The Art of Fishing in Azeroth and Beyond

Fishing is one of the great past times of Azeroth. The technique is simple, making fishing the perfect getaway from monotonous grinding or the same ol’ PvP action. That’s why all of my characters are fisherwomen! Tired of the norm? Grab a fishing pole and speak to your closest fishing trainer and let’s get started!

To fish, you will need a fishing pole, sold by any trades supply or fishing supply vendor in your home city. Ask a guard in one of your faction’s main cities for the fishing trainer closest to you. For draenei or those who go to the draenei starting areas to quest, you’ll find the quest Red Snapper – Very Tasty! and it is given by Diktynna along the river in between the starting area of Ammen Vale and Azuremyst Isle resulting in a reward of a fishing pole, bauble (lure), and she’ll even teach you how to fish if you want!

And before I get much further, I should apologize in advance that this article will clearly be Alliance-favoured. Sorry, Horde, I just haven’t leveled a Horde-side alt before, so you might see a little bias towards the Alliance, but the principles of this article are the same — you may just have to do a little searching for more specifics on Horde trainers or Horde specific quests.

Like all other professions in the World of Warcraft, fishing has levels, trainable as you progress by both talking to trainers and acquiring books. The great thing about fishing is that it is a secondary profession instead of a primary one, so you won’t have to give up one of your two limited primary profession slots to take it on.

Apprentice 1-75
Learned from a trainer, trainable at level 5. Cost is 1s.
Journeyman 75-150
Learned from a trainer, trainable at level 10. Cost is 4s50c.
Expert 150-225
Requires that you purchase and read the book Expert Fishing – The Bass And You, bought from Old Man Heming in Booty Bay for 1g.
Artisan 225-300
Quest reward from Nat Pagle. More on him later in this article, including details on his location and how to complete the quest.
Master 300-375
Requires that you purchase and read the book Master Fishing – The Art of Angling, bought from Juno Dufrain in Zangarmarsh at the Cenarion Refuge for 5g.

So Why Fish?
Why not? Not only is fishing relaxing, but the fish you catch can be cooked, used in recipes, or sold to others (or all three!) for nutrition or profit. You may even find a few cool or rare items while fishing. But more on that later. Fishing is popular among cooks (another secondary profession) and Hunters, because it means they can always grab food for their pet in the wild if needed, (provided they have a pet that eats fish) instead of having to trek back into town all the time. Alchemists use various fish in their recipes, and you’ll find that fish used in higher level cooking or alchemy recipes will glean you a nice, fat net profit when you’re done.

About Leveling
Fishing, unlike other professions, does not require you to advance to a higher level zone or catch higher level fish as you advance your skill. It’s a common misconception that you must move to higher level zones to advance your fishing skill, but really, you could just sit at the front gates of Stormwind and level completely from 1-375 in the same starter area lake you began fishing in, and you’d progress your fishing just as quickly as you would moving zones. In fact, you may even level a tad bit faster just sitting in the starter location because you’ll save lots of travel time and have a higher catch success rate, which plays an integral part in skilling up.

How can this be? The levels you gain in fishing are roughly determined by a formula which is based on your actual fishing skill level, and has absolutely nothing to do with where you fish or which type of fish you catch. The rough idea of the formula is

(Your Fishing Skill – 75) / 25 = how many successful fish caught needed in a row before you will skill up 1 point

Let’s say you have a fishing skill level of 175, to make the math easy. Subtract 75 from that, and you’re left with 100. Divide that by 25, and you get a final answer of 4, which means that it will take roughly 4 successful casts and catches in a row before you will skill up 1 point to 176 fishing.

So as you progress in your fishing skill, it will of course take more and more successful catches to gain a skill up, naturally. Notice I said “successful catches” – the formula is based on how many successful catches in a row you have. Only successful catches contribute towards that magic number of fish needed to be caught before you can skill up. Those annoying “Your fish got away!” messages don’t count! Because the formula result requires successful catches to gain a skill up, one can conclude that being in a low level starter area to level your fishing would be marginally faster than moving around to various higher level zones. This is because you’ll have better luck with your catches and less likely to have your fish get away, (not to mention zero travel time) meaning a more direct path towards your fishing skill goals. Therefore, more guaranteed successful catches in a row = faster leveling.

But fishing would be incredibly boring if you sat at your starter zone for hours on end leveling 1-375. Moving around means a change of scenery, a change in the type of fish you catch, and more variety in general. Make fishing truly relaxing and more exciting by changing it up a bit or finding a secluded and pleasing location so that you look forward to your escape. Besides, the higher level fish needed for higher level crafting recipes are… you guessed it… in higher level zones. And while you’re able to fish all the way to 375 in a starter zone, you cannot go and fish in higher level zones until your fishing skill is high enough to handle the waters there, so keep that in mind. For a more complete list of various types of fish you can catch and which zone they can be found in, check out the WoWwiki article here.

How to Fish
So now let’s talk about the mechanics of fishing. It’s very simple. Now that you’ve trained in apprentice fishing and have picked up a basic fishing pole, just equip the pole in your weapon slot. Note that it’s considered a two-handed weapon, so it’ll take both hand slots when equipped.

Open up your spellbook. After you’ve trained in apprentice fishing, you’ll see the fishing ability in the general abilities tab of your spellbook. I recommend dragging the icon out and putting it somewhere on your toolbar for easier access.

Now, the moment of truth… click the fishing ability icon, and you will automatically cast out into the water. I should mention that you need to be close enough to fishable water in order to do so. If you’re not standing within range of a body of water, it won’t cast, so just move closer as needed. You are able to fish in any body of water. More about the misconception that you can only fish in the schools of fish pool nodes (which is false!) later. Just know that if it’s a body of water and not too shallow, you can fish in it.

After you’ve made your first successful cast, you’ll see your bobber appear to be floating on the surface of the water, and the fishing ability will be a channeled casting bar at the bottom of your screen. Keep your eye on your bobber. Place your cursor over the bobber and note that it turns into a golden cog wheel. Wait patiently for the bobber to bob up in the water, indicating that you have a fish on the line, and when you see the bobber splash up, right click the cog wheel to loot your fish. If you get the message that your fist got away, don’t get discouraged, just try again! This is a common message when you first start fishing, and later as you level, is a good indication that you are fishing in an area a little above your fishing skill level. Once you gain a few skill ups, you’ll see that message less and less in that area.

Lures
Lures are an optional component to fishing but helpful, especially when you’re first starting out, or later down the line when you want to fish in a zone whose fishing level requirement is a little over your head. To help make fishing a little more successful and get over the starter hump of unsuccessful casts in the beginning and when you first venture into higher level fishing zones, attach a lure to your pole. Lures are like buffs to your pole and temporarily buff your fishing skill so you are more successful. Lures are available right away, and fishing supply vendors (usually located near the fishing trainer) sell them. There are multiple types of lures available to use as your skill progresses.

To add a lure to your pole, simply right click the lure in your inventory and then click on your fishing pole to attach and apply the buff. Higher level lures available at higher level skill allow you to buff your fishing skill temporarily even higher, making it possible to fish in a zone even before your actual skill is high enough.

Better Poles and Fishing Quests
There are a few quests out there for those with the fishing profession. Some quests give you new or better lures and some even give out better fishing poles. Like other weapons in the game, there are a few different types of fishing poles available with various stats that increase your fishing skill when they are equipped.

• The Family and the Fishing Pole
  Gubber Blump in Auberdine, Darkshore has this low level Alliance quest that’s incredibly easy to complete, and results in a free +3 to fishing skill pole, the Blump Family Fishing Pole as the reward. Even better, Gubber can teach you the fishing skill if you haven’t already learned it, and will even lend you a pole to do the quest with! :)
• The Strong Fishing Pole grants the user +5 fishing, and can be bought by fishing supply vendors listed at the link in major cities for both factions.
• Big Iron Fishing Pole is a +20 pole available to both Alliance and Horde. It is found by searching lobster/shellfish traps off the coast of Desolace down by Shadowprey Village around [20,75]. Alliance, you will need to be careful, as the guards near the docks will aggro if you get too close. It’s best to own a Hydrocane, be undead, a Warlock, or have underwater breathing potions on hand for this grind, because you’ll be opening the traps underwater as well as dodging level 34-35 mobs that guard the traps and your life will be much easier if you’re able to breathe underwater for an extended period of time. Simply open every trap you see and hope that you’ll find a Big Iron Fishing Pole inside. Sometimes you’ll get lucky and find random gray junk items in the traps (woo!), or shellfish… which unfortunately serve no purpose to Alliance. And other times you may be ambushed by one of the 34-35 mobs hiding inside the trap when you open it, so be prepared! Farming for the Big Iron Fishing Pole varies; some claim they’ve found it after opening a few traps, and others have farmed for hours on end before being successful. I’m one of those people that have experienced both ends of that spectrum, so good luck!
• Nat Pagle, Angler Extreme
  Nat Pagle is a master fisherman residing out on a small dock on an island in the middle of nowhere off the coast of Dustwallow Marsh near Theramore. When it is time for you to increase your fishing skill past 225, you will need to seek out Nat for this quest. He can be located by heading to Theramore and swimming west off of the docks. His coordinates are [58,59]. To up your fishing skill cap from 225 to 300, Nat asks you to prove your skill by fetching him four rare fish that are found in specific locations across Azeroth. He wants aFeralas Ahi, which can be found at [62,52] in the Verdantis River of Feralas, the Misty Reed Mahi Mahi which is found by fishing off of the far east coast of the Swamp of Sorrows, the Sar’theris Striker, which can be fished along the west coast of Desolace, and the Savage Coast Blue Sailfin , fished from the west coast of Stranglethorn Vale. Return to Nat with these rare fish, and he’ll up your fishing cap to 300. Congratulations!
• Rather Be Fishin’
  This quest, available in the Burning Crusade expansion at level 60 in Terokkar Forest, has a quest reward of Seth’s Graphite Fishing Pole, which is a nice pole that not only gives +20 fishing skill, but also has +52 stamina to boot! Good for those who wanted the Big Iron Fishing Pole but never took the time to farm it themselves or wanted to pay an outrageous price for it on the Auction House. The only drawback is you have to wait until level 60 to obtain the quest, instead of being able to get your hands on the Big Iron Fishing Pole sooner.
• On Sundays between the hours of 2 and 4pm server time, there is a fishing contest held in Stranglethorn Vale called the Stranglethorn Fishing Extravaganza. The tournament requires that you run up and down the coasts of the zone, fishing specifically into the Tastyfish pools that spawn, in hopes to be the first to fish out 40 Speckled Tastyfish and turn them into the quest giver outside the Inn in Booty Bay. One of the rewards for winning the weekly contest is the option to nab your very own Arcanite Fishing Pole, the highest +fishing skill pole available in-game currently. Alternatively, catching and turning in a few other rare fish that only spawn in these pools during the tournament on Sundays will net you some +fishing items that you can wear to increase your fishing skill as well. For more information on the Extravaganza, check out Seravais’ excellent guide posted here. Just scroll down until you reach their tutorial on the tournament. The official Blizzard site about the Stranglethorn Fishing Extravaganza can be found on the World of Warcraft website here, too.
• You have the chance when you’re fishing to come upon crates, containers, etc. If you’re lucky, inside one of those crates will be the bind-on-pickup Weather-Beaten Journal, which teaches you the ability to “find fish” — just like “find herbs”, this will allow you to track fishing nodes in bodies of water on your mini map just like you would herbs or mining nodes. Even though the item is BoP, if it is still in the crate, you are able to sell it/trade it to others. If you try to open the crate and take the item from the crate and you have less than 100 fishing ability, the item will disappear.
• There is a Horde-only quest called “Snapjaws, Mon!” that awards a +25 fishing pole, the Nat Pagle’s Extreme Angler FC-5000, given by an NPC in Revantusk Village in the Hinterlands. Click this link to find out more if you’re Horde side.

Addons
I don’t tend to use many addons in-game, but there are two addons that I recommend simply for making fishing more streamlined and less monotonous over time. Let’s face it — we want fishing to be an escape from the monotonous, not an additional monotonous task in-game that will only bore you.

• FishPing
  Not really an addon, but simply a .wav file that you put into a specific folder in your WoW directory so that a sound plays (a ping) when your bobber splashes. This makes it possible to do other things while you fish and is a louder and clearer indicator of when you have a fish on the line so that you don’t have to strain to hear the splash, or strain your eyes by staring at the bobber continuously. Don’t you hate it when you get distracted while fishing, only to look back at your bobber and wonder if it jumped or not? This is your solution. Being able to focus my eyes on other things – like guild chat or general chat – keeps me entertained while I fish, making it more enjoyable.
• Fishing Buddy
  This is a compact addon that gives you lots of options to enhance your fishing experience, such as allowing you to auto-equip an entire set fishing outfit, auto-attach lures to your pole if you have any in your inventory, and simpler casting achieved by right clicking. It also pops up a reminder and countdown to the Fishing Extravaganza event in Booty Bay so you don’t forget. Fishing Buddy also conveniently keeps track of every zone you’ve fished in and what types of fish (and how many) you’ve caught there over time, for easy reference. This addon does not automate fishing for you or do the work, but it does make the entire process more streamlined.

More Fishing Misconceptions
Another misconception when fishing these days is that you can only fish into a designated school of fish, which are visible circles of swarming fish with a name like “Firefin snapper school” on them when you hover over their spot in the water. This is false — you can fish anywhere in any body of water that is deep enough and do not need to fish directly into a school of fish in order to catch fish.

So what are those concentrated, labeled schools for? Blizzard added these swirling pools of fish to bodies of water in a patch so that fishermen would come across the schools while fishing and have a few guaranteed casts to catch that particular kind of fish when they fished directly into them. For example, Oily Blackmouth fish can be caught at Menethil Harbor (among other places). If you run up to the docks and start fishing randomly into the water anywhere in Menethil, you have a chance of catching Oily Blackmouth. However, if you notice a school of Oily Blackmouth in a designated puddle, you know that if you cast into that school that you will definitely catch at least a few Oily Blackmouth instead of catching whatever random fish are available in that zone. After a few successful casts into the Oily Blackmouth pool you will dry the school up and it will disappear. The schools of fish are just a way for you to stumble upon a more guaranteed way to fish for more of a specific fish you’re looking for. But remember — you can actually fish anywhere in the body of water, though, and do not HAVE to fish in designated schools to catch fish. Also be on the lookout for floating wreckage pools. Fishing into these designated and random spawns usually gleans interesting items rather than fish, although you always have a rare chance of “catching” crates or other goodies when you fish anyway. You never know what you’ll pull out of the watery depths when you fish!

One item you may fish out if you’re lucky, have at least 450 fishing skill, (the 375 cap plus the best +fishing gear and enchants you can get from the list above, for a combined total of a maximum of 527 fishing skill) and a flying mount in Outland is a Mr. Pinchy, fished from Highland Mixed schools of fish in Terokkar Forest. Mr. Pinchy will grant you three wishes, one of which could be a Magical Crawdad Box, an incredibly rare pet crawdad. For more information on Mr. Pinchy or the wishes he randomly grants, check out his link, and be prepared to work hard for it!

Much like Mr. Pinchy, there is a Giant Sewer Rat pet that can be fished from the Underbelly (sewers) in the city of Dalaran as of the Wrath of the Lich King expansion.  This is technically easier to get than Mr. Pinchy since you are guaranteed to get the pet when it is fished up, unlike Mr. Pinchy where you have three chances over 6 days and still may not get the pet itself.  It will take patience and a high level of fishing (about the same as Mr. Pinchy) down in the sewers to catch this rat, however!

Special Fish
There are a lot of “special” types of fish out there. Some, like the Winter Squid or Summer Bass are seasonal and only fishable during their respective seasons. Others, like the Nightfin Snapper or Sunscale Salmon are only fishable at certain times of the night or day, respectively. One extra special fish is the Deviate Fish, which when eaten raw has various fun effects on your character. Cooks who cook up Deviate Fish create Savory Deviate Delight, which is a more potent version of the raw effects of eating Deviate Fish, and its fun and shape-changing effects last longer, too. These rare or “special” fish can go for larger sums of money on the Auction House either because of their fun factor or their usefulness in recipes and the short timeframe of which to catch them. Remember, Hunters, cooked fish are more nutritious for your pet and their feeding happiness levels will be higher than the effects of feeding your pet the raw version of the fish. You’ll find this is also true for your character’s nutrition. When you eat raw fish it will help you regain health faster over time, but the cooked version will do that and more — usually boosting various stats for 15 minutes, too. If you haven’t noticed, I’m a big fan of pairing and leveling fishing with cooking, regardless of class, though especially for Hunters.

Achievements
Just in time for the Wrath of the Lich King expansion we got the achievement system.  Achivements are feats of strength in-game that you complete and get achievement points for doing so.  The “Salty” title is an in-game title you can acquire if you complete most of the fishing profession achievements.  I won’t go into extreme detail on all of the achievements for fishermen because El over at El’s Anglin’ has a fantabulous page that explains all of the particulars you need to know to get the title and fishermen friendly forums for disucssing strategies to complete said achievements and general fishing goodness.  Check it out!  El’s Anglin’ is an amazing weatlth of information on fishing in World of Warcraft.

Final Thoughts
So that’s all you need to know about the vast and wonderful art of fishing in the world of Azeroth. When you need a break from the daily grind, grab your fishing pole and sneak away to your secluded paradise and fish the worries away. Fishing allows me to take time out from leveling alts or instancing and relax, all while giving me the chance to keep up with guild chat conversations or get involved in the never-boring discussions going on in general or trade chat. Fishing is a relaxing and social activity that is as personal as you make it, so enjoy your escape!

Articles may not be republished elsewhere in whole or in part without permission. Feel free to link directly to this post. ©2005-2008 by Lesley Karpiuk (Toque of pinktoque.com)