Bait46

Power does two jobs: it raises the quality of what you hook, and it decides how often the bait survives. Bait is only ever spent on a successful catch, never on a cast or an empty reel, and even then it is a roll. On average an item lasts one catch plus a sixth of its power number, so a 5% bug is gone inside two reels while a 50% one runs past nine. A Tackle Box or either upgrade adds one flat extra catch on top, whatever you have loaded. Truffle Worms sit outside all of it, are always consumed, and catch nothing.

Most bait is an insect caught with a net, and the strongest live in the Jungle. Fireflies swarm at night in numbers large enough to carry early fishing alone. Later the hobby feeds itself: crates return more Angler bait than a session costs, and Master Bait lasts long enough that you stop tracking it. Lava fishing needs its own answer, either the Hotline Fishing Hook, a Lavaproof Fishing Hook, or an Underworld critter as bait.