Fishing is one of the most popular and highly in-demand professions in World of Warcraft and yet, though anyone can pick it up and millions have, it is still one of the most misunderstood and misleveled professions as well. For anyone that is interested in picking up fishing and making some spare gold with their character when they are chatting or watching TV, there are a few key things you need to know before you can level up to 450, which will be covered in this World of Warcraft Fishing Guide. While many of the previously complex issues that were associated with Fishing have been removed from the game, many more have been instituted that require your undivided attention to ensure you are effective.
To get started, you need to know what lures are most effective in boosting your fishing skill. Lures are made available from the moment you start fishing with the “Shiny Bauble”, which adds +25 to your fishing skill. They go up from there to the Glow worm that adds +100 to your fishing skill. In many cases, these lures will just make it easier to fish, but in others, you will need the skill boost to find anything in your pools or seas of choice. Here is a list of all the lures in the game and where you can get them:
| Lure Name | +Fishing Buff | Source |
| Shiny Bauble | 25 | Vendor |
| Nightcrawlers | 50 | Vendor |
| Aquadynamic Fish Lens | 50 | Quest |
| Bright Baubles | 75 | Vendor |
| Flesh Eating Worm | 75 | Drop |
| Sharpened Fish Hook | 100 | Fishing Dailies (Outland) |
| Aquadynamic Fish Attractor | 100 | Vendor |
| Glow Worm | 100 | Fishing Dailies (Northrend) |
Leveling Your Skill
When you have your lures in place, you can start fishing in earnest, using the leveling skills below. Rather than the old way, in which Blizzard required you to meet certain level requirements to catch things in certain areas, the game now allows you to go anywhere in the game to fish. The only restriction you face is that you must multiply the level of the mobs in the area by 5 to know what skill level you need to fish there effectively. For example, if you were in the Barrens where the mobs can be as high as level 20, you should have a Fishing Skill of 100 to catch anything effectively. Failure rates will be much higher if you don’t do this.
Level 1 – 200
When you start, catch Raw Brilliant Smallfish in either Elwynn Forest or Mulgore for Alliance or Horde. Once you reach Level 50, head to the capital cities of Stormwind or Orgrimmar and start catching Raw Longjaw Mud Snappers in the city waters to reach level 75.
At Level 75, train with your journeyman trainer and head to the HIllsbrad Foothills to catch Raw Bristle Whisker Catfish near Tarren Hill or Southshore. Do this all the up to Level 150, when you train as an Expert Fisherman, before heading to Desolace or Arathi Highlands where you can catch Raw Mithril Head Trout all the way up to 200.
Level 200 – 300
Continue fishing for Raw Mithril Head Trouts or head to Tanaris and start fishing for Raw Spotted Yellowtails until you reach Level 225. Train as an Artisan at this level and then head off to Felwood to catch Raw Sunscale Salmon followed by Azshara to catch Large Raw Mightfish until you reach skill Level 300.
Level 300 – 375
In Outland, your best fishing spots to start with are in Zangarmarsh. You can catch plenty of Spotted Feltails in the lakes here up to level 330 or so and then Zangarian Sporefish in the Marshlight Lake until you hit 345. To finish up in Outland, catch Golden Darters in Terokkar and then travel to Northrend for the last section.
Level 375 – 450
Start out by getting a +100 bauble and a +20 fishing pole to make life a little easier. If you cannot get these right away, make it a goal in the days to come. Head to any area with inland open water in Howling Fjord, Borean Tundra or Grizzly Hills and catch Glacial Salmon, Bonescale Snappers, or Fangtooth Herrings here until you have caught about 1100-1300 fish to reach Level 450. If you are leveling cooking, save all of these fish for later.
To continue our World of Warcraft Fishing Guide and learn about the Stranglethorn Fishing Extravaganzato including strategies on how to win the tournament, check out Part 2 of our WoW Fishing Guide.
