I had an amazing Trout Derby, which was needed!

[Duckablo]

After the first couple events that I feel I did pretty mediocre at, I was really looking forward to this event. I saw the sign a couple days before hand and organized everything and got some food ready so I can fish the entire weekend. Then all of a sudden BOOM it was here and that was sooo totally worth it. I made a ton of money from the fish and even got more tags than I expected, I am proudly displaying my wall trophy now.

This was VERY needed, I was starting to lose faith in these events for year 1, they seemed to be more embarrassing showing up to than anything else. I gave my best fish to that darn stew and the fricken' Governor just said it was "Alright." PLAGH. Then Lewis comes over and agrees, not like the whole town didn't just come together to make it... I see where your underwear is Lewis. I will unfoil everything because of this.

Sorry for the rant, and sorry to Maru. I missed you those two days but it was so worth it.
Keep on Farmin'!

 

[MogBeoulve]

Nice! I forgot to save a gold cauliflower the first year, and got the same "meh" reaction - well, you know what? There is always, ALWAYS next year. The next year my farmer crushed it. I think I brought gold cheese or something equally overkill.

Congrats on the trout derby! I'm not good at fishing, so I waited until the second year to hit up the fishing festivals. Otherwise I just have no use for the bait maker.

 

[nicodeux]

This was VERY needed, I was starting to lose faith in these events for year 1, they seemed to be more embarrassing showing up to than anything else. I gave my best fish to that darn stew and the fricken' Governor just said it was "Alright." PLAGH. Then Lewis comes over and agrees, not like the whole town didn't just come together to make it... I see where your underwear is Lewis. I will unfoil everything because of this.

During the first year, especially on your first playthrough, it is difficult to get the best results in festivals where the farmer's performance is evaluated. Like MogBeoulve said, remember that there are always more years to come and in these years festivals, your farmer will shine!

Trout derby was not in game when I started to play Stardew Valley, but since it took me a very long time to be better than "very mediocre" at fishing, Trout derby would have been a horrible festival for me if it has been in game during my first playtrough. So, I'm very glad that you've enjoyed it and made money from it!

That's what make Stardew Valley such a great game: there are many ways to enjoy it.

 

[MateoOfRiverwood]

Sometimes I actually deliberately get a “meh” soup reaction from the Governor on my first year, because my farmer is an ex-Joja programmer who wouldn’t know the first thing about soup recipes yet.

For years my real life cooking skills consisted of “microwave 5 minutes on high”. I corrected that during covid lockdown (at the price of a few kitchen disasters…), but as a fresh city refugee, I figure my farmer shouldn’t know much until he starts getting a decent list of recipe’s from the townsfolk.

Grats on the Fishing derby. I’ve been a semi obsessive fisher in misc games ever since EverQuest, way back in the day.

 

[REtroGeekery]

My first Luau, I had no idea there was a soup my farmer was meant to bring an ingredient for. Lewis's letter just said to bring something tasty for the potluck. I've only known a potluck as an event where everyone brings a completed dish, and I had a cake left from a CC reward, so I brought that. Fortunately, I foraged a gold quality spice berry on the way to the beach, so I at least had something to add and even got a good response.

I love the trout derby. It's such a good way to get good early game and boost your fishing skill. Some of the rewards are also really useful thr first year, like a crabpot or quality sprinkler.

 

[Duckablo]

Nice! I forgot to save a gold cauliflower the first year, and got the same "meh" reaction - well, you know what? There is always, ALWAYS next year. The next year my farmer crushed it. I think I brought gold cheese or something equally overkill.

Congrats on the trout derby! I'm not good at fishing, so I waited until the second year to hit up the fishing festivals. Otherwise I just have no use for the bait maker.

I have never even made the bait maker. I always convert my bug meat into bait, 1 -> 5 is a great conversion. There might be better ways to use it but I typically always have over 100+ bait.

 

[Duckablo]

During the first year, especially on your first playthrough, it is difficult to get the best results in festivals where the farmer's performance is evaluated. Like MogBeoulve said, remember that there are always more years to come and in these years festivals, your farmer will shine!

Trout derby was not in game when I started to play Stardew Valley, but since it took me a very long time to be better than "very mediocre" at fishing, Trout derby would have been a horrible festival for me if it has been in game during my first playtrough. So, I'm very glad that you've enjoyed it and made money from it!

That's what make Stardew Valley such a great game: there are many ways to enjoy it.

I thik all my skills are around 4-5 and my fishing is almost at 10. It's obvious from that alone that I love fishing in this game haha.

 

[MateoOfRiverwood]

I have never even made the bait maker. I always convert my bug meat into bait, 1 -> 5 is a great conversion. There might be better ways to use it but I typically always have over 100+ bait.

The plain Bait Maker is only so so. But the Deluxe Bait Maker... that's worth making and grabbing the next batch each morning.
And the regular bait maker is a component for it, sooo....

 

[Maher]

The thing about the Luau? You just have to put Iridium AF wine in there once for the achievement, then it's field snacks and lucky shorts all the way!

 

[MogBeoulve]

The plain Bait Maker is only so so. But the Deluxe Bait Maker... that's worth making and grabbing the next batch each morning.
And the regular bait maker is a component for it, sooo....

Oh, that's the worm bin/deluxe worm bin. I mean the bait maker that takes a fish and makes special bait that will increase your chances of catching that fish. You don't need this bait for the fishing festivals, obviously, but it makes catching the amount of fish I need faster, so I like it.

I do use worm bins - I set out one bin for every four crab pots. Because I don't like fishing, I do this to slowly raise fishing skill with very little effort. The crab pot catches are also very good for making quality fertilizer, which is my favorite until I can unlock the deluxe version.

 

[chaskuchar]

vi am still getting bait from willy. then i convert it with moss. the first year at the luau i lacked the cauliflower but had silver mayo which qualified for prime ingredient,

 

[MateoOfRiverwood]

Oh, that's the worm bin/deluxe worm bin.

Ah, I stand corrected. Yea, the one for the fish-specific bait can be kind of niche. Definitely times I’d wished I had some ready when Demetrius wants 5 anchovies and I catch 22 other fish before i can get to 5 and by then he’s gone to bed. If you used that for your first few fish of each type you could create a repertoire of bait in advance, but I rarely do so.