alt="Header" />

One of the favorite past times enjoyed
by World of Warcraft players is the sport of Fishing. Fishing in game
is a secondary profession that allows you to obtain various fish and
other items from bodies of water. These fish can then be eaten raw or
cooked to give additional bonuses. Other items players may fish up
include but are not limited to; locked chests, gems, herbs, and even
equipment. Interested in learning the basics of the Fishing
profession? Read onward to find out more!

Training Fishing

While you may be eager to head out to
the nearest lake, first you must train the Fishing profession.
Fishing, like all other World of Warcraft professions, can be trained
at any Fishing Trainer. Fishing Trainers can be found in all major
cities and can easily be located by speaking with a city guard. A
small fee will be required to learn the initial skill level.

alt="OrgFishingTrainer" />

How to Fish

Now that you have trained the Fishing
profession it is time to catch your very first fish. While it is not
required, it is recommended that you first purchase a Fishing Pole
from a Fishing Supplies or Trade Supply vendor. If you chose not to
purchase a pole, you will instead fish a twig. Unfortunately, twigs
cannot be enhanced (with a lure) like Fishing Poles.

alt="Twig Fishing" />

Travel to almost any river, lake, or
other large open body of water and stand (or sit) next to the water.
Clear out any nearby enemies, getting attacked while fishing is no
fun. Be sure your character's feet remain on dry land (you cannot be
swimming), and that you have a clear view of the water in front of
you.

alt="Tauren In Water" />

Open the Professions tab of your
Spellbook and select the Fishing icon. This icon is what you will use
to cast your line. Drag this icon onto a convenient location on your
action bar so that you may close your Spellbook while you fish.

alt="Fishing Icon" />

Equip your Fishing Pole in your main
hand if available, then click the Fishing icon to cast your line into
the water. If the cast goes well you will see your bobber appear in
the water somewhere in front of you. If your cast was unsuccessful
and did not land in fishable water, try to find deeper or wider
water, or simply change where you are standing in regard to the
water.

alt="Fishing Bobber" />

Once your bobber is in the water the
waiting game begins. A cast bar will appear channeling the Fishing
ability. During this time you may not move your character unless you
wish to disrupt the channeling. Whenever a fish nibbles on the line
the bobber will splash. As soon as the bobber splashes reel your fish
in by right-clicking a single time on the bobber.

Congratulations! You have made your
first catch!

Fishing Up Junk

While fishing in open water you may
notice that you acquire a lot of....junk...while Fishing. Examples of
junk include; [Driftwood], [Tangled Fishing Line], [Water Snail], and
[Old Boot]. All of these junk items can be sold to vendors, however,
they are not very valuable.

alt="Fishing Junk" />

To avoid catching a ton of junk your
Fishing skill level must be equal to or above the body of water's
“no-junk skill”. If you are catching junk....you are below this
skill level. The further you are below this skill level, the more
junk you will catch. Once you have gone over the “no-junk” skill
level, you will never catch junk in that particular body of water. To
avoid tons of junk, be sure to try to fish in waters relative to your
current Fishing skill.

Skilling Up Fishing

To kill up your Fishing skill you must
successfully catch something. The number of successful catches you
make directly determines your personal skill increases. When, where,
how, or what you fish does not matter, as long as you catch
something. At low skill levels, each time you make a catch your skill
will increase by one. However, as you become more advanced it will
take more and more catches to gain another skill point in the
profession.

You may also skill up your Fishing
using two other methods:

  • Quests – Old Azeroth and Anglers
    daily quests each award Fishing skill points. The monthly Darkmoon
    quest Spoilin' for Saltly Sea Dogs also awards 5 skill points.
  • Reading – Read Nat's Fishing Journal
    for an extra 50 skill points, repeatable up to 600.

Fishing Enhancements

Want to up your Fishing skill up a
notch without all the work? You can easily do this by equipping
certain items that have bonuses to your skill level. Items that could
potential increase your Fishing skill level include:

  • Fishing Poles
  • Fishing Apparel
  • Fishing Lures*
  • Consumables
  • Fishing Enchants
  • Fishing Line*

*Please note that enhancements like
lures and lines may only be applied to a Fishing Pole.

Fishing Pools

From time to time you will come across
various schools of fish. These schools contain one specific type of
fish and are emptied out after hitting them with a few casts. While
not a great way to skill up your Fishing profession, pools are an
quick way to catch a specific type of fish. Not all fish can be found
in pools, and pools cannot be found in every zone. Once you have
learned the Find Fish ability (from the Weather Beaten Journal),
pools will appear on your mini-map.

alt="Mountain Trout Pool" />

Fish aren't the only thing that can be
found inside pools. Pools of Pure Water and Floating Wreckage Pools
are also very common.

Fishing Quests and Contests

If you really enjoy Fishing you will be
pleased to discover that World of Warcraft offers two fishing
contests in which you can prove your skill. The current contests available
in game include:

Stranglethorn Fishing Extravaganza

The Stranglethorn Fishing Extravaganza
is a race to see which player can catch 40 fish (but not just any
fish!) in the least amount of time. This contest takes place every
Sunday between 14:00 and 16:00 server time, off the coast of Northern
Stranglethorn and The Cape of Stranglethorn. Requirements are a level
1 Fishing skill.

Kalu'ak Fishing Derby

The Kalu'ak Fishing Derby is much like
the Stranglethorn contest, except there is only one fish to catch.
The Kalu'ak Fishing Derby takes place every Saturday from 14:00 to
15:00 server time in Northrend. All that is required is a level 1
Fishing skill and the ability to visit Dalaran.

Contests once a week not enough for you?
Fishing has inspired a ton of quests in
World of Warcraft. There are daily Fishing quests in Azeroth,
Outland, Northrend and even has a whole faction dedicated to it in
Pandaria. Besides the daily Fishing quests players may also take on
the Nat Pagle's Friendship quests and Nat Pagle, Angler Extreme.
Other non-daily fishing quests will also pop up from time to time
throughout the world.

Do you have any tips, tricks, or other
helpful information regarding the Fishing profession in World of
Warcraft? Be sure to share you knowledge with us in the comments section below!


To read the latest guides, news, and features you can visit our World of Warcraft Game Page.

Last Updated: Mar 13, 2016

About The Author

Byron has been playing and writing about World of Warcraft for the past ten years. He also plays pretty much ever other Blizzard game, currently focusing on Heroes of the Storm and Hearthstone, while still finding time to jump into Diablo III with his son.

Comments

Related Content

Patch 5.4 Profession Changes