Fish Fry!

One of my favorite pastimes - fishing. Not really! I absolutely hate fishing IRL. I remember my father taking me when I was younger, and I thought it was the most boring thing ever. I'd usually release all the bait fish in hopes that we'd get to go home sooner. I did enjoy the smell of the sea water and sometimes seeing the porpoise swimming around. It's good memories though. However, fishing in Warcraft, I could do that all day. Put a cold drink by my side, blast some of my favorite music, and I'm all set.

My good friend, Nat Pagle.

So when I found out that there would be a fishing artifact, I was really happy. I previously won the Northrend fishing competition once and the Booty Bay competition twice in my years of playing WoW, so this was going to be another one of those achievements for myself. With El's Extreme Anglin' gone, I had to search elsewhere for information. While I don't mind using WoWhead for guides, I do prefer sites that are mainly dedicated to a certain thing (such as WarcraftPets for mini pets and Petopia for hunters). I did manage to find a pretty well put together guide that I used. Here is the link for those that are curious.

I went into the expansion knowing about the artifact, so as I leveled through each zone, I'd fish in many of the pools that I'd come across. I know the guide says to use arcane lures from Conjurer Margoss, but the reality for me is that I haven't even visited him yet - oops! That's right, I did this all without. I don't necessarily think it took longer for me, and maybe having those lures would have helped. With my old fishing line, hat, and boots, I was fishing at around 855. Sometimes I'd also use Worm Supreme, so I'm not sure using an arcane lure would have made a difference or not. It's too late to sit here and wonder about it now.

I can't give many tips except to definitely pay attention to the fishing dailies in each zone. I was able to complete one in Highmountain that awarded me with an item for a rare bait. Another thing I learned from browsing many threads was that despite being able to catch the items for the axefish lure and ravenous fly in the ocean, you need to be in the Great Sea to effectively use them. So once you catch them, swim out and use your bait. I liked the open sea off of Sauramar. Lots of little rock islands to sit on and quietly fish from.

So what's next in my fishing plans? Well I will slowly work on leveling up my artifact when the time strikes me. I also plan on finally getting myself acquainted with Conjurer Margoss. There is a mount and mini pet I need from him. I'm also going to take some time and work on The Wish Remover since I have the original achievement. However, my biggest wish would be to see a new fishing competition or possible a revamp of the old one. I won't be holding my breath with this, but as with all things, you never know what the future will bring.

The Magical Mr. Pinchy

Mr. Pinchy... where do I begin...

I actually fished and got my Magical Crawdad during the Burning Crusades, so when I decided to take up this task again, I didn't quite remember how much of a pain it was and STILL is!

Mr. Pinchy having a well balanced meal.

Here are the things that changed for the better. First, the pool spawns used to only pop up every 30 minutes or so. Now it seems that after you fish in one, you can guarantee another will be up in one of the other locations. Second, and best thing of all is now Mr. Pinchy is on a 4 hour cooldown. It used to have a 2 day cooldown which really made it frustrating to get him!

Fishing skill required: I would go for at least 300+ just to be on the safe side!
Flying mount required! (or someone to bring you there!)

So get your fishing poles, and let's head to Outlands - namely Terokkar Forest! You're looking for the pools called Highland Mixed Pools which of course, only spawn in the "highlands".

Here's the wonderful part, you have 3 locations where you can chose to fish from!

Lake Jorune

Lake Ere'Noru

Blackwind Lake

I really like fishing from  Lake Jorune and Lake Ere'Noru because I was tending to get a lot of unwanted attention at Blackwind Lake. Some Alliance leveling up would follow me and fish from the same pools as me just to be annoying! Also it's a daily hub for the Sha'tari Skyguard so you may have some competition there.

You'll get BC fish and crates with goodies from that xpac in them. You should get Mr. Pinchy pretty fast. I don't think it took me longer than an hour to fish up any of the Mr. Pinchy's for this post, so hopefully you're just as lucky. I'm not sure they increased the drop rate, but since the pools spawn so fast, that's probably why!

After you catch him, this is where the fun begins. The item will grant you 3 wishes. You can use the item every 4 hours. It's completely random to what you will get from it. Here they are below:

Benevolent Mr. Pinchy: follows you around and fights mobs with you!

Furious Mr. Pinchy: very mad and will try to fight with you!

Mr. Pinchy's Blessing: and old flask buff, but you turn a cool shade of red!

Mr. Pinchy's gify: he gives you a gift that contains old health and mana potions!

The last gift is the best of all, Mr. Pinchy grants you the Magical crawdad Box (and an Achievement)! Sadly, I wanted to get another one just for this post, but after 18 unsuccessful wishes, I decided it was just better to write this thing and send all my luck to the person on the other end going on the hunt for him. If you decide to fish him up just for fun, or because you want him for your collection, let me know how long or how fast you got him! Good luck and happy fishing!

My Log:

1. Benevolent Mr. Pinchy

2. Furious Mr. Pinchy

3. Mr. Pinchy's Blessing

4. Benevolent Mr. Pinchy

5. Furious Mr. Pinchy

6. Mr. Pinchy's Gift

7. Benevolent Mr. Pinchy

8. Mr. Pinchy's Gift

9. Mr. Pinchy's Blessing

10. Mr. Pinchy's Gift

11. Mr. Pinchy's Blessing

12. Benevolent Mr. Pinchy

13. Benevolent Mr. Pinchy

14. Furious Mr. Pinchy

15. Mr. Pinchy's Gift

16. Furious Mr. Pinchy

17. Mr. Pinchy's Gift

18. Benevolent Mr. Pinchy

Loramus and Velgana

I stood on a rock in the middle of the Bay of Storms. I knew I wasn't crazy, it used to be here. There once was an island I used to frequent quite a bit. I'd fish, it had a cave that housed a turtle named Scalebeard, and an out of the way Demon Hunter who called himself Loramus Thalipedes. I always asked about why is was out in the middle of Azshara, but he never told me much. He'd watch me fish, I'd ask questions about his weapons and blindfold. He told me he had magical powers; he said he could see demons and could sense things about me that most couldn't. He carved his own eyes out. I was always intrigued by Demon Hunters - I made comments about maybe one day seeing the world as he saw it. He told me it was more of a curse than a gift.

After many years of adventuring, I found battles with many Demon Hunters, but I never forgot my "friend". Then the Cataclysm came and changed everything. The island was no longer there. Where had Loramus gone? I decided to find him and maybe see if I could learn anything from him now that am a more seasoned mage. I didn't know where to begin, so I poured through a few books spitting out last known locations of a few Demon Hunters in Ashara. My search took me to Duskwood first.

Rumor was the ghost of a Demon Hunter named Telarius Voidstrider resided deep under the Maw of the Void. I managed to find him, but when I asked of his fellow brother, he looked at me and said, "You are not of the dark path! You do not belong here, Undead. The shadows will consume you. You are not prepared to face the void." 

That's really all I needed to hear, and after re evaluating my situation, I promptly left. I didn't want to be fighting a Demon Hunter in a dark underwater cavern.

My next stop took me deep within Felwood. I met with a Demon Hunter named Feronas Sindweller. He told me that Loramus was killed in Blasted Lands while hunting a demon named Razelikh; his body torn apart and scattered across the land. However, he was lucky because an adventurer was able to gather the parts to make him whole again.

Finally my searching paid off, and I made my way to the Blasted Lands as fast as I could. It wasn't hard to find him. I just asked around the Sunveil Excursion until someone answered me.

I found him, to the back of a cave. He was in hiding and I didn't blame him. I didn't have to say a word, he knew why I had came all this way to find him again. I wanted to see the world through his eyes. I would never become a Demon Hunter... I was undead. While not the same that they hunted, I was still looked down upon. He handed me a potion and a blindfold. He told me to drink, "This potion, Velgana, will grant you temporary blindness and a glimpse of the terrors I see. After you take it, place the blindfold around your eyes." I took the potion without hesitation and did as he asked. Before I knew it, the world changed right before me.

It didn't last long, but I imagine it hurt just as bad as if my eyes were cut out. I could smell the demons; I could smell the rot on myself and around me. I felt sick and sorry all at the same time. I looked upon the Blasted Lands for a while. It was unlike anything I had ever seen. I could actually see the demons around and almost beyond the Dark Portal - I could sense them! Before I knew it, I was back in the cave and everything was back to normal. I looked at Loramus in a different light than before. He put his head down and placed his hand on my shoulder. After a brief pause, I removed my blindfold, looked at him, then simply left. No words were exchanged, but we both knew that would be the last time we would see one another.

I honestly think what brought us together in the beginning was a lot more than just me fishing. I think it was the fact of just having someone else around who viewed the world a bit differently than others.

On our island back during the Burning Crusades

Note: The potion used was Four Senses Brew (which has nothing to do with Demon Hunters). Also, this was written just for fun. Simply read and enjoy!

Fishing for Carp

I know a lot of people are getting frustrated with the Tiny Carp mini pets. At the beginning as I was having flashbacks of attempting to fish up a Sea Turtle mount in WotLK. I used to farm hours for it along the coasts of Borean Tundra, and I ended up getting it randomly one Saturday during the Kalu'ak Fishing tournament from a pool in Grizzly Hills.

Anyway, here are a few facts I know (from personal experience) about the carps.

- I caught all of mine at different times of day with different weather conditions happening. I don't believe this has anything to do with how they are fished up.

- My fishing skill is maxed out. I wore only my Weather-Beaten Fishing Hat (with the buff applied) and used my Kalu'ak Fishing Pole.

This next one is the most important one...

- I DID NOT fish any of the carp up from pools!

At first I was using the "fish of the day" as a guide for which pools would possibly get me the carps faster. After a few days of getting nothing, I changed my game plan. I do not have an estimate of how many casts I have, but I did get three of the four carp in a matter of two days using my method. After taking a break over the weekend (to move into my new place), I caught the stubborn remaining carp in one day.

Now here are pictures of each location where I fished up each carp.

Tiny Red Carp

Townlong Steppes

Tip: Stand on the rock in the middle of the pond while fishing to avoid mobs.

Tiny Blue Carp

Vale of Eternal Blossoms

Tiny Green Carp

Valley of the Four Winds

Tiny White Carp

Kun-Lai Summit

This carp was my last catch and definitely took the longest to get. Very rewarding to finally get him!

Please remember, what worked for me may not work for you. There are no "magical spots" that let you fish up the carp faster. If you find yourself getting burnt out, fish for about an hour or so in one location and then switch to the next. A good thing about fishing in Valley of the Four Winds and Kun-Lai Summit is that you can take advantage of killing world bosses in between fishing. Also, you may get a good bit of Sealed Crates. The contents and fish are basically free gold if you aren't using the mats to level up a profession.

Remember it's just a game and mini pet collecting was meant to be fun, not cut throat competition. Good luck to everyone on their carp journey. They truly are wonderful little mini pets.Now, grab a Kungaloosh, relax, and keep on fishing! ;)