Think Like A Fish

Think Like A Fish
PS - Yes, this too long to read.

Mahakeya is getting a little bit frustrated at this fishing business. She made no headway at all the past two days toward catching those last six rare fish. It wasn't from lack of trying. Three times she thought she had one, but each time they managed to elude the sting of steel through flesh. What is truly annoying is the lack of good information about these fish. Sure, there are plenty of ideas and "can't fail" guidance. The problem is that they do fail, and no two guides are the same. Keya prides herself on her patience, but an hour of throwing a lure into the water only to come up empty is, well, maddening.

One example is Keya's target for today, the Ancient Highmountain Salmon. I went to three places for guidance on catching it. None of the three sources said the same thing. There is a lure involved, but one source calls it a snail lure and another source calls it a drogbar. The snail lure may also be called a Funky Sea Snail. Drogbar might be the same as Bitestone Fishbrul. I read somewhere that this guy "Spawns when the short buff from Funky Sea Snail wears off" and attacks whoever is close by, even if not fishing. Sigh. In what order these things spawn and which name is the right one is a blind guess. The only thing that seems consistent is that Keya knows she has a chance of a catch if she sees the two minute timer. Every rare fish Keya has caught entailed a two minute timer. That still doesn't mean the fish will be caught, only that there is a chance.

Even more frustrating is the areas where there are more than one rare fish, and two types spawn and overlap, which is an almost certain failure. That's happened twice so far - two hours wasted.
Keya is returning to Dalaran and the Morgass island to restock on the drowned mana she uses to slightly improve the speed at which fish are caught. She's currently in Highmountain. Wish her luck. She needs a lot of it.

Keya is following streams and fishing. (1) Her first attempt netted her a Frost Worm, but did not result in a rare fish catch. (2) The second attempt got her a swollen murloc egg, the murloc fled, and Keya caught a Mountain Puffer, a rare fish she already has. (3) On her third attempt, she caught another Mountain Puffer. Crazy.
(4) The fourth attempt never took place. The computer started slowing down and fishing became impossible. Thinking it was a problem with the computer, I did a restart. When I opened Blizzard I got the message that the authentication servers were having trouble. Bliz is investigating.
(5) Bliz cleared the problem and Keya went back to fishing. She picked out a fishing hole that had already been staked out by a nasty looking mob. Keya killed it and jumped into a nearby boat to continue fishing. Drogbar showed up and sat around watching Keya fish. Then a Funky Snail showed up and asked to be thrown into the water. A two minute timer started up. The timer ended and Keya got a little nervous. Then a second, five minute timer started up and in a couple of minutes more Drogbar returned, jumped into the boat and attacked. He was actually fairly tough, but Keya took him out. Her reward? Keya earned the Ancient Highmountain Salmon. Finally, a success.

(6) Only five more to go. Still in Highmountain, but now facing the ocean. The Funky Snail showed up again, but Keya ignored it. (7) Then she got a Frost Worm. Keya is starting to wonder if she's not in an area that is considered "ocean." There isn't any way to tell. (8) Another skrog plus a murloc attack and TWO leyshimmer blennys which Keya has already. Another bust in an area supposed to be for ocean fish. (9) Keya is heading for Suramar which she hears is a good spot for ocean fish. She hears a rumor that you know you are there because it will say "the great sea." She'll check it out. (10) A catch! Seabottom Squid! This was a tough one. Keya had to fight a "stunned, angry shark" that climbed out of the water. Keya killed it, but just barely. Great fight and Keya is one fish closer. And then another angry shark turned up. Then a sleeping murloc.

Okay, Keya has been swimming and flying around the waters edges of Suramar and finally she sees a sight other than Suramar. She is now in Seaspray Cliffs. Still unsure if she is at the ocean despite a horizon lined with water. (11) Keya had to buy water walking in order to find a spot that actually said "The Great Seas." In ten minutes of fishing she caught only trash fish. Keya has to wonder if she's doing something wrong. On the other hand, maybe the only way to fish in the ocean is by being able to walk on water or have a raft or something similar.
Keya patted herself on the back for winning two more rare fish, but disappointed at the lack of progress on the ocean fish. Keya called it for the day.
And yes, she took a looong bath. Still, Chaitee walked past with her nose pinched closed.

On the off chance that someone is still here reading this, Keya needs only four more rare fish catches.