Stranglethorn Fishing Extravaganza

The Stranglethorn Fishing Extravaganza is a weekly fishing contest held along the coasts of Stranglethorn Vale. It was added in patch 1.7 in September 2005. Every Sunday afternoon, for two hours, the fishing pools of Stranglethorn filled with Speckled Tastyfish, and the first angler on the realm to bring forty of them to Booty Bay won a prize that no one else could get that week. Anglers who lost the race could still turn in their fish, and a few lucky ones caught a rare fish worth one of Nat Pagle's own pieces of gear.

Getting the word out

Early on Sunday, a fishing promoter arrived in each faction's main city: Barrus in Ironforge and Grinkle in Orgrimmar. In Could I get a Fishing Flier? and Could I get a Fishing Flier?, they handed out a [Fishing Tournament!] flier explaining the rules: catch Speckled Tastyfish anywhere along the Stranglethorn coast during the tournament, and bring them to the fishmaster in Booty Bay.

At 2 p.m., Riggle Bassbait shouted across the whole zone that the tournament had begun. For the next two hours, most fish caught from fishing pools in Stranglethorn were Speckled Tastyfish.

The race

The contest itself was the quest Master Angler. Its goal was forty Speckled Tastyfish, and only the first player on the realm to turn them in each week could complete it. The winner chose one of two prizes:

Riggle then announced the winner's name to all of Stranglethorn, and everyone else's race was over.

Winning took preparation. Good anglers raised their fishing skill well beforehand, set their hearthstones to Booty Bay, studied the coast for pools and brought friends to spot them. Fish could only be caught from inside a pool, so a bobber that landed outside the ring had to be cast again. Stranglethorn's level 30 to 45 monsters and pirates were a hazard for low-level fishers, and on PvP realms the contest often became a brawl along the beaches as players killed rival anglers or fished out their pools.

Prizes for everyone else

Losers kept their fish. Jang, Riggle's apprentice, paid coin for every five tastyfish in the repeatable Apprentice Angler, though the fish spoiled after a few hours.

During the tournament, the coast also yielded rare fish, which did not spoil and could be saved for a later Sunday. The Fishbot 5000 traded each for a piece of fishing gear:

• [Keefer's Angelfish] for the [Lucky Fishing Hat] in Rare Fish - Keefer's Angelfish.
• [Brownell's Blue Striped Racer] for [Nat Pagle's Extreme Anglin' Boots] in Rare Fish - Brownell's Blue Striped Racer.
• [Dezian Queenfish] for [High Test Eternium Fishing Line], a line that improves a fishing pole, in Rare Fish - Dezian Queenfish.

A few anglers also pulled up a [Rockhide Strongfish], a fish heavy enough to be equipped as a one-handed mace.

Later history

• Later versions added second and third prizes and an achievement, Master Angler of Azeroth.
• After the Cataclysm split Stranglethorn in two, the tournament covered both Northern Stranglethorn and the Cape of Stranglethorn.
• In Legion, patch 7.1.5 turned it into a world quest in which the first fifty players to finish win.
• World of Warcraft Classic holds the tournament each Sunday in its original form, with a single winner.

Sources

• Stranglethorn Fishing Extravaganza, Warcraft Wiki
• Riggle Bassbait, Warcraft Wiki