Moonglow Bay Upgrades Guide

Moonglow Bay is an expansive fishing sim that has a lot of different activities for you to spend your time on. One of the things you will quickly notice is that there seems to be some room for improvement with your boat, fishing rods, and even the surrounding town. The only catch is that Moonglow Bay doesn’t just present all the upgrades to you at the beginning of the game, you either need to earn them by completing quests or buy them after the story progresses enough.

Moonglow Bay Fishing Rods - How To Better Fishing Rods

Fishing rods aren’t like the ones in other simulation games, there is no blacksmith or ore to upgrade them on your own. You can’t buy fishing rods either; the only way to earn them is by playing the story. The different types of fishing rods you own will directly impact how easy or hard it is to catch a fish. You will get more rods by doing the story quests following the game’s first boss. The rods you acquire in-game are:

• Balanced Rod: Great all-around rod.
• Poise Rod: Made for aggressive species.
• Agile Rod: Made for fast species.
• Strong Rod: Made for resilient species.

You will want to rotate out these rods depending on the species of fish that you are trying to catch in the game.

Moonglow Bay Fishing Bait - How To Get High-Grade Bait

It’s apparent from the beginning of the game that there is another type of bait you can get. This won’t become available until you reopen the Sea Market after defeating the game’s second boss. To get the bait at first, you must exchange five low-grade bait to get a single piece of high-grade bait from Grace. After you obtain the meat cleaver, you will be able to make high-grade bait at home by using medium size fish.

• Low-grade bait attracts small and medium fish.
• High-grade bait attracts medium and large fish

It’s best to take both types of bait with you when fishing, additionally bait will also determine the fish you catch in your lobster traps.

Moonglow Bay Cooking Station - How To Upgrade Cooking Station

It becomes apparent from the first few times you try to cook that some recipes can’t be accessed due to missing cooking equipment; the fillet knife and meat cleaver. This is another type of item that will be gained naturally through doing the story.

As for upgrading the number of items you can cook at once, you can visit the recipe salesman, Kevin, at the Sea Market to buy the cooking batch upgrades. You will also find that you will unlock the ability to quick-cook specific recipes once you have made them a set amount of times.

Moonglow Bay Vending Machines - How To Upgrade The Amount of Vending Machines on the Island

As for your vending machine, you can buy more vending machines from Goto Tech. They will place a vending machine outside of their shop and at the aquarium for only 250 shells each.

Quick Tip: To get a free vending machine outside of your house, simply talk to Haru and then bring him an order of fish and chips.

In addition, you can buy different signs to place on the vending machines. You can choose between increasing the price of meals or fish by 10%. This can be changed at any time by swapping the signs.

Moonglow Bay Boat - How To Upgrade The Boat

You won’t be able to start upgrading the body or engine of your boat until you are about to face the game’s second boss. After this point, you can visit the boat shop to:

• Tune your engine to increase the speed of your ship.
• Equip your boat with an armored hull for increased durability.
• Add a sleeping cabin.
• Adding a Galley for onboard cooking

If you are looking to add technology to your boat, then you will need to visit Goto Tech. Here you can purchase technology that makes fishing easier, like the sonar that detects nearby fishing spots and the radio that allows you to call Abi to tow your boat back to town.

Moonglow Bay Town Upgrades - How To Upgrade The Town

You will be told by the mayor that you can invest in buildings with a signboard out front to refurbish the property. Initially, you will be asked to upgrade the Cozy Cavern; this will cost you a total of 300 shells.

• Quick Tip: Upgrading town areas is an instant one, meaning you won’t have to wait on time to pass in-game for the project to be completed.

Sadly, you won’t be able to do much refurbishing until after you beat the second boss. To access many upgrades, you will first need to complete a quest before the signboard becomes available. Be aware that most upgrades can range between 500 to 2000 shells to fully complete. In addition, some previously closed locations like the Sea Market are part of the story and won’t open until you complete certain quests.