The "Less is More" Fishing Strategy

[Violet bagel]

With our first toons, we used the "Bigger is Better" strategy when we went fishing. As soon as we could, we traded up to the biggest, most powerful fishing rods, and tried to catch as many different species of fish as possible.

This strategy didn't work very well, even when using Bathleth's excellent guide and the recommendations of others on these boards. On Fluffy Mizzenmouth, I got a steel rod around the 50 fish mark. It took hours and hours of fishing to catch another 10 fish. Sometimes I had to spend several evenings camped out at the same pond to catch a single elusive species. Fluffy finally got up to 63 fish with the steel rod, then traded it in for a shiny new gold rod to catch the last 7 species. He has yet to catch any of them.

Now, for the "less is more" strategy.....

I'd read many fishing experts talk about the importance of catching as many fish as possible on the smaller rods before trading up to the bigger ones. Of course, by the time I read this, it was a little too late to try it out on Fluffy. So I decided to try it out on my test toon, Lady Daffodil. With Lady Daff, I caught 32 species on twig, then another 15 on bamboo, before trading up to Hardwood at 47 species.

Wow! What a difference! Fish that had been excruciatingly difficult with steel were a piece of cake with twig or bamboo. I caught the Siamese Cat Fish in one bucket on Elm Street--took me DAYS of fishing to catch it with Steel. Ditto for the Clara and Florence Nurse Sharks, the Scurvy Cutthroat, and several other species. It wasn't always easy--the Holey Mackerel experience was just as miserable with Bamboo as with Steel--but overall it took me far fewer hours of fishing to get these "rarities" with Twig or Bamboo than it had with Steel.

So, last night I got the Hardwood rod, and went off to see what I could catch. What a night! In an hour of fishing, I caught:

Baby Grand Piano Tuna
Upright Piano Tuna
Player Piano Tuna
Brown Bear Acuda
Black Bear Acuda
Koala Bear Acuda
Honey Bear Acuda
Polar Bear Acuda
Sea Horse
Harvest Moon Fish
AND the Pool Shark, for a total of ELEVEN new species in one hour!

So now I'm up to 58 species with hardwood, and I still have a couple more to go before I have to trade up to steel.

The moral: Less really may be more when it comes to fishing. Resist the temptation to trade up too soon. Read Bathleth's guide for strategy and master fisher toon guide, catch all the fish you can on a single rod, and only trade up when you've exhausted all but the ultra-rares. It sure worked well on this toon!

Now, if someone could only come up with an effective strategy for getting those ultra-rares a little more quickly......<g>

Happy fishing,
Violet B.

[Dr. Bearinstien]

Originally Posted by Violet bagel

With our first toons, we used the "Bigger is Better" strategy when we went fishing. As soon as we could, we traded up to the biggest, most powerful fishing rods, and tried to catch as many different species of fish as possible.

This strategy didn't work very well, even when using Bathleth's excellent guide and the recommendations of others on these boards. On Fluffy Mizzenmouth, I got a steel rod around the 50 fish mark. It took hours and hours of fishing to catch another 10 fish. Sometimes I had to spend several evenings camped out at the same pond to catch a single elusive species. Fluffy finally got up to 63 fish with the steel rod, then traded it in for a shiny new gold rod to catch the last 7 species. He has yet to catch any of them.

Now, for the "less is more" strategy.....

I'd read many fishing experts talk about the importance of catching as many fish as possible on the smaller rods before trading up to the bigger ones. Of course, by the time I read this, it was a little too late to try it out on Fluffy. So I decided to try it out on my test toon, Lady Daffodil. With Lady Daff, I caught 32 species on twig, then another 15 on bamboo, before trading up to Hardwood at 47 species.

Wow! What a difference! Fish that had been excruciatingly difficult with steel were a piece of cake with twig or bamboo. I caught the Siamese Cat Fish in one bucket on Elm Street--took me DAYS of fishing to catch it with Steel. Ditto for the Clara and Florence Nurse Sharks, the Scurvy Cutthroat, and several other species. It wasn't always easy--the Holey Mackerel experience was just as miserable with Bamboo as with Steel--but overall it took me far fewer hours of fishing to get these "rarities" with Twig or Bamboo than it had with Steel.

So, last night I got the Hardwood rod, and went off to see what I could catch. What a night! In an hour of fishing, I caught:

Baby Grand Piano Tuna
Upright Piano Tuna
Player Piano Tuna
Brown Bear Acuda
Black Bear Acuda
Koala Bear Acuda
Honey Bear Acuda
Polar Bear Acuda
Sea Horse
Harvest Moon Fish
AND the Pool Shark, for a total of ELEVEN new species in one hour!

So now I'm up to 58 species with hardwood, and I still have a couple more to go before I have to trade up to steel.

The moral: Less really may be more when it comes to fishing. Resist the temptation to trade up too soon. Read Bathleth's guide for strategy and master fisher toon guide, catch all the fish you can on a single rod, and only trade up when you've exhausted all but the ultra-rares. It sure worked well on this toon!

Now, if someone could only come up with an effective strategy for getting those ultra-rares a little more quickly......<g>

Happy fishing,
Violet B.

ya. also dont trade the twig until uve caught devil ray. its just like fishing for a regular fish. its so easy with twig.

[Violet bagel]

Originally Posted by bukato

ya. also dont trade the twig until uve caught devil ray. its just like fishing for a regular fish. its so easy with twig.

Good advice, Bukato. Wish I'd heard that one earlier. I don't have the devil ray on Lady Daff. For that matter, I don't have the devil ray on ANY of my toons. Neither does my daughter. If it weren't for the pictures I've seen on these boards, I wouldn't even know it existed. <g>

On the other hand, Lady Daff DID catch the All Star Fish in Daisy Gardens on her twig rod. She is the only one of our toons who has that one.

Violet B.

[Batleth]

I belive I've been saying to do this from the start..lol. Buy your rods as soon as they appear in the cattlelogs and keep them in your mailbox till your ready to get them out. Get as many species as possible on each rod, then take the next rod out of the mailbox. They'll stay in there forever if you don't take them out.

[Dr. Bearinstien]

Originally Posted by Batleth

I belive I've been saying to do this from the start..lol. Buy your rods as soon as they appear in the cattlelogs and keep them in your mailbox till your ready to get them out. Get as many species as possible on each rod, then take the next rod out of the mailbox. They'll stay in there forever if you don't take them out.

maybe not for steel, cause for grand for example, u can only catch it at 16 pounds with steel making it harder, so gold would be the best choice.

same thing for concord and allstar with twig. u have a better chance using a bigger rod than twig.

[Batleth]

Originally Posted by bukato

maybe not for steel, cause for grand for example, u can only catch it at 16 pounds with steel making it harder, so gold would be the best choice.

same thing for concord and allstar with twig. u have a better chance using a bigger rod than twig.

True, I normally keep my steel rod till up way into the middle to upper 60's of species before trading up to the gold rod though. The last couple of species normally give people the hardest problems, so it might be best to leave an easier species for these. The bulldog is a good one to leave till last, if you can avoid it.

[Dr. Bearinstien]

Originally Posted by Batleth

True, I normally keep my steel rod till up way into the middle to upper 60's of species before trading up to the gold rod though. The last couple of species normally give people the hardest problems, so it might be best to leave an easier species for these. The bulldog is a good one to leave till last, if you can avoid it.

whys that?? does it make it easeir to catch others if u leave it to last?

[Batleth]

Originally Posted by bukato

whys that?? does it make it easeir to catch others if u leave it to last?

Most toons have found that the last species or last couple of species are harder than normal to catch. By leaving an easier species for last, this should keep those at their normal rarity levels. Plus, once you've obtained all the hard species, it shouldn't be too hard to pick up the last 1 or 2 easy species that you've left for last.

[Captain Popcorn Hucklegoober]

Originally Posted by Violet bagel

Good advice, Bukato. Wish I'd heard that one earlier. I don't have the devil ray on Lady Daff. For that matter, I don't have the devil ray on ANY of my toons. Neither does my daughter. If it weren't for the pictures I've seen on these boards, I wouldn't even know it existed. <g>

On the other hand, Lady Daff DID catch the All Star Fish in Daisy Gardens on her twig rod. She is the only one of our toons who has that one.

Violet B.

actually ive caught it O.o didnt know it was so rare, o well....

[Dr. Bearinstien]

Originally Posted by Batleth

Most toons have found that the last species or last couple of species are harder than normal to catch. By leaving an easier species for last, this should keep those at their normal rarity levels. Plus, once you've obtained all the hard species, it shouldn't be too hard to pick up the last 1 or 2 easy species that you've left for last.

really? does it really work? has someone done it before?

[Batleth]

Originally Posted by bukato

really? does it really work? has someone done it before?

Quite a few have tried. Most of those get frustrated and end up just getting their easy species early on before catching their hard species. I belive the few that stuck to the plan, have had some success.

[Dr. Bearinstien]

Originally Posted by Batleth

Quite a few have tried. Most of those get frustrated and end up just getting their easy species early on before catching their hard species. I belive the few that stuck to the plan, have had some success.

did they tell u or, what. im gonna try that.

how many species do u suggest leaving for last?

[Batleth]

Originally Posted by bukato

did they tell u or, what. im gonna try that.

how many species do u suggest leaving for last?

They posted here in the fishing hole. Just 1 or 2 should do the trick.