El's Extreme Anglin' - World of Warcraft Fishing Guide // Valuable Fish // Catching Tiny Carp

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  This is a guide to catching Tiny Blue, Green, Red and White Carp from the waters of Pandaria. It includes a list of locations, analysis of waters and catch rates, and strategies. On this page:

  • Introduction
  • Tiny Blue Carp
  • Tiny Green Carp
  • Tiny Red Carp
  • Tiny White Carp
  • Pool Uniqueness
  • Pool and Open Water Rarity
  • Strategy
  • Learn More

  "The carp are very rare." - Mumper.

Introduction

Four different Tiny Carp appeared in certain waters of Pandaria with Patch 5.2. Each is a minipet companion and aquatic battle pet. All 4 Tiny Carp look similar to the Tiny Goldfish, but have different colored scales. Their stats are also similar to the Tiny Goldfish, except Tiny Carp start at rare quality. Tiny Carp items are bound when caught, while the pets are unique and not trade-able once learned, so you can only gain these pets by catching them yourself.

Unfortunately for pet collectors, these fish are very rare catches. Tiny Carp seem to be at least as rare as Mr. Pinchy or the Giant Sewer Rat - and perhaps even rarer. Some anglers have caught all 4 Tiny Carp in about a thousand casts, while I initially caught almost 14,000 fish without catching a single Tiny Carp. Should you meet Salty El at a Fish of the Day migration, chances are I'm still trying to find one...

Each Tiny Carp can be caught from either pools or open water. Since pools can be fished effectively at fishing skill 1, there is no need for high fishing skill. If you intend to fish open water, maximum personal fishing skill and decent fishing Equipment is recommended, since you will need to fish the Vale of Eternal Blossoms for Tiny Blue Carp. Note that if you have insufficient skill to fish open water in Pandaria, you will catch excess Golden Carp. If you catch excess Golden Carp, a proportion of your casts cannot possibly catch a Tiny Carp, so your overall chance of catching a Tiny Carp is lower.

You will need access to Pandaria, so must have seen through the Mists of Pandaria ((have the fourth expansion)). Level 90 is recommended for flight, especially if fishing non-Fish of the Day pools. There are a few items that may help fish for Tiny Carp more effectively, notably an Ancient Pandaren Fishing Charm, outlined in the Strategy section.

Tiny Blue Carp

• Teaches: Summon a Tiny Blue Carp.
• "These little guys only live in the clear, magical waters of the Vale of Eternal Blossoms." - from the Pet Journal
• Where to catch »

Tiny Blue Carp are slightly stronger battle pets than the other 3 Tiny Carp: At level 1, the Tiny Blue Carp's health is 155 (compared to 151 or 152 for other Tiny Carp) and their attack is 12 (compared to 11), but their speed is still 12 (the same as the other Tiny Carp).

Tiny Blue Carp are caught from:

• Open water: Inland Vale of Eternal Blossoms (825 skill to cast without catching excess Golden Carp).
• Regular pools: Jewel Danio School and Redbelly Mandarin School.
• Fish of the Day pools: Mad Qao-Pao (Glimmering Jewel Danio Pool and Large Pool of Glimmering Jewel Danio Pool) and Fields of Niuzao (Crowded Redbelly Mandarin and Large Pool of Crowded Redbelly Mandarin).

Tiny Green Carp

• Teaches: Summon a Tiny Green Carp.
• "It is believed that the green coloration and stripes on the tiny green carp serve as camouflage in the waters of The Jade Forest, Valley of the Four Winds and the Krasarang Wilds." - from the Pet Journal
• Where to catch »

Tiny Green Carp are caught from:

• Open water: Inland The Jade Forest, Krasarang Wilds and Valley of the Four Winds (700 skill to cast without catching excess Golden Carp, except 650 in The Jade Forest).
• Regular pools: Emperor Salmon School, Jade Lungfish School and Krasarang Paddlefish School.
• Fish of the Day pools: Enchanted Woods of the Lost (Glowing Jade Lungfish and Large Pool of Glowing Jade Lungfish), Krasari Falls (Swarm of Panicked Paddlefish and Large Swarm of Panicked Paddlefish) and Stormstout Brewery (Brew Frenzied Emperor Salmon and Large Pool of Brew Frenzied Emperor Salmon)

Tiny Red Carp

• Teaches: Summon a Tiny Red Carp.
• "The red scales of these fish are believed to be a warning to predators of the Townlong Steppes and the Dread Wastes that their flesh is toxic." - from the Pet Journal
• Where to catch »

Tiny Red Carp are caught from:

• Open water: Inland Sha-Touched waters, primarily in Dread Wastes and southern Kun-Lai Summit, and inland Townlong Steppes (625 skill to cast without catching excess Golden Carp, except 725 for non-Sha Touched waters in Townlong Steppes).
• Regular pools: Spinefish School.
• Fish of the Day pools: Binan Village Coast (Sha-Touched Spinefish and Large Pool of Sha-Touched Spinefish).

Tiny White Carp

• Teaches: Summon a Tiny White Carp.
• "These hardy fish can survive in a wide range of climates, from the snow capped mountains of Kun-Lai Summit to the temperate, salty waters of the oceans around Pandaria." - from the Pet Journal
• Where to catch »

Tiny White Carp are caught from:

• Open water: Inland non-Sha Touched Kun-Lai Summit, The Veiled Stair, and any coastal water around Pandaria (700 skill to cast without catching excess Golden Carp, except 750 for inland Kun-Lai Summit and The Veiled Stair).
• Regular pools: Giant Mantis Shrimp Swarm, Reef Octopus Swarm and Tiger Gourami School.
• Fish of the Day pools: Gokk'lok Shallows (Tangled Mantis Shrimp Cluster and Large Tangled Mantis Shrimp Cluster), Master Snowdrift's Pagoda (Tiger Gourami Slush and Large Pool of Tiger Gourami Slush) and Sri-La Village (Reef Octopus Swarm and Large Swarm of Migrated Reef Octopus).

Pool Uniqueness

Tiny Blue Carp appear in Crowded Redbelly Mandarin pools because the contents of Crowded Redbelly Mandarin pools are identical to Redbelly Mandarin School - and Redbelly Mandarin School are found in both Vale of Eternal Blossoms and Townlong Steppes:

The pet journal descriptions are reasonably clear on open water catches, since open water can be fairly easily described by zone. However, named pools have traditionally had the same contents regardless of which zone they are found in. For a fish to be genuinely caught anywhere in a zone, that fish would need to be found in all the named pools found in that zone. That would automatically include occurrences of the same-named pools that are in other zones. Fish of the Day pools are duplicates of regular pools, with identical contents. The result is that we catch a Tiny Carp that should be unique to one zone, from a pool which is unique to an entirely different zone.

Early in testing, Mumper (Lead Content Designer, Cory Stockton) noted that, "These new battle pets are from fishing. Each one from a unique area in Pandaria." Unique is open to interpretation, but implies that there should be no one area of water (zone, region, pool) containing more than one named Tiny Carp.

Following many observations by other anglers, it now seems certain that each area of open water, and named pool type, contains just one type of Tiny Carp. For example, Tiny Green Carp can be caught from any Emperor Salmon School, regardless of the zone the pool is found in: Tiny Green Carp can even be caught from Emperor Salmon School in Vale of Eternal Blossoms, a zone in which other pools and open water contain Tiny Blue Carp. This means there are no overlaps: No single area of water or pool type where more than one named Tiny Carp can be caught.

Pool and Open Water Rarity

When Tiny Carp first appeared during testing, they were much more common than they are now. Early test catch data is not representative of current catch rates, but we can use it to hint at the differences between pool and open water catch rates:

** Open water catch totals have been adjusted to exclude excess Golden Carp caught while (also) testing skill changes. Tiny Carp are part of the regular open water catch, so will be impossible to gain from casts which catch excess Golden Carp due to insufficient skill.

The sample above is almost 10 thousand catches, with an equal split between open water and pools. Only 6 Tiny Carp were caught, mostly from pools. This early data suggests the catch rate from pools was approximately double that from open water. Unfortunately the sample size is far too small to be certain, and there is no way to know that the same pattern remained after the catch rates changed. It still makes logical sense for pools to have a higher catch rate, since it generally takes longer to fish pools than open water. The evidence is biased towards a higher catch rates from pools, but inconclusive.

Part-way through testing more challenging catch rates were apparently applied... And after another 14,000 catches, including ten thousand from pools, I'd not caught a single Tiny Carp! The probability of that result with the early test proportions (perhaps 1/1000 from pools) is very low, but just about possible. The best evidence for a change in catch rates is Mumper's response to my ever-declining chances:

"The carp are very rare."

Reliable catch data for Tiny Carp will be almost impossible to gather. Early ((live)) reports suggest a catch rate in the order of 1/1,000 for each of the four Tiny Carps. Unfortunately the numbers are very variable from angler to angler, so the actual catch rate may still be far worse - perhaps closer to the 1/5,000 seen for the Sea Turtle: Lucky anglers tend to report their catches first! As with all very rare drops (and catches), there's always a tendency to see patterns that are probably nothing more than luck: For example, for every post I have read proclaiming Fields of Niuzao's open water to have a high catch rate for Tiny Red Carp, I've read another comment by someone who cast there thousands of times before catching their Tiny Carp.

Ultimately, some anglers will be lucky, and quickly catch Tiny Carp in the course of fishing for other fish. But dedicated pet collectors, and anglers who want to "catch everything", should expect to spend a lot of time fishing the waters of Pandaria.

Strategy

The previous 2 sections have tried to answer two of the most common questions about fishing for Tiny Carp:

• Are there places where more than one Tiny Carp can be caught from the same water? No.
• Is the catch rate higher in pools, compared to open water? Uncertain.

The evidence on catch rates is inconclusive. If pool and open water catch rates were actually the same, traditionally it would have been most efficient to fish open water, since open water anglers don't need to waste time moving from pool-to-pool. Anglers with low fishing skill, or a desire to maximise the amount of Valuable Fish they catch, might still benefit most from fishing pools. But for pure Tiny Carp-catching efficiency, open water fishing would be best.

However, Pandaria changes that open water vs pool balance in two ways:

• Fish of the Day: These clusters of rapidly respawning pools mean that one pool type can be fished continually without travel between pool spawning locations. Only one Fish of the Day migration is active each day, so (potentially) only one Tiny Carp can be sought each day. Fishing Fish of the Day pools is still marginally slower than fishing open water, because of the need to re-cast several times before your bobber lands in a pool. That small time penalty can be offset by:
• Ancient Pandaren Fishing Charm: The Charm adds a second fish from the pool's catch table to 20% of your catches. Overall a 20% increase in fish caught. Tiny Carp catch rates should be affected by the Charm (see box below). The Ancient Pandaren Fishing Charm can be hard to obtain, but worth the effort if you plan to catch all 4 Tiny Carp: The Charm should save at least 5,000 catches - potentially a full day's fishing.

These methods will allow a similar number of fish to be caught each hour from pools, as could be caught from open water. Anglers gain most of the benefits of pool fishing - such as a skill 1 requirement and a higher proportion of Valuable Fish - but still catch fish just as quickly as from open water. The main disadvantage of fishing Fish of the Day migrations is a lack of choice - either you fish today's Fish, or you don't. There are 9 possible Fish of the Day, so any one might take weeks to occur. Where the factions are at war ((PvP realms)) Fish of the Day pools may attract hostile members of the opposite faction. A few migrations (especially Krasari Falls) may be inefficient if fished without a water-walking ability or raft, since some Fish of the Day pools spawn in deep water, away from the shore.

If you opt to fish from open water, ensure your fishing skill is high enough to avoid catching excess Golden Carp. Tiny Carp are part of the regular open water catch, so would be impossible to gain from casts which catch excess Golden Carp due to insufficient skill. Fishing with insufficient skill reduces the chance of catching a Tiny Carp, even if it looks like you are catching more Carp...

Tiny Carp are caught in the same places as the fish that gain Nat Pagle's Friendship. If you plan to become Best Friends with Nat, consider pacing your Tiny Carp fishing over several weeks: Each day aim to catch and deliver the 3 "Pagle fish" - Flying Tiger Gourami, Mimic Octopus and Spinefish Alpha. You have a reasonable chance of catching at least one Tiny Carp while working towards best friendship.

For anglers that have not yet caught their Sea Turtle, Pandaria's pools (especially with an Ancient Pandaren Fishing Charm) are an efficient place to try. As far as we know, all pools that have a chance to contain a Tiny Carp, also have a chance to contain a Sea Turtle. You will be fishing for two very rare things at the same time, doubling the chance of gaining at least one of them.

Wherever and however you choose to fish Tiny Carp:

• Tiny Carp items are bound to angler, but no confirmation dialogue will appear. You can safely auto-loot and quickly re-cast. Tiny Carp make a "clinking" sound when they drop into your bags, different from the sound made by other fish caught in Pandaria.
• Always keep at least 2 bag slots empty. 3 slots if you are fishing with an Ancient Pandaren Fishing Charm. A Tiny Carp can potentially be caught alongside a Pagle fish, filling 2 free slots. The Charm is theoretically capable of producing a catch that fills 3 slots, such as a Tiny Carp, Pagle fish, and Sealed Crate (Pandaria).
• Tiny Carp are very rare, but the catch is random. Realistically, expect to spend days (weeks, months) trying to catch each Tiny Carp. Don't expect to catch it in one sitting. The best advice is to relax! Enjoy the scenery. Fish for short periods in between other activities. Eventually you catch the Tiny Carp you seek...

Learn More

• Fish of the Day - Details the daily clustering of pools at specific locations in Pandaria.
• Patch 5.2 - Describes changes to fishing and farming in patch 5.2.
• 5.2: Tiny Carp Battle Pets - News from 23 January 2013.
• Catching Tiny Carp - Forum discussion.
• New Carps - WarcraftPets.Com forum discussion.
• Tiny Carp Pets - Discussion on the official US forums.
• Catching Four Tiny Carps - Quintessence goes Tiny Carp fishing.
• Also in Valuable Fish: What's Valuable?, Buff Food, Supplies, Valuable Gear, Minipets and Mounts, Catching Mr. Pinchy, Catching the Sea Turtle Mount, and Other Valuable Fished Items.

Comments about Catching Tiny Carp

Below are readers' comments about "Catching Tiny Carp":

Catching Tiny Carp

1. el, March 2013:

   Patch 5.2 adds 4 new Tiny Carp minipets to the waters of Pandaria. Catching Tiny Carp is a detailed guide to catching these "very rare" fish.

   Due to their rarity, we are not yet sure of all possible catch locations. The Pet Journal has hints, but is also misleading: For example, the Pet Journal does not report that Tiny Blue Carp can be caught from Fish of the Day pools in Townlong Steppes. But they were on the test realm.

   If you catch a Tiny Carp, and you are sure about where you caught it, please let us know here. Especially if the location and water has not yet been confirmed. Please be sure to post the name (colour) of the Tiny Carp and the zone it was caught from, plus the area within the zone (inland, coastal, Sha-touched) for open water, or pool name for pools. If you've been counting, the number of casts before you got it. And for the super-observant, if you caught it while using an Ancient Pandaren Fishing Charm, did you catch it alone in the loot window, or alongside a regular (non-Pagle/quest) catch?

   Thanks in advance.

2. Marlburo, March 2013:

   can't wait to go for these!

3. Sethalaen, March 2013:

   I have been working on catching these.

   I don't remember how many casts (but a decent amount) but I caught a "Tiny Blue Carp" in the open waters of the Vale of Eternal Blossoms. So I can confirm they can be caught there and do not require a pool.

   Tiny Blue Carp
   Inland Waters of the Vale of Eternal Blossoms
   NOT caught from a pool

1. Pyrephoenix, March 2013:

   If you're compiling info about the new zones as well, I got a White one in the water off south-west Thunder Isle this evening. edit: I was fishing a pool (mantis shrimp, I believe) but I'm not sure I was actually landed in the pool, as my bobber was on the edge.

2. Ryi, March 2013:

   Not my catch but my partners (First cast of the day, curse you RNG gods)
   Open water, Valley of the Four Winds by the Panda that gives you the daily swarm info.
   Tiny Green Carp.

3. Fiala, March 2013:

   Hey folks! I caught a Tiny Blue Carp today! Stats look like I'm totally lucky. Using updated fishing buddy for stats. I was fishing in the Fish of the day Crowded Redbelly Mandarin Schools. So I can confirm the catch in Townlong Steppes! :) I was using the Ancient Pandaren Fishing Charm. It fell off in the middle somewhere, but it was on when I caught the carp. Carp appeared alone in lootbox.

   65 casts

   Redbelly Mandarin: 61
   Sealed Crate: 3
   Flying Tiger Gourami: 1
   Tiny Blue Carp: 1

4. Raziya, March 2013:

   Hey El -

   I caught a Tiny Green Carp this evening right in front of where the rare fisherman spawns in the Vale, expecting to be there a lot longer than I was to try to kill two birds with one stone.

   I caught 29 Emporer Salmon, 57 Golden Carp, 1 Flying Tiger fish for Nat Pagle, 21 Krasarang Paddlefish, and then the carp. Just under 100 casts, not too bad. I imagine that was extremely lucky, and the blue one which I want more will be much harder.

   This was fished up in open water. :)

5. Mythstaria, March 2013:

   Caught a Tiny White carp last night while fishing in a pool of Giant Mantis Shrimp off the beach on Isle of Giants. Easy catch out of the second pool I fished. I was really surprised to get it that quickly. Note: bringing a friend to fish here is probably wise since all mobs are 90+ elites. My husband and I were farming for the Dinomancer Book and the pets. Also had all of those drop off the Dinomancer mobs. A good night!

6. Sethalaen, March 2013:

   I caught my Tiny Green Carp today.

   Not in a pool.
   Cattail Lake in Valley of the Four Winds.

7. Sethalaen, March 2013:

   Caught my Tiny Red Carp.
   Townlong Steppes, the poor near Niauzo Temple.

8. Lamore, March 2013:

   Got ridiculously lucky and caught the Tiny Green Carp in Krasarang Wilds, while fishing in a Krasarang Paddlefish pool (Inland). Was using the Ancient Pandaren Fishing Charm. Only took five or six casts. Was the second pool I tried in that area.

9. Jimi, March 2013:

   Big fan of the site, figured I should contribute a little for all the help I've received. Both carp were caught during the fish of the day events, with the fishing charm equipped.

   Green Carp 6 March
   Krasari Falls
   Large Swarm of Panicked Paddlefish
   53 casts
   Caught alongside a Krasarang Paddlefish

   White Carp 9 March
   Shado-Pan Monastary
   Tiger Gourami Slush
   Approx 150 casts
   Caught along side two Tiger Gourami
   (Gave Salty El a high five while I was there)

   Hope this is useful!

10. Rhamona, March 2013:

    I just caught a Tiny White Carp from a Tiger Gourami pool in the Ancient Passage.

11. Weldar, March 2013:

    white carp
    50 casts charm/fishing hat bait/raft
    tiger gourami slush by shado pan monastary
    along side tiger gourami

12. GormanGhaste, March 2013:

    Tiny White Carp
    Mantis Shrimp Swarm pool
    coastal Jade Forest
    ~20 casts

    Used an Ancient Pandaren Fishing Charm. Did not count the number of casts, but recorded all my catches:

    16 Giant Mantis Shrimp
    7 Reef Octopus
    1 Mimic Octopus
    1 Tiny White Carp

    There were three items in the loot window when I caught it: Giant Mantis Shrimp, Mimic Octopus, and Tiny White Carp.

13. anjani, March 2013:

    I got the blue one in one cast, no fishing pool just in Vale of Eternal Blossoms in the lake outside Shrine of the Seven Stars.

    Not having any such luck when trying to fish up the other ones.

14. mikado, March 2013:

    Caught the tiny green carp, in the river in Vot4W, right by where Galleon spawns. Was sitting there bored, decided to level fishing on my hunter. Hit 375 fishing, went and trained, arrived back in the same spot, caught it within 3-4 casts. Overall, 19 casts on this character, but on other characters in the same spot probably closer to 200 casts. It appeared in the lootbox alongside Golden Carp. Thinking I got pretty lucky with this one.

15. Galva, March 2013:

    I caught the Green one in Valley right in front of Galleon in valley of 4 winds. I also caught the blue one in day of the fish thing in Vale of Eternal Blossoms right in front of shrine of the seven. Right now I am trying for the white one ......very little luck.......Also did not have my pole equiped......and neither were from pools.

16. Galva, March 2013:

    Oh yea the green and blue one was 2-3 cast I got them......white one I think I am up in the thousands...........any advice would be very gratful.

17. picho, March 2013:

    Just got my Tiny Blue Carp in the lake on the Townlong Steppes island where Niuzao Temple is. It is currently where the daily fish migration is and I was fishing in those pools (trying to get my turtle). Gluck to those trying for it!!

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