WoW Fishing Guide

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Fishing in the World of Warcraft can seem like a dull chore at times, but it can also be a way to get some of the most interesting items in the game. There are unique mini-pets, special quests, and a number of achievements that can only be done by those who have mastered fishing. To truly become a master angler, follow the tips provided in this World of Warcraft fishing guide.

Only by using a WoW fishing guide can you quickly and easily gain the “salty” title or find yourself in possession of the rare Mr. Pinchy.

Getting Started
Before you can start fishing, you’ve got to be trained. Every major capital city has a fishing trainer, and many of the smaller cities have trainers, too. You can even find a few fishing trainers out in the wilderness near rivers or lakes (such as the trainer in Darkshore). Fishing is one of the secondary professions along with first aid and cooking. This means that anyone can learn it (with primary professions, you can only learn two). Once you’ve learned the fishing skill, you need to buy a fishing pole. Most trainers sell fishing poles, and if they don’t, there’s usually another NPC nearby that does. You can also receive some fishing poles as quest rewards.

Fishing in Different Zones
Following Patch 3.1, fishing changed dramatically. Before that, each zone had a minimum skill level for fishing. If your skill was less than that level, you couldn’t fish there. Now, however, that minimum skill level has been removed. This means you can fish in any zone you want. However, the minimum skill level does still exist in each zone. If you skill level is below this minimum, all you will catch are grey “vender trash” items. Once your skill level has reached the zone maximum skill level, you will catch nothing but useful items (prior to Patch 3.1, this maximum level resulted in always catching a fish). The starting zones have very low minimum skill requirements. All you need is one point in fishing to catch fish.

Increasing your Fishing Skill – WoW Fishing Guide
Every time you catch a fish or a piece of junk, you’ll gain some experience in fishing. For the first level of fishing (up to 75), you’ll get one point of skill for everything you catch. Following that, you’ll gain about a half of a skill point for each catch (from 76 to 150). As you gain more and more experience fishing, it will take more fish to gain a skill point. Because of the fishing changes in Patch 3.1, it is now possible for anyone to max out their fishing skill by fishing only in the beginning area.

As of Patch 3.1, increasing your proficiency level in fishing has become much easier. You no longer have to purchase special books or do any quests. Instead, all fishing trainers can train any level of fishing. As with all professions, the proficiency levels of fishing and the skill point at which they are maxed out are as follows:

• Apprentice (75 skill points)
• Journeyman (150 skill points)
• Expert (225 skill points)
• Artisan (300 skill points)
• Master (375 skill points, requires Burning Crusade expansion)
• Grand Master (450 skill points, requires Wrath of the Lich King expansion)

Other Ways to Increase Your Fishing Skill
There are special items and even some enchantments that can increase your fishing skill. Some fishing poles add anywhere from +3 to +40. Currently, the best fishing pole in the game is the Arcanite Fishing Pole, a +40 pole that is only available to those who win the Stranglethorn fishing contest.

Other ways to add to your fishing skill include attaching special fishing lines to your poles and using fishing lures. Lures can often be purchased from venders and fishing trainers to add anywhere from +25 to +100 skill. They only last for ten minutes, however, except for the glow worm, which lasts an hour. Fishing apparel also ups your fishing skill, although these hats and boots only add +5 each. Having your gloves enchanted with the fishing bonus enchantment adds another +2 to your fishing skill. Finally, you can also drink Captain Rumsey’s Lager (+10 for three minutes) or the Underbelly Elixir (+50 for ten minutes) to up your skill. If you use the best pole with the best lure and have all the gear, the fishing line, the glove enchantment, and drink both drinks, you can have a maximum fishing skill of 667. However, this is a bit overkill since the maximum zone level is 575.

Why Fish?
It’s no secret among WoW players that fishing can be tedious and boring, especially if you set out to go from 1 to 450 in one sweep. However, there are many reasons to fish. The first is to raise your cooking skill. While you don’t have to cook any fish to max out your cooking, it certainly makes it easier. You can cook any of the raw fish you catch, and once cooked, most provide bonuses to your stats when you eat them or restore your health. Hunters may also want to catch some fish to feed to their pets.

Currently, the top feast in the game is the fish feast. By cooking this and presenting it to your party, everyone who eats from it gains several large stat boosts for an hour. It takes two nettlefish, two musselback sculpin, and two glacial salmon in addition to a northern spice to make it. Because of this, these fish are very sought after by cooks, especially those who are doing end-game raids. Fishermen who don’t need to cook up any fish fest will find they can make a huge amount of gold by selling these three types of fish.

Other Items You Can Fish Up
In addition to raw fish and vender trash items, you can also catch bloated fish (fish that contain gems they have eaten), trophy fish (items you can actually equip), alchemy reagents, various crates and trunks that contain items, Essence of Water, and Motes of Water. There are also some random green items that can only be found by fishing, such as the Lord of the Rings-inspired item The 1 Ring.

Mr. Pinchy is another special “item” that can only be caught by fishing. He can only be fished up from a Highland Mixed School of fish, and these schools only appear in three special lakes in Terokkar Forest: Lake Jorune, Lake Ere’Noru, and Blackwind Lake. When you catch him, he gives you three wishes. These wishes are random, but the one everyone wants to get is the Magical Crawdad Box. This teaches you how to summon the very rare Magical Crawdad mini-pet.

Catching Bosses
There are two bosses that can only be summoned by fishing. One is the Lurker Below, a kraken type boss located in the Serpentshrine Cavern in the Coilfang Reservoir group of instances. You need 300 fishing skill to catch him. The other boss is Gahz’ranka, a hydra located in Zul’Gurub. To fish him up, you must find Nat’s Measuring Tape in Zul’Gurub and return it to Nat Pagle in Dustwallow Marsh. He will sell you a Mudskunk Lure, the item you need to summon up Gahz’ranka. You need 350 fishing skill to summon him.

This is the end of my mini WoW Fishing Guide. I really hope that it will help you in World of Warcraft.