Fishing

Fishing is a secondary profession which allows players to fish various objects, primarily fish, from surfaces of water (or lava). Most raw fish are edible directly or can be fed to Hunter Pets. Many can be cooked to improve their properties. (Raising Fishing and Cooking skills together is a good synergy.) Fish have value and can be vended (for a pittance, at low levels, but look at Goldenscale Vendorfish) or sold in the Auction House. Deviate fish caught both within Wailing Caverns and from the oases in The Barrens can fetch a good price, for example. A few fish are used as reagents for Alchemy, these will have a steady demand. Occasionally, fishing may also yield lower-level equipment, fish-related offhand items, locked chests, gems and herbs. However, the Fishing profession is often neglected, as it provides little opportunity to improve a character's stats.

Occasionally, you might run into fishing that does not use the Fishing profession. For instance, the quest has you fish with a net. These exceptions will be limited in scope; that net only catches quest fish and only from those quest pools.

Notably, many players consider fishing to be extremely boring.

How to fish

 * [[File:Pointer fishinghook 32x32.png]] will appear on your bobber

Fishing requires the Fishing skill, taught by fishing trainers, and a fishing pole, sold by a general trade goods or fishing supplies vendors. Fishing trainers and fishing supply vendors are often in the vicinity of fishable waters. Consider using a fishing lure, available from the same vendor that sold you the pole.

After procuring both the fishing skill and a fishing pole, find a body of water; a pond, a lake, a river, a section of coast, a dock or pier, a moat, or something similar. To be fishable, a body of water has to be sufficiently deep - if it is not, you will get a warning that the water is not sufficiently deep and will be unable to fish at that location. Most bodies of water in Azeroth are deep enough, but some minor pools are not. The small ponds in the Valley of Trials in Durotar do not support fishing, for example. If a fishing trainer is standing nearby, you can be sure the water is deep enough. If you are in a river and get the message, try moving up or down stream. If in a lake, try moving a bit into the lake.

Also, you can now stand, sit, or even lie down while fishing. The is unnecessary, but a nice touch. You can be on land or in the water and fish, but you can not be swimming.

Equip the fishing pole, and, while facing the water, use Fishing skill (found in the professions tab of your spellbook) to cast the fishing line. Your character will cast the fishing line in the direction he is facing, with minor random deviations in length and angle of the cast. If you miss the body of water ("Your cast did not land in fishable water"), you may wish to adjust the direction your character is facing and/or simply cast Fishing again.

Fishing is like channeling a spell, counting down from 17 seconds to 0 seconds. A fishing bobber will appear somewhere in the water in front of you, and you'll notice that your character will start channeling the Fishing spell. Move your cursor over the bobber and it will turn into the standard interaction cursor. Wait for your bobber to splash, then click it (within 3–4 seconds) to draw the fishing line in. Depending on the area you're fishing and your fishing skill, you may either catch something useful, or you will catch a junk item like Driftwood. You can then repeat the whole process by using the Fishing skill again.

The items you can fish up depend on the region you are in; the different sub-zones within any given region will usually yield the same fish. There are a few exception to this: for example bodies of fresh water (lakes or streams) will yield different fish from sea water. Schools of fish also have their own distinct contents. Some locations have distinctive items that you might occasionally fish up. In addition, if your skill level is too low for an area you will receive junk items rather than fish (see Fishing level requirements below). These junk items are the same for different regions; you will catch the same junk in Ferales that you caught behind the Inn in Goldshire when your skill is too low.

Technical Information
You can move your character so that they are mostly submerged in the water (but not swimming) and angled so that no casts will go onto land or shallow water. If you are having trouble seeing the bobber bob when a fish is on your line, you may want to zoom in so you are looking 1st person. If you are fishing alone, you can hear your bobber splash; in a group, all of the bobbers sound the same.

Fishing pools
Fishing pools are a location objects found in bodies of water in WoW. A higher portion of more desirable items can be fished within a fishing pool. Fishing pool is a general term; a School of Fish is a fishing pool that contains (primarily) fish, floating debris contains primarily chests and container objects, and so on. Fishing pools can be found in Azeroth, Outland and Northrend so presumably will also be found in new areas in future releases.

Fishing pools appear at set locations along coastlines and rivers. Similar to the schools of fish particular to the Stranglethorn Fishing Extravaganza, characters can catch specific fish and valuable items when their cast lands in the pool. Pools despawn after several item are caught, only to spawn again over time, much like mineral nodes.

Weather-Beaten Journal is a book that can be found in crates that are fished from fishing pools. It teaches Find Fish, which shows fishing pool locations on the mini-map (all types, not just schools of fish). Though BoP, the book can be sold while still in the crate. If you open such a crate with less than 100 fishing skill or after having learned fish finding already, you won't see the book, but the crate won't destroy itself - you can store it for later, or mail it to someone else.

Time of day / seasons
Some fish may only be caught during specific times of day or season. Nocturnal fish can be caught from 6 PM to 12 AM (18:00 - 0:00), diurnal fish from 6 AM to 12 PM (6:00 - 12:00). Other fish such as, have been rumored to only appear during certain times of the day - however all of these can be caught 24 hours a day.

It is known that Winter Squid and Summer Bass appear during their respective seasons. During Autumn and Spring, they can both apparently be caught, although the frequency of each might scale throughout the season.

Edit: Time of day / seasons}

Given examples ( Nightfin vs. Sunscale) can be caught as follows: }

12.00 till 18.00 99,x% Sunscale

18.00 till 24.00 50% both (*1

24.00 till 06.00 99,x% Nightfin

06.00 till 12.00 50% both (*2

(*1 in earlier hours this will lean more toward Sunscale and later hours more toward Nightfin)

(*2 the opposite of (*1 of course

Fishing level requirements
The mechanics of fishing skill level were changed significantly in Patch 3.1. Prior to 3.1, each zone had a minimum skill requirement to be able to cast in that zone, and a cap where you achieved a 100% catch rate in that zone. In between there was a chance your fish could "get away"; you would catch nothing and receive no skill-up for that cast.

As of 3.1, there is no longer a minimum skill requirement to fish in any zone, and all casts will catch something and award a chance for a skill-up. However, if your skill level is too low for a zone, you will catch mostly vendor trash items. The skill level required to guarantee "no junk" catches is equivalent to the old "no get away" level.

The easiest areas (any designed for characters level 20 and below) have very low skill level caps, allowing you higher success initially. You will need to have one point of fishing skill (apprentice level fishing training) to fish these.

However, if you have a brand new character with no financial resources on the server, the vendor trash items are not a bad catch, and you may want to maximize these catches. To do this, fish in a harder fishing area, such as in one of the cities. If you are on a trial account, this is probably your best bet.

For information on fishing locations and fishing skill requirements, see Fishing skill requirements by zone.

Training
Fishing training follows the gathering profession training model. There are no individual skills to learn, only the proficiency levels. As of patch 3.1, all skill levels of fishing are taught by fishing trainers; the Expert and Master books and the Artisan quest are no longer necessary. Levels up to Artisan (max 300) can be learned from any fishing trainer. Master fishing (max 375) is taught by trainers in Outland and Northrend. Grand Master fishing (max 450) is taught by trainers in Northrend.

The former quest to attain Artisan fishing,, has been reworked and offers as a reward. Players that completed the quest prior to 3.1 can return to Nat Pagle to receive this item.

Increasing fishing skill
Unlike most professions, increasing your fishing skill is completely unrelated to the difficulty of the task. Every time you catch something (even junk) you gain fishing experience towards your next skill level. It works similarly to xp and leveling. The first 75 or so fish caught will be enough fishing experience to gain a skill up every time. The next 75 or so fish caught will give enough fishing experience to gain half of a skill point, etc. It's very standard and you can count the fish between skill ups with extreme accuracy. Knowing this can help alleviate some of the grind. A partial exception is that at some levels you will need a fraction of a fish to level; you might gain the skill point on the 11th fish in one instance, and on the 10th the next (while in reality you needed about 10.5 caught fish to increase). It appears that there might be a random factor of whether a particular fish increments the skill counter, leading to slightly different numbers of fish required from character to character (see El's mentioned in next paragraph).

Note that if you catch multiple items on one cast (which is most likely while on a fishing quest), it counts as only one successful "catch".

The best resource outside of Blizzard for detailed information on how this works is El's Extreme Anglin'. El's has results of empirical trials by an active community of experienced WoW fishermen and women, and is updated expediently as new patches change the fishing environment.

Skill ups are based on the number of fish (or junk items) caught and nothing else! Because of this it is possible to grind every fishing skill point without ever leaving the village level fishing pond or coastal waters or a racial city such as Orgrimmar, Thunder Bluff, Ironforge, or Stormwind. However, many people level fishing in more difficult areas, as this allows them to catch better fish to level Cooking with or to sell for higher amounts.

Per El's Extreme Anglin' Guide webpage, the closest mathematical formula for determining the number of fish you need to catch to gain skill beyond 75 is:

( {Current Skill Level} - 75 ) / 25 = Approximate number of fish you need to catch to gain one fishing skill point.

I.E. if your skill level is 250, it would take you approximately 7 casts to gain 1 skill point.

Items that increase fishing skill
Some items that increase fishing skill are:

Fishing poles
Fishing poles replace the basic and provide a fishing skill bonus when wielded.
 * +3 (Alliance Only)
 * +5
 * +15
 * +20
 * +20
 * +20
 * + 25
 * +30
 * +30
 * +30
 * +40

Fishing line
Fishing lines are a consumable that create a permanent enchantment on a fishing pole. These can only be applied to a fishing pole in your own inventory. You can not put a line on someone else's soulbound fishing pole.
 * +3
 * +5

Fishing lures
Fishing lures are consumables that create a temporary enchantment on a fishing pole.

Fishing apparel
Fishing apparel items provide a fishing skill bonus when worn.
 * +15
 * +5
 * +5
 * +5

Enchantments for apparel items
Enchantments for apparel items create a permanent fishing skill bonus on an item, which is then worn to apply the fishing skill bonus.
 * +2
 * +5

Consumables
Consumable items provide a temporary fishing skill bonus when consumed by the character.
 * +10 for 3 minutes (no cooldown)
 * which can transform you into a hungry Tuskarr +50 for 10 minutes (3 sec cooldown)

Maximum effective fishing skill
Generally, the maximum fishing skill is 755, acquired with: 525 skill + 150 (lure) + 40 (Arcanite Fishing Pole) + 5 (Eternium Line) + 15 (Boots) + 5 (Hat) + 10 (Captain Rumsey's Lager) + 5 (Glove Enchant). In Dalaran, it can be 805 with the Hungry Tuskarr bonus of +50.

It should be noted, however, that the maximum useful fishing skill is 650, since that is what is required to never fish up junk. This means you must come up with 125 fishing skill from items to never miss. That's simple. Just grab and pop a  on it. You're in business.

Effective fishing skill for cooking
If you are fishing for cooking, you only need fish that only require 525 skill to never miss. So you only need 450 (Skill) + 75 (Lure) + a fishing pole (+5) without bonus and you are more that fine with 530 skill total. See also Fishing skill requirements by zone or Fishing Locations and Levels.

Fish used with cooking, 525 Skill for 100% catch:
 * Bonescale Snapper
 * Borean Man O' War
 * Imperial Manta Ray
 * Rockfin Grouper
 * Dragonfin Angelfish
 * Musselback Sculpin
 * Glassfin Minnow
 * Glacial Salmon
 * Fangtooth Herring
 * Nettlefish

Items you can fish up
The following general classes of items can be obtained through Fishing:
 * Raw fish - typically, different versions of fish are available from salt water and fresh water fishing areas of the same skill level.
 * Bloated fish - These fish have mistaken a gem for a tasty meal. That they still bit the bobber is proof that fish have a 2 minute memory. Can be "opened" to retrieve the gem.
 * Trophy fish - offhand items with no stats, such as.
 * Alchemy reagents -, , and  can be used in various pre-Burning Crusade Alchemy recipes; and  which produces , used for.
 * Containers - ranging from Venture Company crates (a frequent source of engineering supplies), Trunks (similar to generic low-level world chests), and Locked Chests.
 * in Azshara, in Nagrand, or  in Northrend; providing an alternative to farming those items off water elementals.  These reagents are frequently in high demand.
 * Raid Bosses - The Lurker Below, as well as required to summon Gahz'ranka.
 * Junk - Driftwood, Tattered Cloth, and other gray items. Catching a lot of these indicates that your skill level is too low for the zone you're fishing in.
 * ,, , and much, much more...

Quests

 * rewards and
 * rewards
 * rewards
 * rewards
 * rewards Murloc Fin Soup Cooking recipe
 * . Four widespread locations must be fished to complete this quest. Rewards.
 * rewards
 * rewards
 * (30 required) rewards or
 * (30 required) rewards or
 * (40 required) rewards or
 * rewards
 * Serious fishing enthusiasts will want to participate in the Stranglethorn Fishing Extravaganza or Kalu'ak Fishing Derby to obtain the associated fishing equipment.

Daily fishing quests

 * At level 70, you can obtain daily fishing quests. Those quests do not have any explicit fishing skill requirement, but the areas which must be fished for the quests do (note with patch 3.1 these requirements have changed). In practice most of them require a high fishing skill (approx 250 minimum, 300+ recommended) and additional fishing skill buffs from fishing equipment, especially fishing lures. These quests often reward the character with fishing equipment, most often (approx. 75% chance) with a small stack (4 to 6) of s, a +100 fishing skill fishing lure, so the fishing skill buffs become somewhat self sustaining. The recipe for, a consumable which provides a +10 fishing skill buff, has a just under 10% chance to be awarded. These buffs will help you level your fishing, but become vital when you want to fish the most difficult areas.
 * One daily fishing quest, requires only fishing skill 1 (but the cities are tier 2 fishing zones so a  fishing lure will be helpful if you are just starting out fishing).
 * Fishing quests can not be completed while in a raid group. Instead you will receive 'empty' loot (you can still gain fishing skill points though).
 * The quest fish is believed never to drop in a pool of fish. As a result, you must fish outside a pool of fish (anywhere in the water, just not in a pool) in order to complete the quest. This does not encourage good fishing practices.
 * Although not numerically verified, it is believed that a higher fishing skill will result in a (much) better catch rate. Basically, in Outland you will always want to use a fishing lure; the only place this isn't necessary would be in Stormwind or Orgrimmar because your fishing skill will probably already be capped.

Tips

 * As of patch 2.2, each cast of fishing will result in a bobber splash; the splash can occur when there are approximately 17, 13, 7, or 3 seconds left of the Fishing channeled spell.
 * Turn up the sound — if you are in a quiet area, it is often easier to listen for the fishing bobber effect than to stare at it as you wait for it to splash.
 * You can right click the fishing bobber to auto-loot anything caught. Turning on auto-loot will allow you to not have to worry about pressing Shift on each right click.
 * If you have auto-loot turned on and your inventory is full when you click, the loot window will stay open, allowing you to make room and manually click.
 * Fish caught by fishing can be used as a source of cheap hunter pet food even after cooking it to improve the character's cooking skill. Cooking certain fish also results in unique food buffs.
 * Having a macro to equip your weapons or using the Gear manager can be handy if you get attacked while fishing.
 * Fishing-related addons, such as "Fishing Buddy" and "Autobar", can be of help.
 * Zooming all the way to first person perspective keeps the bobber from ever leaving your field of view, giving you some control over where a cast will go.
 * When aggroed by a mob, it is possible to finish your current fishing cast. Damage taken and even stun effects won't break the cast. Most mobs will hit you with little enough damage that you can easily get another fish first.
 * Good food buffs sell well on the auction house. Don't be scared to ask a fair price (1-3g) for them and put them in convenient (5/10/20) stacks. Raiders (without time to grind) will love you for the trouble. Requires cooking.
 * When fishing from a school for the specific type of fish contained in that school, here are a few tips: A) If you have a good fishing level relative to the area being fished, you can catch fish of that type from that school on about 90% of the casts when the bobber lands in or at the edge of the school, and the other 10% will be loot crates (where available) not fish of other types. B) Therefore, always cast into the circle of the the school or at it's edge. C) You can re-cast your line at any time by using the fish command again, so just continually re-cast whenever your bobber lands outside and away from the circle. D) Find an area where there are many pools of the type of fish you seek, and run up and down the coastline fishing only from the pools.  E) Mobs along the beach can sometimes be avoided more easily by swimming than by running, so it may help to bring water breathing and swim speed potions. F) This technique is easiest to implement with a hunter.
 * As it is very easy to grow bored of fishing, it is a good idea to do something more entertaining at the same time. In fact, this is somewhat vital for anyone required to fish up large amounts of fish. Browse your achievements, chat with your friends, read a book - anything goes as long as it makes time pass. Another good suggestion may be to set your game in windowed mode, turn on "sound in the the background" and then read the news or something in your internet browser. When you hear the bobber splash, switch quickly to the game and fish up the fish, then start fishing for another before you switch back to the browser.

Best class for fishing
Characters of any class and any level can successfully fish, but there may be some minor differences between classes, for those considering this choice . There are three factors to consideration, though whatever weight they have is pretty personal and/or dependent on location:
 * 1) Easy to reach fishing spots, avoiding mobs.
 * 2) Options when encountering a mob (or the mob encounters you).
 * 3) Options when encountering an enemy player.

Number 3 in deserves particular attention, as you will not have your weapon(s) or shield equipped while fishing, since you need both hands to hold a fishing rod. This issue impacts melee based classes most, but casters are affected as well as they miss important stats (spelldamage etc) or protection (shield). While a simple macro or having your weapon/fishing rod placed in action bar fixes this, it is still an extra action to do, and impossible to do while cc'd (sheeped, stunned etc).

Probably no-one will choose their class based on fishing capabilities, still, here we go.
 * Shamans: Advantages: Water Walking makes it easy to reach fishing spots circumventing mobs, to walk from one spot to another, and to mount a flying mount from within the water. Ghost Wolf allows for fast traversing short distances. Disadvantages: Relatively large penalty for not having weapon/shield equipped.
 * Death knights: Path of Frost gives the same benefit as Water Walking for shamans. Chains of Ice can slow the enemey down, allowing escape. (Improved)Unholy Presence can aid in travel times.
 * Hunters: Advantages: Have pet to aggro nearby mobs. Can Track Humanoids (although that competes with tracking fishing spots). Do not rely on melee weapon for their dps or (most) cc, just lack some stats. Aspect of the Cheetah/Pack allows fast moving from spot to spot. Aspect of the Beast allows hunters to be able to hide and not be tracked.
 * Druids: Feral druids do not rely on weapon ability as much as other melee classes. Similar to casters, they just need the stats (this affects level 70 druids rather negatively, as a large amount of attack power comes from their weapon). Also druids have a high amount of mobility; the Feral Swiftness talent, Travel Form, and Aquatic Form (Glyph of Aquatic Form allows a total of 135% speed) make it easy for moving from spot to spot. Can also stealth when a player comes near, or can cast Nature's Grasp, rooting any attackers in place and allowing for a quick getaway.
 * Mages / other casters: Do not primary rely on weapon when aggroed, just miss some stats.
 * Priests: Can hover above ('walk on') water.
 * Rogues: Able to stealth past any enemies that may be surrounding the fishing area. Also, inscribing the Glyph of Blurred Speed enables a rogue to sprint on water for the duration of the ability.
 * Race of character has a minor impact on fishing: Taller races are able to wade into deeper water when going after fishing pools than short races.