Introduction
In Azshara pools called "Patch of Elemental Water" may be found. The pools look like bright blue swirling masses of gas, but may be fished just like other pools.
From these pools you can catch:
- Essence of Water
- Elemental Water in batches of 1, 2 or 3
- Globe of Water in batches of 1 or 2.
Pool Contents
I have fished and recorded the catches from 87 different Patch of Elemental Water, mostly late evening, over several different days ((based on both patch 1.10 and 1.11 - no differences were observed between the two patches)). The average number of successful catches before each pool disappeared was 2.9, with a range from 1 to 5. The average number of items gained from fishing one pool until it disappears is shown in the table below:
| Item | Average quantity gained from fishing one Patch of Elemental Water |
|---|---|
| Essence of Water | 1.0 |
| Elemental Water | 2.2 |
| Globe of Water | 1.3 |
Essence of Water typically sell for over 5 gold each at the Auction House. The other items may sell for a respectable amount of silver. Fishing these pools can be a highly profitable enterprise.
Locations
There are at least six places where Patch of Elemental Water may be found. I (and respected sources, such as Thalen) have only ever found six locations, however others have been rumoured to exist. Gold pins mark the six confirmed locations on the map below.
((For those looking for coordinates, they are: 54,39; 55,50; 59,40; 66,68; 74,71; and 79,53.))
You will have to swim between pools (rather than run or ride, as is normally the case when fishing pools elsewhere), items that increase swimming speed are very useful. Some rather large giants patrol the area, although these are surprisingly easy to evade if you watch where you are swimming. The only other people you will see here will be fishing or conducting business with the Hydraxian Waterlords, so the area is relatively safe.
Pool Appearance
How these pools appear is poorly understood. We know that more than one pool can exist at one time - this has been confirmed using talents such as Eyes of the Beast and Eye of Kilrogg. Also, the longer one tries to fish these pools for, the fewer of them seem to be found. This is obvious if you fish when nobody else has been fishing the pools for a few hours: The first loop round the six possible pool locations might find three Patches of Elemental Water. The next loop round generally finds less.
One popular theory is that each pool re-appears exactly one hour after it was last fished. It only takes about 15 minutes to swim round all the possible pool locations. So an hourly "re-spawn" would be consistent with finding fewer pools the more times you go round trying to fish them.
I have never seen a pool re-appear less than 60 minutes after it was last fished. However pools will not simply continue to re-appear an hour after they are fished. If you swim round in a loop, fishing every pool you find for several hours, eventually whole hours will pass when no pools appear. I've found the most effective means of fishing these pools is to swim round the loop of possible pool locations twice, then wait two or three hours before returning.
The sporadic appearance of these pools, their popularity amongst veteran fishermen and women, and the finite number of buyers for Essence of Water, all mean that patches of Elemental Water are not well suited to continuous fishing. However, one 15-minute swim round the bay will often catch a couple of Essence of Water.
Learn More
- Pools and Wreckage - Describes how to fish pools such as schools or floating debris, where to find pools, and how to efficiently fish them.
- Pool Appearance - Examines how pools of fish appear, and suggests some basic rules and timings.
- Thalen's WoW Guide - Elemental Fishing Pools - Details of Azshara pools, including a map of unconfirmed locations and pictures of the curious Swirling Maelstrom.
