Originally posted by Subsonic:

If all you want is raw fish then you never need to use higher level bait. Just buy regular bait from the merchant and have a good time fishing in the Meadows. If you like the fishing "quest" then it's something extra to mess around with while doing the progression and exploration in Valheim.

As for higher level bait catching lower level fish--yeah, that sounds bad because you'll end up catching fish you didn't want instead of the ones you're actually trying to get, as mentioned in a previous post. Also, if you have ever fished outside of a video game, some fish are definitely easier to catch with the right lure/bait setup. Maybe they'll tweak it more, maybe not--but since it's entirely optional then I guess you get to choose whether you want to pursue higher tier fish or just use the lower tier ones, or pick up whatever you can find laying on the shores.

I see 2 points here, and i think both are easily rebuked, lemme explain why:

1- "If all you want is raw fish then you never need to use higher level bait. Just buy regular bait from the merchant and have a good time fishing in the Meadows."

Even in the meadow, you may get fish you wich won´t be able to get fished. I don´t know why, probably fish that traveled from other areas, but i can positively state that even in meadow i got the "won´t take the bait" message. So even here you may lose some fishes just because bait constaints-

2- "As for higher level bait catching lower level fish--yeah, that sounds bad because you'll end up catching fish you didn't want instead of the ones you're actually trying to get, as mentioned in a previous post."

Also not a real problem. Between getting the "wrong" fish and getting "won´t take the bait" (and no fish) i think its better to be able to catch the lesser fix. You can just throw it away if you want to keep the inventory space. If the "specific bait" ensured every fish would "magically turn" into your desired fish, it would be a point, but it doesn´t works like that. Undesired fish will be attracted too, just won´t bait. So as said, being just unable to fish lesser fish is pointless. I think is objectively better to be able to catch those "lesser fish" while waiting for the right one to appear, than getting nothing. And even in the only case where it could be a minnor annoyance (occuping a inventory slot with undesired fish) you could just throw it. Much less annoying than being fully constrained.