Tackle

Tackle slots

The tackle panel under your inventory has five slots: Rod, Bait, Hook, Weight and Leader. To fill them, drag items in, or right-click or Ctrl+click them in your inventory (Ctrl+click a slot to take it back out). Drag the panel by its wood to put it anywhere on the screen; double-click it to put it back.

• Rod: a rod in the rod slot takes no inventory space. Right-click the slot, or press Alt+F, to take it in hand or put it away. It repairs and upgrades from the slot (upgrading moves it into your inventory first). The panel shows its level, line, cast and wear.
• Bait and hook: while holding the rod, B / H swaps in the next bait or hook you're carrying. A slot refills from your inventory, then from the tackle box you're wearing, when it runs out.
• Weight and leader: see Weights, leaders and depth below.

Tackle is saved with your character and goes into your tombstone when you die.

Weights, leaders and depth

Every fish feeds at its own depth (near the surface, mid-water, or on the bottom), and a fish is about twice as likely to take a bait at its depth - much less far from it. Your rig decides how deep the bait sits:

Rig	On the line	The bait sits
Float	bait + hook	about 1 m down (in shallow water that reaches the bottom)
Float and leader	+ Leader Line	as deep as your leader (0.5-40 m, set with - and + on the tackle panel)
Bottom rig	+ any weight, no float	on the bottom; the cast goes further
Carolina rig	Egg Sinker + Leader Line	just off the bottom; fish take it more readily
Texas rig	Bullet Weight + a soft lure	the lure works along the bottom

With a weight there's no float: nibbles show as taps on the rod tip. Weights: Split Shot (tin), Bullet Weight (copper), Egg Sinker (bronze) and Pyramid Sinker (iron); the Leader Line is made at the workbench. They're only lost when the line snaps. The water moves a weight that's too light for it: waves, wind and storms drag it along the bottom, and nothing bites while it's dragged - only a Pyramid Sinker holds at sea, and only a storm shifts that.