When a new area becomes available, your line is usually too weak to capture the larger fish at the location. You will not be able to recoup the money spent on bait. Instead, remain at your previous location to catch more fish, complete collections, and earn achievements for more money for fishing rod upgrades before advancing. Watch advertising videos to double the money that you can earned. Do this when returning to the game after a long break and you have a lot of earnings ready to collect. Fish in the best lake where you can get any fish without problems and not lose bait. Participate in tournaments and try to rank highly.
Scoring
After casting your line, always try to capture a fish of any size. Do not reel in immediately, and wait for the fish to bite. This will waste bait and cost coins. Coming back with a fish, even if small, will offset that cost. After casting, wait for it to drop as much as possible. Some fish will bite at this stage. If not, swipe left or right. This reels the line in slightly but the bait will still be in the distance and allow you to access more fish. Afterwards, slowly reel it in until a fish bites. When this happens, begin tapping to reel them in. Do not hold or you risk losing control and breaking the line. Continue tapping until the fish begins to fight. This is indicated when the line turns red and the fish glows. Stop tapping and allow it to fight. When it stops, begin tapping again until it is brought in. Note: When a fish is out of water the line will never break.
Upgrades
Increase your "Attack" to be able to catch larger fish. Focus on other upgrades later. Reel Speed is useful to make it easier and faster to capture the fish, however it is very expensive. The Length and Cast distance do not make a large difference in performance.