Some Quality of Life Fishing Suggestions

[Lemon_Stone]

I have a few fishing-related quality of life suggestions:

No More Bait From Treasure Chests Without Appropriate Fishing Rod

This is something that has always bugged me. I never particularly liked how it's entirely possible, even when currently fishing with a rod that can't even use it, to get bait or tackle from treasure chests. Not only is it possible, but it happens a lot. Tackle, I can deal with, because the only tackle that can be caught from treasure chests is the dressed spinner, which sells for 500g. Bait, however? When you can't even use it yet, all it does is take up inventory space, which isn't very good in the early game, especially when you haven't at least purchased the first inventory upgrade yet. Not only that, but it's also only worth 1g a piece, not worthwhile to sell at all. I know you can choose whether or not to place treasure chest hauls in your inventory, but the point still stands. As such, I suggest that bait and tackle only be a potential treasure chest haul when you're currently fishing with a rod that can use it. For example, bait should only be possible when using the fiberglass or iridium rod, and tackle should only be possible when using the iridium rod.

A Key to Throw Fish or Items Back Into the Water

I'd like it if we didn't absolutely have to put what we caught in our inventory. The current method one might use to try and throw something back into the water isn't entirely effective. Most of the time, it'll just bounce right back into your inventory. My suggestion? Give us a key that we can press to toss fish and other items back into the water upon catching them. This key could be pressed while the farmer is holding the fish or item up after catching it. Maybe the escape key, similarly to how pressing it while a fish is on the line will let it go? When this key is pressed, the fish or item would be tossed back into the water instead of being placed in your inventory. No more unwanted seaweed or algae!

Bait and Dressed Spinner Increasing the Likelihood of Catching Actual Fish

When "bite rate," is said, this actually means anything that might appear on your line, not just fish. This means, if you're having a particularly unlucky day, that you could very well end up catching a lot of trash, seaweed, or algae, even if you're using bait or a dressed spinner. To me, using bait or a dressed spinner should increase the likelihood of getting fish, and decrease the likelihood of catching trash, seaweed, or algae. This is because, logically, these things are meant to attract fish. Not by a major amount by any means, because that'd be a bit overpowered, but just enough for it to be noticeable.

 

[Magically Clueless]

I feel conflicted about this. Personally, I like to save up bait before I get the fiberglass rod, and it's one reason I like killing bugs in the mine, since I can craft so much bait. On the other hand, getting bait in treasure chests that early in the game does feel like a bit of a cop-out and I think it'd be nice for those to not appear until after you buy a fiberglass rod.

So, I want to be able to get bait through other means, but I think it's completely fair to not get bait in treasure chests until you're able to use it. Same with tackle, though I feel less strongly about that since I don't recall getting it that often.

It would be nice if you could buy a backpack upgrade that 'stores' certain items like bait, tackle, etc. and doesn't take any inventory slots

 

[Lemon_Stone]

I think an "extra pocket" backpack upgrade would be nice. You could store little trinkets in it, like bait, tackle, or maybe even rings. As for reeling in tackle, I've gotten it from a treasure chest a couple of times, but it's definitely way less common than getting bait.

 

[Lemon_Stone]

Update: I decided to make this a general thread for quality of life suggestions pertaining to fishing, since I got a few new ideas. I've edited the first post accordingly.

 

[Cthulhu]

Whenever I've dropped a freshly caught fish, it's always hopped back into the water. At least that's what it does on the xbox.

 

[Lemon_Stone]

Whenever I've dropped a freshly caught fish, it's always hopped back into the water. At least that's what it does on the xbox.

Yeah, fish tend to be more reliably easily thrown back into the water as opposed to seaweed, algae, or trash. They're pretty hit and miss, but most of the time? If I want to throw a piece of algae back, it just hops right back into my inventory.

 

[Cthulhu]

Yeah, dropping stuff is... not a well-thought-out mechanic. If there be something already on the ground nearby, it works well enough, but if you want to drop something to, say, harvest honey, you're often SOL. Not sure how easy that would be to change from a coding standpoint, unfortunately. :/

 

[redbobcat]

On mobile iOS we can’t drop items but dragging the item directly to trash bin works for me.

 

[Cococinel]

I personally like collecting bait before I can use it because it means I have a nice supply when the option to use becomes available. Bait is gone fast, so especially in early game when time counts it's nice to "passively" work on the supply. Same for trash, btw - it might be absolutely useless pre-recycling machine, but once I've got it, the trash is always a really nice boost, notably in unlocking the mill since it's mostly the newspapers I get cloth from.

The first two points made also seem like they'd be solved by dumping the trash in the trash bin in the item menu. Is there an objection to using it? And if the fish:"junk" ratio would be improved in favor of fish with bait and the spinner, would you imagine that to be on top of the increased catch rate or would you want it instead of the increased catch rate?

Something I am 100% on board with is another backpack upgrade, especially since 1.4. I love the reward for perfect catches, but it also means more space is needed - where I only caught gold first, now I catch gold & iridium, moreso since I favor the pirate profession. I find myself being less able to make the most of bubbles when I happen to pass by them without having prepared for fishing that day. It's a reason I never wear hats; if need be, I can open up a slot by wearing the copper pan on my head, and similarly I never purchase animals before the auto-grabber becomes available so that I don't have to worry about having or not having the pail and shears with me. My wish would be for a fourth "toolbelt" row - a row you can only store tools and weapons in. At 7-9 tools and a row of 12 slots, that'd barely give you any extra space (and only for weapons), but it would mean much more freedom and less "where did I leave it?" headscratching in how to spend a day in the game. Anything you do need at a given time goes in the first row and anything you don't need goes in the fourth.

As for my own wishes:

1. I'd like for a fishing rod loaded with bait to be usable to put bait in a crab trap instead of having to go through the process of first getting the bait out and later putting the bait back in. I cannot think of a drawback.
2. I'd love for some more uses for mixed seeds. Maybe it could be a possible form of fishing bait?
3. I hate that there's two fishes (an eel and a shrimp) that swim by the sub that you can't catch.
4. Given that you the sub only comes by for three days, its fish aren't that valuable, and there's only one means to get iridium quality there that requires intense preparation and/or farm space dedication, I think an alternative means to get +4 on fishing would not be too much to ask. Be it another recipe, a tackle (in which case it can't be combined with the cork bobber), or something else, I don't have any preferences on.
5. I don't know if tackles don't stack for compatibility with the fishing rod, but if there'd be a way to code it, I'd like for tackles to stack.
6. I'd like for the Skull Cavern to have random lake floors. Not only would it be an interesting fishing experience, but if you can immediately take the stairs further down it also would be a fair counterpart to the hold up infested floors cause.
7. I'd like for more worthwhile non-fish (crab pot) catches. Like amber, ambergris, and sea silk for sea & jet and lotus roots for the river/lakes.
8. Another nighttime fish for the rivers please. Fishing is a peaceful way to spend a few leftover hours at the end of the day and I'm just so sick of those essentially being bream hours any season other than winter.

 

[Lemon_Stone]

I must have some really bad RNG with soggy newspaper. Every time I've chucked it into the recycling machine lately, torches have popped out. I checked the wiki, and apparently the chances of getting cloth from soggy newspaper are only ten percent. Maybe a bit of a buff to those odds is in order?