We got the short end of the bait change. Why? Bait recipe now yields half the bait (20) but every cast still consumes one unless you reel all the way in. Wave washes over you so you're now swimming? Suddenly have to defend yourself and switch to a weapon? Too bad. Please fix this! Only hooking a fish should consume the bait.

Otherwise, the fishing is pretty good now. For the complainers, you no longer have to climb the bait chain (only trophies and normal bait needed). You also need to understand the new reeling mechanic: you don't blindly reel in anymore! The fish go through a fight/rest cycle now and reeling only during the rest cycle is a must to preserve stamina. The fishing mini-game is now much more interesting. I would prefer the Ulv trophy to the Fenris trophy for cold bait though. Finding a tetra pond was hard enough!

Now, the Hat!
The Fishing Hat requires 1 of all 12 fish species to craft at the workbench. The recipe will unlock as soon as you catch your 12th species. See the wiki for some more info. What the wiki does NOT tell you is about upgrades! You continue to need all 12 fish species for each upgrade: 1ea for Level 2, 2ea for Level 3 and 3ea(!) for Level 4. So, 7ea total. I assume 4 is max level as I haven't assembled enough fish to get past L3 yet. The upgrades add 4ea to the armor and 200ea to the durability.