance of pulling in mackerel and catfish, while the wooden rod is more likely to get you herring and pomfret.

Whatever you pull in, take it to the Trading Post, where you can get Trade Coins to exchange for even more goods.

If you're after more rare items in Raft, get your hands on some Titanium Ore, though it does take a bit more effort. Sharks are an ever-present threat on the water while you're out gathering materials and fishing, but with the right planning, you can distract and dispatch sharks with relative ease.

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