How to Get Challenge Bait (& How to Use it)

To help you on your fishing adventures in Stardew Valley Update 1.6, dev Eric Barone has introduced a new type of bait called the Challenge Bait. This bait lets you catch up to three fish at once with a perfect catch.

However, this triple threat comes with a catch. Each time a fish escapes the green bar during the reeling process, you lose one potential fish from the catch. So if a fish gets away completely, you will only reel in two, or even just one fish. Despite this risk, the Challenge Bait is a great way to potentially catch more fish faster, but it requires precise fishing skills to maximize its effectiveness.

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How to Unlock Challenge Bait Recipe

The crafting recipe for the Challenge Bait is unlocked once players achieve Fishing Mastery. After you reach the maximum level in all five skills, you will get access to the Mastery Cave, where you can find five mastery totems corresponding to each skill.

The Fishing Mastery totem can be claimed once you achieve 10,000 Mastery Points. It grants the following:

Challenge Bait recipe
Advanced Iridium Rod
The ability to find Golden Fishing Treasure Chests.

How to Craft Challenge Bait

Once you unlock the Challenge Bait, you can craft it whenever needed using the following materials:

This recipe produces
5 Challenge Bait per craft.

Bone Fragments are special resources that drop when you defeat Skeletons (found on Floors 71-79 of the Mines) and Lava Lurks (found in the Volcano Dungeon). You can also dig them up from Artifact Spots or collect them by breaking Bone Nodes on Ginger Island.

On the other hand, you can collect Moss from Mossy Trees growing around the Valley.

Even though it is not a reliable source, you can find Challenge Bait inside Golden Treasure Chests while fishing in the Valley.

How to Use Challenge Bait

The Challenge Bait can’t be used with beginner rods, such as the Training Rod or the Bamboo Pole. Instead, you need one of the following rods to put this bait on.

Fiberglass Rod
Iridium Rod
Advanced Iridium Rod

To attach the Challenge Bait to your fishing rod, simply open the Inventory, click on the bait, and then click on the rod.

Similar to the Wild Bait, the Challenge Bait makes fish bite faster by reducing the delay before a fish nibbles on a fishing rod by 62.5%. It is currently one of the best fishing baits in Stardew Valley.