Fishing Leveling Guide

Overview

Fishing is a secondary profession with no recipes to buy and no reagents to farm: a pole, a few lures and some patience. Skill only depends on the number of fish you land, not on where you stand, so the zones below are chosen for a full catch rate and useful fish. Level Cooking alongside it and every catch counts twice.

• What changed in Forever: the casting itself is untouched, but many fish dishes were improved or added, and cooked food now gives 5% more experience from kills.
• Gold: nothing to buy means every fish is profit.
• Classes: no racial trait helps. Shamans reach remote spots with Water Walking, and Hunters can feed much of the catch to their pet.
• Camp items: the Fish Bowl (skill 20: 1 Raw Brilliant Smallfish, 1 Empty Vial) adds an all-stats buff to a campfire, a weaker Blessing of Kings, which makes it the camp buff that suits every class. Fishing Rack (skill 140, recipe dropped by Gelihast in Blackfathom Deeps) and Fishing Hut (skill 300) let you catch uncommon and rare fish for an hour and hand out lures.

Trainers

All trainers teach Apprentice and Journeyman (Fishing 50, level 10). Expert comes from a book and Artisan from a quest.

Capital cities

Starting zones

They all stand by the water. Further trainers wait in Booty Bay (Myizz Luckycatch), Southshore, Menethil Harbor, Lakeshire, Thelsamar, Shadowprey Village and Revantusk Village.

Pole and lure vendors (starting zones)

In the capitals, the supply vendor stands next to the trainer.

Apprentice (1-75)

Get a Fishing Pole and a handful of Shiny Baubles from a Fishing or Trade Supply vendor.

1. Open the Professions window with the hammer button on the right-hand button row, not through the Fishing tab.
2. Drag the Fishing ability onto an action bar.
3. Equip the pole and use a Shiny Bauble on it.
4. Face a pond, lake or river in a starting zone (Dun Morogh, Durotar, Elwynn Forest, Mulgore, Teldrassil, Tirisfal Glades, Zephras Isle) and cast.
5. Right-click the bobber as soon as it splashes.

Capital cities are not starting zones. The bauble mostly matters for the first 25 points; after that, starting-zone fish rarely escape.

Journeyman (75-150)

Return to a trainer for Journeyman, then fish inside a capital (Orgrimmar, Thunder Bluff, Undercity, Stormwind, Ironforge, Darnassus). The Barrens, Darkshore, Loch Modan, Silverpine Forest and Westfall work too and give more useful fish.

If fish get away, Nightcrawlers from Fishing Supply vendors fix it; they can be used from Fishing 50.

Expert (150-225)

The book Expert Fishing - The Bass and You requires Fishing 125 and level 20. Old Man Heming sells it on the lowest level of Booty Bay, Stranglethorn Vale, near the fishing sign; it also turns up on the Auction House. Stock up on Bright Baubles from him at the same time.

Fish in Dustwallow Marsh (handy for the Alliance, and where the Artisan quest starts) or Stranglethorn Vale (handy for the Horde) with a Bright Bauble on your pole until 225. Alterac Mountains, Arathi Highlands, Desolace, Swamp of Sorrows and Thousand Needles are equivalent. If you only want the points, a capital city still works, without the valuable fish.

Artisan (225-300)

At Fishing 225 and level 35, Nat Pagle on his islet in Tidefury Cove, Dustwallow Marsh, offers Nat Pagle, Angler Extreme. He wants four fish that only bite while you are on the quest, each in a specific stretch of water, usually after several casts:

• Feralas Ahi: Feralas, in the river south-east of Dire Maul (use a Bright Bauble)
• Misty Reed Mahi Mahi: Swamp of Sorrows, along the coast
• Sar'theris Striker: Desolace, along the coast
• Savage Coast Blue Sailfin: Stranglethorn Vale, along the western coast

Outside Feralas your skill is high enough to fish without a lure. Once the quest is done, level to 300 in Felwood, Feralas, The Hinterlands, Tanaris, Un'Goro Crater or Western Plaguelands, with a Bright Bauble or better on the pole at all times, otherwise most fish escape.

Lures, Poles & Boosts

Bonus skill raises your effective Fishing: fewer fish escape and higher zones open earlier.

Poles and gear

New in Forever

• Several fish dishes now add temporary Fishing skill when eaten, from Loch Frenzy Delight (+3) and Bristle Whisker Catfish (+8) up to Filet of Redgill and Spinefin Halibut (+18).
• The Stranglethorn Fishing Tournament rewards the first 50 anglers who turn in, no longer just the winner, and always gives the Arcanite Fishing Pole plus a coin to trade for one of the classic prizes.