Two Key Strategies
There are two key strategies to winning:
- Fishing where others are not.
- Moving between pools as fast as possible.
That's what the dwarves would call "common sense".
Expect a winner to be announced within 20-25 minutes. The more contestants, the longer it takes, because everyone spends more time moving between pools. Never assume you have lost until a winner is announced. Some weeks everyone is unlucky. Even if you do everything "right", you are not guaranteed to win: There is still an element of luck in how the pools spawn and what proportion of non-contest fish you catch. Expect to be frustrated, unless you enjoy the unpredictable.
Pool Spawning
At the start of the contest, School of Tastyfish will appear at points along the coast. As these are fished, they will disappear, and (in effect) re-appear at another location somewhere along the coast. Schools of Tastyfish spawn like other pools, except there is no time delay: Emptying one pool almost immediately triggers another fresh pool to appear somewhere in the set. With a lot of competitors, pools will be constantly disappearing from one spawning location and reappearing at another.
Consequently, this - from Kera - works well: "Find a nice stretch of 5 or so fishing holes [pools] and run just those holes over and over. I spent so much travel time in past tournaments looking for 'fresh' holes that had no one fishing. I found it quicker to hit the same ones over and over."
It is common to continue up or down the coast in one direction. In a busy contest, new pools are just as likely to be behind you as in front. If you know that the area behind you was not being fished by anyone else, going back might be sensible.
Locations
Most competitors seem to start near Booty Bay. They either fish the area immediately east of Booty Bay intensively, or slowly work north up the western coast of Stranglethorn Vale.
The reason is not entirely laziness: There are slightly more pools in the southern half of Stranglethorn Vale than in the northern part. So you will spend less time moving between them, and so catch more fish. But there are now more people trying to fish those southern pools. So sometimes fishing the northern or central sections of the western coast can be very effective, because there is less competition.
Personally I find the strongest starting location is in the centre of the western coast, just south of Grom'Gol Base Camp. Others advise starting on Yojamba Isle, in the north-west of the zone. Others just follow the crowd down near Booty Bay. This all proves one thing: There is no one "perfect spot". You must learn to adapt to what other anglers are doing, and normally do the opposite.
Doing the opposite of what everyone else does is not intuitive, but can be very successful. In particular, check parts of the coast that are missed by people that don't like to double-back on themselves. For example, the upper half of the eastern coast is avoided by most people, but can contain two or three pools.
There are a few pools in Stranglethorn Vale that are so close to the coast that they are hard to land the bobber in. Thalen writes, "If the swirl is in a little bay close to the shore, you may have trouble getting the cast to land in the water... step out into the water a little way and cast back into the swirl, that is usually easier." In some cases it is practically impossible to fish - learn not to waste time on the most difficult pools.
If you have set your hearthstone in Booty Bay (discussed in Stranglethorn Extravaganza Preparation), you do not need to plan to finish close to Booty Bay: Using a hearthstone will always be quicker than running/riding from the nearest pool.
Moving and Sharing
Move between pools as fast as possible. The less time you spend moving, the more time you have to fish. "Ideally, you want to stand where you can promptly mount after emptying the hole" (from Hy). Equip items that increase speed, such as engineers' Nitro Boosts, or Glyphs with a speed advantage (for example, rogues might consider Glyph of Blurred Speed). Drinking Swiftness of Zanza increases run speed by 20% (thanks heathisrael).
Land travel is not the only option: "I find the pools easier to spot from underwater" (from Dreadmon/Basilicus). Some pools are found on islands (for example, Yojamba Isle in the north-west, or the pirate islands east of Booty Bay), and the beach does not always cover the coastline. Speed up travel in these locations using:
- Elixir of Water Walking
- Shamans' water walking ability or Death Knight's "Path of Frost" (further discussion)
- Items and potions with swim-speed bonuses, such as an Azure Silk Belt and Murliver Oil.
Some anglers get very upset when you start fishing the same pool as them. Whether you respect their wishes or not is personal preference. There are no rules that state the first person to start fishing a pool owns it.
There is a simple reason you may not want to share pools: School of Tastyfish typically contain 4-5 fish. The total number of fish is the same regardless of how many people are fishing the pool. So if 4 or 5 people fish from the same pool, at best they can expect to catch just one fish each - and there is a chance they won't catch anything at all. So, "if there are already 3 or more people fishing in a spot, it's probably not worth stopping there" (from Thalen).
At War
Where the factions are at war ((PvP realms)), the contest gains a whole new dimension: Not dying a lot becomes as important as catching 40 Speckled Tastyfish quickly.
It is almost inevitable that you will get killed during the contest. But since almost everyone suffers death, you can sometimes still win. It is worth trying to reduce the number of deaths:
- Escorts. There are many ways non-competing escorts can help, shown in Stranglethorn Extravaganza Preparation. Simply having an escort is often enough for opponents to avoid combat with you.
- Fish close to a graveyard. This will reduce the amount of time spent running back to your corpse after a death. There is a graveyard near the northern entrance to Stranglethorn Vale (which is not close to any part of the coastline), and a graveyard outside Booty Bay. So what this really means is "fish near Booty Bay".
- Use class abilities and trinkets. Apply a soulstone to allow instant recovery from the first death. Use Fear Ward or a fear-breaking trinket to ensure you do not get "distracted" while attempting to claim your winning prize.
- Move with members of your own faction. Following the crowd is a poor strategy for catching fish quickly, but in a very hostile environment, fishing with members of your own faction can provide some extra protection.
- Avoid the opposition. Easy to say, hard to do: Seek out quieter parts of the coastline. Run away from the hostile group "zerging" towards you. As Alliance, avoid standing outside Grom'Gol Base Camp in your best fishing gear, waiting for the contest to start - only to spend the first few minutes of the contest on a corpse run.
The most dangerous members of the opposing faction are those protecting "twinks" - low level, well-geared battleground fighters. Low-level anglers are virtually impossible to defend once engaged (they die almost immediately), so their escorts tend to kill anyone that might become hostile. Just in case. Avoiding areas that are popular with twinks (see below) is therefore a good strategy.
Killing the opposition might seem like a good strategy. I have never seen anyone win by doing it themselves: In the 30 seconds or a minute you take to kill an opponent, you could be fishing. Since you won't manage to kill all the contestants, someone else will be using that time to fish, and so will catch 40 fish quicker. Only engage in combat yourself if it does not waste any time or prevent you casting a line: Consider dropping a searing totem (as a Shaman) to slow opponents, or attacking with a pet (from Hy).
If you do not intend to win, kill those that are likely to kill you: The time spent killing them will be less than the time spent corpse running.
If you have an escort, or many escorts, having them attack the opposition is quite effective: It delays at least some of your opponents, without delaying you. In extreme cases, whole guilds have been mobilised just to increase the chance of one of their members winning the contest.
The most effect (and annoying) tactic is to attack from range and immediately withdraw: This puts the fisherman or woman into combat, preventing them from fishing, while making the attacker difficult to deal with.
At Low Level
The contest is popular with "twinks" - low level, well-geared battleground fighters. One of the rare fish rewards a Lucky Fishing Hat, that is good gear at level 19. ((With patch 3.1, Nat Pagle's Extreme Anglin' Boots require level 35 to use.))
Those fishing for the rare fish can (and should) fish until the School of Tastyfish disappear at 16:00. Expect to repeat the contest over several weeks: Serious "twinking" requires serious commitment. "Twinks" have to catch the rare fish themselves - you cannot group with another angler and steal their rare fish.
With a higher-level escort, there are no limitations on which pools a low-level angler can fish. Where the factions are at war, such anglers are very likely to die to the opposing faction. Consider waiting until the contest has been won before starting - you will still get about 90 minutes of fishing.
Solo fishing at low level is also possible.
Traditionally, the best location for this was Yojamba Isle, which is on the far north-west coastline of Stranglethorn Vale. This is easily reached by swimming south from Westfall (for Alliance) or across from Grom Gol (for Horde). The island is inhabited by the Zandalar Tribe. These trolls are not hostile, so the island is safe. There are 6-7 pool spawning locations round the island, so you should be able to find a pool to fish. The location is a long way from Booty Bay: It is possible to swim down the coast safely (just stay away from the shore), but takes a long time. Consider setting your hearthstone at the inn.
Yojamba Isle is very attractive to twinks. Where the factions are at war ((PvP realms)), it is worth hiring high-level escorts simply to stop other anglers from fishing. So ironically, un-escorted twinks are now likely to die repeatedly at Yojamba Isle. The island is a very long run from the nearest graveyard, so dying is a major disadvantage.
A riskier alternative is the eastern coastline, near the entrance to Booty Bay. There are about 10 pool spawning in this area that can be fished at low level. There is one hostile giant to avoid (who wades around in the sea), and several pirate camps. The area is close to a graveyard, so you can recover from death quickly. Avoid Jaguero Isle - there are not pools there.
A third option is to fish pools around Grom'Gol Base Camp, and from the base south to the Gurubashi Arena. Only a small number of pools can be fished solo, unless other anglers have already killed nearby wildlife. The area is often ignored, particularly after the winner has been announced. Consider this if the first two areas are over-fished.
For Bloodsails
Enemies of Steamwheedle Cartel's Booty Bay faction can compete in the contest. Your reputation will only be unfriendly or worse if you have been trying to impress the Bloodsail Pirates. Trinda offers the following tips for Bloodsails:
- If possible, before you start your Bloodsail Buccaneers grind, set your hearthstone to Booty Bay.
- Have a healer on hand to heal you as you get attacked by the Goblins. Dying is still a possibility.
- Use Invisibility or Invulnerability potions. If you practice moving round Booty Bay, this is a very viable option. You just can't make a mistake.
- The most effective method: Have a warlock and two healers standby next to Riggle Bassbait. As you catch your 40th fish, call for a summon. Once you appear, your friends will heal you, and you can talk to Riggle and win.
Learn More
- Contests Forum - Results, interviews, tips and winning strategies for the Stranglethorn Fishing Extravaganza or Kalu'ak Fishing Derby.
- Guide to the Lucky Fishing Hat and such - Guide for aspiring "twinks" who want to gain the fishing hat at level 19.
- Get Your Lucky Fishing Hat - TwinkInfo's guide.
- Also in Contests: Stranglethorn Extravaganza Contest, Stranglethorn Extravaganza Rewards, Stranglethorn Extravaganza Preparation, Kalu'ak Fishing Derby, and Kalu'ak Fishing Derby Strategy.
