Checked on 21 October 2026 against GONE Fishing 1.0 (20 October 2026, with the 20 October hotfix). Steam app 3645890 by GONE Studios. Forum dates are UTC.

Short answer. GONE Fishing has more than one trader. The balloon trader buys fish and, in a creator's Early Access video, sold upgrades, totems and items [S3]. Jeb sells bait and upgrades [S1]. Clinket, new in Update 1.0, sells eight trinkets [S1]. Skeeter trades items for fish [S10]. Perks are a separate system: players equip up to two in the lobby [S15].

The traders at a glance

TraderWhat the sources saySource
Balloon traderTakes fish and sells upgrades, totems and items, as described in a video of 20 May 2026 (Early Access)[S3]
JebThe release post says Jeb "has some new bait on the shelf"[S1]
ClinketThe release post of Update 1.0 introduces Clinket as the source of eight shared trinkets[S1]
Skeeter"will trade your fish for a variety of items he has collected"[S10]
Late Game TraderA 13 December 2025 post places this trader "in his elevated cabin on each map"[S12]

Balloon trader

The creator Calidos, in the video "GONE Fishing | Beginner Guide" of 20 May 2026 (Early Access), sold fish by going up to the trader's basket and pressing Q [S3] [8:41]. The patch notes of 24 April 2026 describe another way: "You can now simply press “E” to sell fish to the trader" [S4].

On 13 September 2026 GONE Studios added selling of most items back to the trader. Items sell for 1/3 of the purchase price rounded down, using the secondary interact button on whichever item is in the current inventory slot [S5]. The same post says not to try selling fishing rods [S5].

The same video lists what the balloon trader offered before Update 1.0: line, rod and sinker upgrades, three totems at a time, one musical item per day, a fish smoker, a chasm caller and a worm horn [S3] [9:02]. Three of the totems were described as 20% bigger fish, 20% faster bait respawn and 40% faster bite frequency [S3] [9:53]. The release post says the line/rod/sinker system was the problem that trinkets answer [S1], so treat that upgrade list as dating from before Update 1.0.

Other dated changes to the balloon trader:

  • The fish smoker is bought from the balloon trader "instead of the secret shop", says the post of 26 March 2026 [S8]. Its price was reduced from 50 to 25 gold on 27 September 2026 [S9].
  • The trader stayed 200 seconds from the 22 July 2025 patch, up from 120 seconds [S6]. The 1 July 2026 patch added an extra 60 seconds [S7].

Jeb

Calidos says that "all five maps have Jeb Shack" [S3] [18:18]. GONE Studios called Jeb "the secret trader" in the patch notes of 6 May 2026 [S14]. The release post of 20 October 2026 gives Jeb two jobs: new bait on the shelf, with a warning that fishing with it may get serious, and the Fish Trap upgrade, after which a fish trap collects up to 3 fish per bait [S1]. The notes of 27 September 2026 say a clock upgrade "Can be bought at Jebs" [S9].

Calidos listed Jeb's items before Update 1.0: bait delivery for a one-time 200 gold that gives a free bait crate each morning, TNT, clams, beer packs at 25 gold for six beers, and upgrades for totems [S3] [19:16]. Those prices come from a video that predates Update 1.0, and the release post says item and upgrade prices were reworked to scale at roughly "value * (numPlayers / 2)" [S1]. In its example, an upgrade that costs 100 with one player costs about 200 for four players [S1].

The notes of 30 December 2025 refer to the "Cabin Merchant (Jeb)" cabin upgrade logic [S13]. For bait itself, see the bait page; for smoking and pearls, see the cooking page.

Clinket

The release post says Clinket "introduced 8 new buffs that can combo extremely well" [S1]. What each trinket does and how they are shared is on the trinkets page.

Skeeter

The 16 August 2026 post introduced Skeeter as a local who trades fish for items, with a random chance to spawn after day 3, and warns against giving Skeeter TNT [S10]. On 13 September 2026 Skeeter's high-tier bait trades were improved, with a 15% chance of an extra bait when given a high tier fish (over 40 points) [S5]. The notes of 18 September 2026 say Skeeter "will now spawn on the first day of loading a save" [S11]. The release post says the musket can be a drop from Skeeter [S1].

How perks work

Perks are chosen in the lobby, not bought from a trader. These details come from Early Access posts and are not restated in the release notes.

  • On 28 June 2025, when the perk system went live, GONE Studios wrote that players could equip a perk in the lobby once unlocked, and could "select up to two to bring into a match" [S15].
  • Unlocking changed on 10 July 2025: perks unlock "on every 7th day (day 7, 14, 21, etc…)" [S16].
  • On 8 October 2025 GONE Studios made all perks unlocked by default until a client display issue was fixed [S17]. On 1 September 2026 the player metalharp wrote that "perks got added and we immediately got all of them" [S18].
  • On 5 January 2026 the notes fixed an exploit that let players stack more than 2 active perks [S19].
  • The notes of 6 May 2026 say "Perks are now also saved once chosen" [S14]. Saved perks apply when hosting or joining a lobby, and opening the perk selection screen clears them [S14].
  • On 22 September 2026 a new perk for Alcoholics made the beer bonus last three times as long [S21]. The notes of 1 October 2026 fixed a bug where the perk "would not work if it was selected as your second perk" [S22].
PerkWhat the sources saySource
Midas TouchBuffed on 28 August 2025 to 3 gold every 2 minutes[S20]
Midas TouchNotes of 18 September 2026 fixed an exploit of "collecting gold from the midas touch perk" while sitting in the cabin[S11]
Bait care packageGives some bait crates at the start of the game (video of 20 May 2026)[S3] [2:47]
Bug netA small chance of two bait instead of one (video of 20 May 2026)[S3] [3:18]
Extra tackleRaises the bait carry limit from 10 to 12, by the creator's recollection (video of 20 May 2026)[S3] [3:28]
AlcoholicsThe beer bonus lasts three times as long[S21]

Sources and version

Checked on 2026-10-21 against GONE Fishing 1.0 (20 October 2026, with the 20 October hotfix).