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Introduction

The One That Didn't Get Away is an achievement. It is required to complete the Accomplished Angler, and gain the title "Salty".

One That Didn't Get Away requires you to catch 1 out of 10 possible rare fish. Only the first rare fish you catch will be recorded for the achievement.

None of these rare fish bind to the angler when caught. To complete the achievement you have to actually catch the fish yourself. You cannot gain One That Didn't Get Away by trade, or by already having a rare fish in your inventory ((before the introduction of achievements in patch 3.0)).

What makes this achievement so frustrating and time-consuming? All 10 of these fish are rare!

Options

El with 92 Pound Mightfish

Consider the options:

Recommendations

The recommended method is to fish Fangtooth Herring School for Dark Herring. Particularly if your fishing skill is low. But also consider these 2 options:

Want more evidence, catch statistics and general discussion? Read this forum topic »

Learn More

Completing achievements? These guides will help complete individual achievements:

Comments about One That Didn't Get Away

Below are readers' comments about "One That Didn't Get Away":

One That Didn't Get Away - achievement

  1. Iannah, October 2008:

    El says: For new readers, I recommend the summary guide to the One That Didn't Get Away. Original post:

    While most fishing achievements will not be possible to do before the 3.0 patch, or even the expansion itself, there are a few that you can do before that time.

    Fish Don't Leave Footprints - learn the ability to find fish
    Master Angler of Stranglethorn - win the Booty Bay fishing contest
    Mr. Pinchy's Magical Crawdad Box - fish your way to Mr. Pinchy's Magical Crawdad Box
    Old Crafty - fish up Old Crafty in Orgrimmar
    Old Ironjaw - fish up Old Ironjaw in Ironforge

    And finally:
    One That Didn't Get Away - fish up one of the rare fish

    Those first 5 are pretty straightforward. I'm not saying that they're all easy, but it's clear what you have to do. But I'm wondering about the last achievement, get one of the rare fish. Now, if you're like me, you don't want to buy one at the auction house, even if they're available. Which one of the rare fishes would you think is the easiest to get? Should we fish in a starter area for a chance of a big Mudsnapper or Catfish? Should we head to Azshara for a Lobster or Mightfish? Should we try to get the Rockhide Strongfish during the tournament?

  2. Faela, October 2008:

    Isn't 'The One that Didn't Get Away' also not possible before 3.0, precisely because you could buy one at the auction house? I thought that you needed to specifically catch one of the fish, not just have one in your inventory, in which case you would need to catch it after 3.0 so it could be recorded.

  3. NiceBloke, October 2008:

    I also thought that was the case.

    I've only had 17 and 19 pound Catfish from Ogrimmar or Ironforge in the 2500 fish I've caught

  1. Cozmic, October 2008:

    Would Ironjaw or Crafty not count as one of these "rare fish"?

  2. el, October 2008:

    To clear up any confusion: As Faela says, none of the existing "rare fish" for the "One That Didn't Get Away" are bound on pickup, so cannot be counted before patch 3.0.2. Old Ironjaw and Old Crafty now have their own achievements, so are not now on the rare fish list.

    The 2 unknown rare fish for the first achievement (Baby Coralshell Turtle and 113 Pound Swordfish) I have not seen yet - I assume both will be found in Northrend.

  3. Madlax, October 2008:

    I had a Rockhide Strongfish on my char, copied it over to the PTR and did not get the achievement so I can second that.
    From my personal feeling, the "easiest" way would be the fishing tourney and the 2 rare fish.
    I have gotten a bunch of "pound" fishes, but none of them are max weight.

    Personal oppinion
    Since I can't post on the US forums, I´d suggest to have "One That Didn't Get Away" either changed or removed from Salty before this patch goes live.
    (I rather see jaw/crafty in there)
    With 0.5% chance to get a "pound" fish, it means 5 in 1000 catches will be one.
    And there is a 1/5th chance for each of those to be the max weight.
    That´s a lot worse than fishing crawdads.

  4. Oberweiss, October 2008:

    Madlax wrote:

    I have gotten a bunch of "pound" fishes, but none of them are max weight.
    Personal oppinion
    Since I can't post on the US forums, I´d suggest to have "One That Didn't Get Away" either changed or removed from Salty before this patch goes live.
    (I rather see jaw/crafty in there)
    With 0.5% chance to get a "pound" fish, it means 5 in 1000 catches will be one.
    And there is a 1/5th chance for each of those to be the max weight.
    That´s a lot worse than fishing crawdads.

    Yeah, I agree that it's a very difficult achievement. My statistics have been even worse than the ones you calculated; I caught over 5,000 fish in Azshara's Bay of Storms, and I have only gotten one 103 lb. Mightfish. Wowhead hasn't recorded anyone having caught one. Mind you, everything is chance, so it's possible I was unlucky. Still, I am not looking forward to fishing 5,000 fish from the same location again just to complete this achievement - especially since I've caught at least 2 fish on the list pre-Patch 3.0.

  5. Iannah, October 2008:

    Ah, I must have misunderstood. While I think it's a good thing that you can't "trade" the achievement via the auction house or passing a big fish around to friends, I agree that it's probably a hard achievement to get. Well, I don't really mind that it's hard, I like a challenge once in a while. So, in that case the Magical Crawdad Box is the only thing left for me to get this week, and I can forget about catching a rare fish before the patch hits (which would be oddly appropriate for me, getting a rare catch before 3.0, and having it take weeks to get another one). Thanks for clearing this up for me.

  6. Madlax, October 2008:

    From someones IF fishing:

    Raw Longjaw Mud Snapper : 1546
    Raw Brilliant Smallfish : 435
    Raw bristle Whisker Catfish : 551
    17 Pound Catfish : 8
    19 Pound Catfish : 3
    22 Pound Catfish : 2
    The 1 Ring : 1
    Lesser Mana potion : 6
    Lesser Healing Potion : 4
    Green item : 1
    Old Ironjaw : 1

    I suppose this one is really gonna be the make or break on luck achievement of extreme angling. phew

  7. Demosthenes, October 2008:

    If you are Horde try Stonebull Lake in Mulgore for this achievement, since there are only three "pound" fishs in the lake. 10 pound, 12 pound and the desired 15 pound Mud Snapper. Got mine in 749 casts. Did it while aiming for the "1000 Fish" Achievement. Have fun. :-)

  8. Jolt, October 2008:

    My question for the gang here:

    I'm alliance, and curious where you think is the best place to sit down and cast for awhile?

    Are any lakes, ponds, seas ... etc better locations to try than others?

    or is it a crapshoot?

  9. wow_mailbh, October 2008:

    I am currently on that step. I have completed all other achievements for Azeroth and Outland with the exception of daily fishing quests that were not accounted despite the fact that I did them nearly everyday since they came out. Anyway, it is not a big deal... I was also fortunate to get Old Ironjaw and Old Crafty in approximately 400 casts each.

    So, going back to that rare fish, I never caught any and I decided to focus my fishing time to Azshara's Bay of Storms since there is a possibility to catch 3 of the rare fish in the list at that location. I have been fishing in open water and was wondering if there is a better chance to fish in pools despite the evident waste of time to travel and find them...

    Let me know and good luck with that catch that I think is the most challenging of the fishing achievements.

  10. Kahless, October 2008:

    I've got all but two of the achievements that can be got before the X-Pac.
    I figure I'll work in The one that didn't get away and 1000 fish at the same time.

    I was trying to figure where would be the best place and I think it's Azshara.
    The Bay of Storms has both the 103lb Mightfish and the 22lb Lobster so I figure that doubles my chances.

    Anybody got a better place to fish that would improve the odds?

  11. el, October 2008:

    Interesting question, Kahless. Logically I would start with Old Crafty and Old Ironjaw, since I assume the off-hands can still be caught in those places too. Then move on to Azshara Bay of Storms as you suggest. Your logic (2 rares in one place) sounds reasonable.

    All I know is these very heavy off-hands are very, very rare. I've fished thousands of catches in the Bay of Storms (back before TBC), and have never caught the 103 Pound Mightfish.

  12. Jolt, October 2008:

    So El,

    What do you think, if you just want this achievement? Fish at Crystal Lake in Elwynn Forest?

    I have gotten rockhide strongfish at the derby before, maybe I'll try for that on Sunday.

    Also, do you think fishing in pools increases, or decreases, your chance of getting the rare fish?

  13. el, October 2008:

    Let's read through Thott's data for Stonebull Lake. Almost 32,000 catches recorded, and we know there are no pools there, or chance of fishing from a nearby zone "by accident". That demonstrates:

    1. The heaviest of the off-hands are also the rarest. Most extreme anglers probably had a "gut feeling" about that already.
    2. The catch rate on 15 Pound Mud Snapper is about 1/2000. That's an average.

    But. Looking at other areas, it is probably far worse than 1/2000. Crystal Lake (another new-character favourite, that gets fished a lot) shows about 1/9000 over 132,000 catches.

    What's most confusing is that the 32 Pound Catfish is not listed as caught in the major capital cities (only lower weight Catfish offhands). Thott lists 184,000 catches in Stormwind, with no 32 Pound Catfish. (And no, I didn't realise that Shadowprey Village has inland fish, either...)

    Do higher-level areas have a difference chance?

    Really hard to say: These fish just are not recorded often enough.

    Now then consider that all the proportions I've used here are for locations where the fish has been caught. There will be plenty of locations where the off-hands exist, but have never been recorded by Thott. So we've probably looking at odds closer to 1/10,000 at any location, and you might like to avoid the capital cities, for which there are no confirmed catches.

    Finally, looking at Steelscale Crushfish, Thott shows about 1/10,000 there (again, with not enough records to be sure). And at least that fish will be a bit more of a novalty item than the other off-hands.

    I suspect this is going to be insanely time-consuming (yet sadly 'bot-able, for those inclined to cheat), and will come to define what makes "Salty" hard to get. It might be worth holding back until Baby Coralshell Turtle or 113 Pound Swordfish appear. But something tells me those will not be easy either. Oh my!

  14. Kahless, October 2008:

    Since Crafty and Ironjaw don't count toward the salty achievement, I'm de prioritizing those for now.

    Since it's possible I could fish for 8 hours a day for the next month and still not catch one of those rares, I'm making this a priority.

    My goal is to be the first on my realm to 450 fishing skill, and after that possibly first with the Salty title.
    So I'm trying to get everything done that can be done before release.
    All that will be left (hopefully) will be Grand Master Fisherman, Northrend Angler and Coin Master.

  15. Jolt, October 2008:

    So from your stats, 15 pound mudfish is the easiest to fish up. Where would you try (if you were to try)? Some place is better than Crystal Lake?

    Also, i have gotten the rockhide strongfish during the derby, and if you look that up on the popular info sites, so have several others ... so maybe that's the fish to try for?

  16. el, October 2008:

    Jolt: None the available statistics are good enough. There's no reliable evidence that any one place or off-hand is easier to catch than any other.

    And even if the average in one place or fish is 1/5000, and another is 1/10,000, it is still random: So if your luck is poor, you could be trying for either for 20,000 catches and still not complete the achievement.

    Frankly, I don't think trying to complete this achievement is "healthy". I presume is an oversight by the designers, unless the catch rates for these fish have been improved.

  17. Jolt, October 2008:

    Agree El, probably isn't healthy at all. I didn't realize these catch rates were worse than Ironjaw and Crafty.

  18. 465 more comments. Continue reading or reply »

OTDGA: turtle, swordfish out; Dark Herring in

  1. Gummo, November 2008:

    The latest version of the One That Didn't Get Away achievement has removed "Baby Coralshell Turtle" and "113 Pound Swordfish" (possible Northrend catches) and replaced it with a different unknown, "Dark Herring." Maybe it's a red herring?

  2. el, November 2008:

    Thanks Gummo. Dark Herring remains just as much a mystery as the 2 catches it replaced. Possibly a variation on the Fangtooth Herring.. but I'm inclined to agree that a red herring is more likely. Oh my!

  3. el, November 2008:

    I have one report that the Dark Herring does actually exist. I'm very interested in additional information...

  1. Cnirec, November 2008:

    More info: Dark Herring, green (uncommon) dagger, 146-271 Dam, 1.9 Speed, 109.7 dps, req. level 78, Chance on hit: Blast enemy for 70 Fire Damage. And a quote in gold lettering "Herring seeks your life". Looks just like a silver fish when held in hand cept it's shiny "oh my".

    Landed it in the lake just west above Valgarde, Howling Fjorde while fishing a Fangtooth Herring pool.. Since I can't seem to get the name of the lake to pop up on the screen I'll call it Lake Utgarde Keep, as one can enter Utgarde from the lakes NE corner.

  2. el, November 2008:

    Thanks Cnirec. I've added Dark Herring. Curious that it requires level 78, even though it is caught in a level 68+ zone.

    On the plus side, it means people trying to complete the One that Got Away can now fish in a zone where they will catch valuable fish. Still, this is not a common catch. So I guess the achievement did not get any easier.

    I'd still love to know if Dark Herring can be caught elsewhere. Logically it should also be caught in inland Grizzly Hills, which shares the same open water fish as Howling Fjord. But it might be found in other zones too.

  3. spiny, November 2008:

    Caught today from "Lake Cauldros", immediate N/NW waters from utgarde keep. It was fished directly from a Fangtooth Herring school.

  4. Ixumi, November 2008:

    Ditto on the above! Got my 'Salty' title. ^_^

  5. castorshell13, November 2008:

    heres the question tho, is it only fangtooth schools? or can you also catch it free water?

  6. Gummo, November 2008:

    My guess is it's possible to catch a Dark Herring from open water. For example, the fishing quest "Shrimpin' Ain't Easy" appears to merely substitute a Bloated Barbed Gill Trout whenever you would normally catch a Barbed Gill Trout, which is why you sometimes catch some other fish -- open water in Zangarmarsh will fish up about 70% Barbed Gill Trout. If the Dark Herring is a similar rare substitution for a Fangtooth Herring, any time you'd catch a fangtooth, you have a small chance of getting a Dark Herring instead, and you can get a Fangtooth Herring from some open water, just not as often as a pool.

    As an odd aside, the Shattrath daily fishing quests gives 0 XP, but the cooking daily in Shattrath gives you XP (12,650 at level 70).

  7. Cayena, November 2008:

    How many pools are people fishing before they're pulling up the Dark Herring? I'm over 500 fish caught from pools and no Dark Herring, so it really doesn't seem to be much different from other rare fish.

  8. Arek, November 2008:

    I've fished up 600 herrings now, and no luck yet.

    I think the reason the dark herring is alluring is because in other cases of the rare catches for OTDGA, you're fishing in ponds with multiple kinds of fish to catch, not all of which have a rare replacement that fulfills the achievement. With herring schools being very plentiful, it's pretty easy to constantly circle a pond (I have had no competition so far) and constantly catch herring, so you've got the chance to get the rare with every cast. If you're fishing in a pool with three kinds of fish that have equal drop rates, your chances of getting what you want dropped by a third.

    I doubt it has any higher of a catch rate, but the consistency of which you're testing the RNG works in your favor in this case.

  9. aparchee, November 2008:

    Hi, got him today, 987 fish caught when he popped from a pool excluding catches of Crates and Waters, easily over 1000 including them. I just fished from the pier at Valgarde moving between the 2 respawning pools as and when they were up. ;-)

  10. Nomi, November 2008:

    Fished up Dark Herrig today from Grizzly Hills, lake around the area called Blue Sky Logging Grounds, open water.

  11. JohnClark, November 2008:

    650 catches in the Fjord .. still no Herring .. its all i need for Salty but must admit .. slowly losing resolve.

  12. Mitzy, November 2008:

    Hehe, I feel for you. I as well only need the One that didn't get away achievement for Salty. Sucks really :<

  13. Oberweiss, November 2008:

    I finally fished up a Dark Herring yesterday after doing laps around the big lake North of Skorn, fishing in only the schools. I was the only person fishing there, and they respawned fast enough to fish in them continually. It was the last achievement I needed to complete to get the Salty title.

    I did some open water inland fishing as well, because the Pygmy Suckerfish sell well, and you don't get any of them fishing exclusively in the schools, unfortunately. At least the Fangtooth Herring are used in three different cooking recipes, so they sell pretty well, too.

  14. Rezn, January 2009:

    I caught the Dark Herring at 54.61 57.7 . Was 2:20 am server time. Fishing Skill 480.
    Caught it on first cast!

  15. rakoth, January 2009:

    As I noted in another thread, I caught the Dark Herring fishing pools in WInter's Breath Lake in HF. Fourth cast - talk about lucky...

  16. VoicesInMyHead, January 2009:

    01.30.2009 21:41 server time
    Cauldron Isle - 56.8 , 39.1
    Fishing 450 + Mastercraft Kalu'ak Fishing Pole + Truesilver Fishing Line
    Fished 3 Fangtooth Herring pools
    10 Herrings
    1 crate of Colbolt Ore x2
    1 Dark Herring

    -The Voices

  17. Axolara, February 2009:

    I got this pretty fast today from fishing herring schools, I highly recommend trying this fish for your achievement.

  18. 2 more comments. Continue reading or reply »

Dark Herring...Caught

  1. hominids, February 2009:

    The Dark Herring was caught in a fangtooth herring school in Winter's Breath Lake.

  2. palanthiel, February 2009:

    Wanted to add that I also caught it at this location, in a school.

  3. Faderaven, February 2009:

    I caught this fish in a Fangtooth pool also. Was going to do Stonebulll but decided if it was going to be long and painful I might as well get a nice weapon...got it after about 50 casts! That was a nice change....

  1. Eltressa, February 2009:

    I got this the other day from a Fangtooth pool in north Howling on my first cast. Since I was only there for the Northrend Angler achievement, it was a nice surprise. Especially since I haven't had any luck at all with crafty/ironjaw/giant rat/mr pinchy/etc >_>

  2. Gungner11, April 2009:

    my lucky day! got my Giant sewer rat on 7th cast and my dark herring on my 13th cast now i just hope ill get that turtle soon

  3. Delphi, November 2009:

    I'm about to start "The one that didn't get away" and was going to farm the lake in HF. My question is what is the respawn rate to the herring nodes in the lake like?

  4. Salty Modarn, December 2009:

    Delphi wrote:

    I'm about to start "The one that didn't get away" and was going to farm the lake in HF. My question is what is the respawn rate to the herring nodes in the lake like?

    you rarely make a full loop of the lake without seeing a node, very rarely.

    I caught my dark herring (yesterday) after approximately 2000 fangtooth herrings, but only about 100 of those were after patch 3.3 (it's conceivable that they changed the drop rate)

  5. jasonpatterson, January 2010:

    I decided to post whatever my results were for catching the Dark Herring because I get sick of people assuming that there is some trick to catching these things, rather than chance alone. In this case, I expected to catch thousands of fish with no luck, and happily was wrong. 156 catches in (all fished from pools around the lake) I got a dark herring. As mentioned, if you circle the lake, you'll only rarely find it empty of fishing nodes.

  6. jasonpatterson, January 2010:

    OK, the gods of the RNG are smiling upon me. My 8th catch from a highland school netted Mr. Pinchy, whose first wish was the Crawdad. Happiness abounds, I should have Salty within the week, if the BC dailies are friendly to me. Not on topic at all, but heck, I had to tell someone.

  7. Enarka, January 2010:

    : ) Gratz, Jason.

    Mind you, I'm actually trying to find a very high populated server on which to roleplay as a Fisherwoman, full time! I'm not really interested in much anything else in WoW as it stands right now. I enjoy fishing more than anything else, and cooking along with it!

    Savory Deviate Delights, Dragonbreath Chili, Great Feasts, Small Feasts, and the famous FISH FEASTS ! I'd like to find two or three raiding guilds who need food supplies, on the same server, and would agree to buy said supplies from me at a set price! I'm not in for the sole purpose of profiting, since everyone can do it, hence the added value of roleplaying to the whole experience!

    I need to find myself a good, high population RP server with high-end raiding guilds =)

  8. olliebskae33, February 2010:

    After winning the derby this past Saturday, all that remained between me and the title was the one that didnt get away. I spent all day and night (probably 14 hrs total) Sunday fishing in HF for the Dark Herring. After a few hundred fish, I switched to the NELF starting zone. Caught ten of the 10 pounders, but no 15 pounder! Gave up about 2am.
    Started back in HF this morning and got tired of circling the damn lake so decided to take a quick run down the river. Second school down the river, I got it!
    Man, I'm glad thats over! Good luck all!!! :)

  9. Reply to this topic »

Baby Coralshell Turtle?

  1. Edge, October 2008:

    In the achievement "One That Didn't Get Away" there's a requirement for a Baby Coralshell Turtle. Has anyone seen this one yet? Does anyone know anything about this catch?

    Searching for "Coralshell" on sites like Wowhead only returns Coralshell Tortoise and Lurker which are both found in Northern Azshara. I'm guessing you have to fish up the Baby Coralshell Turtle there. Might it be a pet?

  2. crimsona, October 2008:

    It could just be a northrend rare drop

  3. Edge, October 2008:

    crimsona wrote:

    It could just be a northrend rare drop

    Though, the only place with Coralshell turtles is Azshara. It seems a bit weird in my opinion if a baby turtle would get so far off from it's origin.

  1. Micha, October 2008:

    Maybe Coralshells are one of those turtle species that nest on beaches far away. Now I feel kinda guilty. Poor baby turtles already have enough going against them before we fishermen aim to stick them in our bank. :P

  2. el, October 2008:

    I've done a lot of fishing in Northrend so far, and not seen it. But if it is really rare, it might take thousands of catches in one particular place or pool type - and I haven't done that yet!

    The Giant Sewer Rat was easier to spot, because there were little clues in the water, that made me keep on fishing.

  3. Yoco, October 2008:

    Edge wrote:

    In the achievement "One That Didn't Get Away" there's a requirement for a Baby Coralshell Turtle.

    Didn't the requirement read to catch any (not all) of those fishes? So it wouldn't matter whether you catch it or not. Still, it may be nice to learn where to find them :)

  4. ganome20x6, October 2008:

    Edge wrote:

    crimsona wrote:

    It could just be a northrend rare drop

    Though, the only place with Coralshell turtles is Azshara. It seems a bit weird in my opinion if a baby turtle would get so far off from it's origin.

    (first time poster)
    i have taken it apon myself to cautch 100,000 fish off the north coast of azshara or fish untill the location of the turtle is found, my thoughs are that its ether the north of azshara or south of borean tundra

  5. Micha, October 2008:

    Part of me is hoping that this is a noncombat pet. It kinda seems like it. Turtles don't exactly die when you pull them out of the water, and we have models and animations for baby turtles already.

  6. Touchessky, October 2008:

    Micha wrote:

    Part of me is hoping that this is a noncombat pet. It kinda seems like it. Turtles don't exactly die when you pull them out of the water, and we have models and animations for baby turtles already.

    I am hoping that it is am off-hand turtle (?). My Hunter is totally about the Turtle. I have had the same Oasis Snapjaw (Name: Ironshell) since level 15 and Speedy since level 10. I also have the Turtle Mount (Name: Larry). So I really would like a turtle I can carry in my hand.
    Touchessky Level 70 Tauren Hunter

  7. Reply to this topic »

1st STV Win and One That Didn't Get Away in the same tournament

  1. Doubled, October 2008:

    Tried the STV Tournament today. Was still looking for that elusive 1st win. Didn't think I had much of a shot due to incresed participation by people trying to gain the achievement. About 10 minutes into the contest, I fished up a Rockhide Strongfish - One That Didn't Get Away achievement completed! Kept going, trying for the win. Felt I was doing pretty good. Then started getting close and no winner yet. Anticipation and a whole lot of anxiety going on. Got the 40th and no winner.... Hearthing never seemed like it took so long before. Turned it in - Win the STV Tourney achievement completed. This has to be the best fishing day I've had in a long time. Just wanted to share. Woot!

  2. Walnut, October 2008:

    That's awesome luck! Congrats on the lucky day! =)

  3. Illuthas, November 2008:

    I know how you feel,i could barely click the npc cause my hands were trilling :p

  1. Analith, November 2008:

    Nice one!

    First contest I did I got TWO queenfish, and ended litterally two steps from win. Six contests later I got it.

    Goddamm I almost picked the stupid trinket though ^^; Stupid hands

  2. Alaylith, November 2008:

    Lucky I won the tournament a long time ago (twice) and don't have to worry about getting the achievement now when so many people want to get it. ^^

    But my hands were shaking when I read back then the win wasn't retro - that were some awful days until Blizzy said the rod or the trinket would work retro. o_o

  3. Vicenti, November 2008:

    Nice one, it’s always great to get that long awaited achievement, but two in one is a real result! Sadly I fear I shall never be a winner myself, not being able to play on a Sunday kinda kills this one and the ‘Salty’ title for me :-(

  4. Reply to this topic »

Dark Herring: Pools vs. Open Water

  1. Ohlookatank, March 2009:

    Anyone care to comment on this subject or provide some useful statistics? I've been reading lots about this particular fish from a number of different sites and its hard to decipher if there is a clear advantage to Fangtooth herring pools vs. casting in open water (in Howling Fjord).

    After about 2200 casts, both in pools and open water (mostly in open water) I'm beginning to wonder if it's pure luck that I see many posts claiming to catch a Dark Herring in a pool rather quickly, or if there is more too it and the chances of catching one is better in the pools than just casting in open water.

    Thanks for any info.

  2. zimm, March 2009:

    Well i caught the dark herring after 20 minutes of fishing the other day, all in pools, and last night a friend caught it in a pool after getting just 6 stacks of fangtooth herring, but we could have just been lucky.

  3. Ohlookatank, March 2009:

    That's bizarre, I just must be one of those people with bad luck. I've spent many hours fishing just the pools and haven't had any luck yet. Thanks!

  1. Azaguth, March 2009:

    There is speculation that the Dark Herring is a rare spawn of the Fangtooth Herring...so, while possible to catch the Dark Herring in open water, it may be more common in pools since the chance of catching a regular Fangtooth Herring is so much greater.

  2. Ohlookatank, March 2009:

    Azaguth wrote:

    There is speculation that the Dark Herring is a rare spawn of the Fangtooth Herring...so, while possible to catch the Dark Herring in open water, it may be more common in pools since the chance of catching a regular Fangtooth Herring is so much greater.

    Yes, that was essentially the conclusion I came to too, but there is no concrete proof to prove this as far as I know. I've asked a GM about it and of course they aren't allowed to reveal that kind of information so at this point it's all really speculation.

  3. Gizmoh, March 2009:

    I guess I should contribute my own first hand experiences from a few minutes before.
    Beware! Reading this can be frustrating for someone who has been hunting the elusive Dark Herring for days.

    I had been fishing the pools in the lake at Fort Wildervar for about an hour with no success. So I decided to do some stuff with an alt. Logging back in for another round of fishing I caught the Dark Herring on the first cast. Resisting the urge to dance and hearth back to Dalaran I decided not to waste almost 10 minutes left on my bait timer and continued fishing.
    With the result of catching another two Dark Herrings at the second and fifth pool around the lake.
    Now I'm somewhere between puzzled and freaked out.

    I don't believe that multiplied probabilities are responible for such a "lucky" streak. Maybe the game mechanics insert the rare spawns into the pools at a specific time? And the composition of each pool is predetermined at its spawn?

    Anyway ... since nobody will believe me, I will send some screenshots to el for close examination :-)
    Edit: And for everyone else - at least for the next 7 days : http://rcpt.yousendit.com/661097963/a8d72d9f03a6472ca6b3d497a5ffaf6e

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Regarding catching rare fish types . . .

  1. Bullstomp, October 2008:

    Like everyone else I am working on the achievement "one that didn't get away" and as I looked up the location of each of the fish types and started fishing for them a question occured to me. Take for example the 68 LB Grouper or 103 LB might fish which is said to be caught in Azshara. Do I have to be in an area where I'm catching varied versions of a said fish in order to catch its rare xx pound version or could a 103 LB might fish be caught in an area where i am only catching yellowtails and winter squid?

  2. el, October 2008:

    There are two different areas of coastal water in Azshara. Each has slightly different catches. In summary, the 70-103 Pound Mightfish comes from the Bay of Storms region, the 40-68 Pound Grouper from the beaches round the edge. The waters do not overlap, although it is possible to stand in the middle and get a random mix, depending on where the bobber lands.

  3. scaresome, November 2008:

    Hi all,
    My first posting; I hope I do this right!

    My "one that didn't get away" was a herring -- a level 78 dagger. I caught it in the lake near Utgarde Keep in the Howling Fjord.

  1. pinktoque, November 2008:

    scaresome wrote:

    Hi all,
    My first posting; I hope I do this right!
    My "one that didn't get away" was a herring -- a level 78 dagger. I caught it in the lake near Utgarde Keep in the Howling Fjord.

    You... and everyone else on this forum who have mentioned this rare catch... give me hope. Thank you :)

  2. Tezuix, November 2008:

    theres a screenshot of this rare fish floating around the website somewhere too =)

    there are in fact 3 rare fish to be caught in Azshara - there is the 22LB lobster also,

    and as to El's comment, i was standing out far in the bay of storms - well past grouper catching zone and still caught the 40LB grouper, a lobster that had a weight and a mightfish too

    i have also caught other rare fish outside of their 'zone' but within a region

  3. Reply to this topic »

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