Golden Tag
| Golden Tag | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Type | Collection |
| Location | Rainbow Trout |
| Sell Price | 0g |
The Golden Tag is the token handed out at the Trout Derby, the two day fishing contest held on the Cindersap Forest river in Summer. Rainbow Trout caught anywhere during the derby have a fair chance of carrying a tag, and each tag buys one prize at the booth on the river's northern bank. The first tag always brings back a Tent Kit, and the ones after it work down a list that runs from a Bucket Hat and a Crab Pot through a Diamond, a Mounted Trout and stacks of bait, espresso and geodes. Tags are not consumed by the end of the festival, so a farmer who catches more than the booth can take that year keeps the rest for the next derby. Offered to a villager, a tag is politely refused by everyone.
Overview
The derby takes over the stretch of river in Cindersap Forest near Marnie's Ranch for two days in high Summer, and the area stays open all the way through, so there is no need to clear the map before leaving. Rainbow Trout normally bite only in clear weather, but the contest overrides that, and the river carries them through the whole run whatever the sky is doing.
A tag rides along with the fish. Roughly one trout in three has one, and the tag arrives either tucked in with the catch or inside the Treasure Chest if a chest happens to come up on the same cast. Hooking several trout at once stacks the odds, so a cast that lands three fish is almost certain to pay, although only one tag comes out of any single catch no matter how many fish it held. A trout grown in a Fish Pond is the one that never counts.
Prizes come from the booth on the north shore, one tag at a time, even when the backpack is full of them. The Tent Kit is the opening reward and makes a camp by the water, which is a pleasant way to stay out late on the second day. After that the order runs through the Bucket Hat, a Crab Pot, a handful of Mystery Boxes, a Diamond, the Mounted Trout wall piece, a pile of Deluxe Bait, a couple of Triple Shot Espressos, a Quality Sprinkler, several Warp Totems for the farm and a few Omni Geodes.
Tags survive the night and the season. Anything left over sits in the bag until the derby comes round again, which means a heavy fishing day can be banked against a year when the river is less generous.
Notes
Gear turns the derby from luck into arithmetic. A Sonar Bobber shows what is on the line before the fight starts, so trout can be kept and everything else let go. Challenge Bait, which comes with Fishing Mastery, lands several fish on one cast, and that is the fastest way to push the tag count up.
The Mounted Trout is the keepsake of the whole event. It is a wall piece rather than a tool, and anyone furnishing a fishing room usually spends a tag on it even though the Diamond and the Quality Sprinkler are worth more in plain money.
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