Bait

For more information, see Bait.

Bait is a group of items that is mandatory for fishing. When a fishing pole is cast, at least one bait item must be in the player's inventory, otherwise, nothing can be caught. Fishing poles will cast their lines with no bait, but there will be no "bites" and no catches. The bait item is only consumed once the player reels in the line with a catch on the hook. It is not consumed upon casting the line or if the line is reeled in with no catch. Most bait has a chance not to be consumed, though.

There are several items that can serve as bait, and they must be obtained in different ways depending on the type:


 * Most critters that are insects, snails, or worms can be used as bait, and must be caught with the Bug Net or.
 * The Truffle Worm is unique in that it is only used for summoning Duke Fishron. It cannot be used for ordinary fishing.
 * Blue, Green, and Pink Jellyfish bait items are unrelated to the Jellyfish enemies. They must themselves be caught via fishing.
 * Apprentice Bait, Journeyman Bait, and Master Bait are acquired as rewards for completing quests for the Angler NPC, as well as from crates.

Bait Power
Bait power influences the quality of the catch (see Fishing for details and other factors), as well as the chances that the bait item will be consumed: Higher bait powers mean less chance that the bait item will be consumed.
 * 5% bait power means the bait will be consumed immediately.
 * Higher multiples of 5% mean that the bait will last approximately that number of fishing attempts (50% bait = 10 catches on average, or 10% chance of bait consumption upon use).
 * The Tackle Box adds 5% of bait power that is used only to compute the chance of consuming bait. That means it is not very useful for the bait items high in bait power, but can significantly improve the number of fish caught with 5% or 10% baits.

Tips

 * As of 1.3.1, critters spawned by statues cannot be caught with a Bug Net, so statues do not aid in the collection of bait.
 * However, gathering bait critters is fairly easy in the Forest, Jungle, or Hallow biomes. The options depend on biome and time of day.
 * In all cases, nearby NPCs improve the proportion of critters as compared to enemies. Provided enough are nearby, they can even suppress enemy spawns completely, which results in critters being the only creatures able to spawn.
 * The spawn rates and spawn caps of critters are affected by many of the same factors as those of hostile enemies, hence Water Candles,, Battle Potions, Calming Potions and Sunflowers will affect critter spawns.


 * Fireflies spawn at night. They tend to congregate near NPC houses in the Forest biome and often spawn in very large numbers. In The Hallow, they are replaced by the superior Lightning Bugs. Their bait power is modest but sufficient for early fishing, and they are comparatively plentiful.
 * The spawn rate of Fireflies is randomly determined at the beginning of each night. Therefore, on some nights massive swarms will be encountered while on other nights very few will spawn.
 * The player may compensate for this by collecting Fireflies during a new moon, when Fireflies spawn in notably higher numbers.
 * Fireflies will not spawn during rain, however, the Worm spawn rate will increase significantly.
 * The Fireflies' spawn rate can be increased by building a platform in the sky high enough so that the ground is not visible. Because terrestrial critters have nothing to spawn on, more Fireflies will spawn. Remember that nearby NPC houses are beneficial.
 * Wings will speed up the job of catching Fireflies considerably. Lacking those, a network of interconnected platforms will also do the trick.
 * Wings will speed up the job of catching Fireflies considerably. Lacking those, a network of interconnected platforms will also do the trick.


 * Worms spawn in the Forest when it is raining. Spending a rainy day walking around NPCs can result in a lot of Worms.
 * Worms will spawn only where rain falls onto grass, watch out for overhanging buildings.
 * Worms cannot climb even a single-block "cliff". Standard placed blocks being square makes a perfect trap for them. It is possible to catch several dozen in one rainy day, by just collecting them in a hole at the end of a flat area. Note that the hole must be at least 2 tiles wide for the player to stand in and swing a Bug Net.
 * Since Worms can also spawn from destroying background objects (see the following overview), an effective way to gather them is to create a new world and walk around the Forest biomes and small surface caves destroying the numerous background objects.
 * Since Worms can also spawn from destroying background objects (see the following overview), an effective way to gather them is to create a new world and walk around the Forest biomes and small surface caves destroying the numerous background objects.


 * Worms, Grasshoppers, and Jungle baits (Buggy, Grubby, and Sluggy) can be found while destroying background objects on the surface:
 * {| class=terraria

! ! Short grass/plants ! Tall grass/plants ! Dirt piles ! Spawn limit
 * 1/400 (0.25%) chance per tile || 1/200 (0.5%) chance per tile || 1/6 (16.7%) chance per tile || align=center | 5
 * 1/100 (1%) chance per tile || 1/50 (2%) chance per tile || || align=center | 5
 * Jungle baits
 * 1/80 (1.25%) per tile in the Jungle || 1/40 (2.5) per tile in the Jungle || || align=center | 8 total
 * }
 * If the number of bait critters on the map has reached its upper limit, no more will spawn. The 3 types of Jungle baits share a total upper limit of 8.
 * Since Flower Boots grow plants on blocks beneath them, they can be utilized to easily gather large numbers of bait.
 * They work on all types of grass whose plants are suitable for spawning critters – regular, Jungle, and Hallowed.
 * A highly effective method is to stand in one spot and repeatedly destroy the flowers beneath the player. The boots will immediately cause new ones to grow.
 * The can be used to destroy the flowers and catch the critters at once, but this is rather slow.
 * A projectile at the player's feet is much faster, since it destroys the flowers just as they are spawned, resulting in a rate of approximately 60 flowers being cut per second – one every tick✅. Items to use for this include a Flare, a, a flail, etc. Build a small casing to catch all spawned critters once in a while, or, on multiplayer, have another player constantly swinging the Bug Net.
 * Since Flower Boots grow plants on blocks beneath them, they can be utilized to easily gather large numbers of bait.
 * They work on all types of grass whose plants are suitable for spawning critters – regular, Jungle, and Hallowed.
 * A highly effective method is to stand in one spot and repeatedly destroy the flowers beneath the player. The boots will immediately cause new ones to grow.
 * The can be used to destroy the flowers and catch the critters at once, but this is rather slow.
 * A projectile at the player's feet is much faster, since it destroys the flowers just as they are spawned, resulting in a rate of approximately 60 flowers being cut per second – one every tick✅. Items to use for this include a Flare, a, a flail, etc. Build a small casing to catch all spawned critters once in a while, or, on multiplayer, have another player constantly swinging the Bug Net.


 * Fishing itself can be a viable way of obtaining bait: Using Crate and Sonar Potions and not reeling in common catches like Bass, the amount of bait obtained from the crates is usually higher than what was spent. The Angler also provides bait as quest rewards.

Trivia

 * The names of the three bait types are based on the three ranks of medieval craft guilds, Apprentice, Journeyman (or fellow), and Master (sometimes grandmaster).
 * The Master Bait's name is a double-entendre on the word "masturbate". This is a common joke in the fishing industry, used by real-life fishermen, bait shops, and in numerous hook baiting tutorials.