Fishing Fishing is a secondary profession which allows players to fish various objects , primarily fish , from surfaces of water or , in rare cases , lava . Most fish are edible directly or can be cooked to improve their regenerative qualities . Raising Fishing and Cooking skills together provides excellent synergy . Fish also have value on the Auction House . Though at lower levels , the money made might be a pittance , those who work at their skills will catch rare and fascinating breeds of fish . A handful of types are also used as reagents in Alchemy ; there is often a steady demand for fish of this kind . Occasionally , the fishing skill may also yield lower - level equipment , fish - related offhand items , locked chests , gems and herbs . Sadly , this profession is often neglected , as work at it does not reflect in a character ' s stats in battle . 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 . How to fish . Fishing requires the Fishing skill , taught by fishing trainers . Prior to Patch 5 . 0 . 4 , a fishing pole ( sold by a general trade goods or fishing supplies vendor s ) was required , but now only needed if you want any Fishing bonus it confers . 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 . A few quests are available that have improved fishing poles as a reward , such as , which is a reward from . After procuring both the fishing skill and the optional 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 . Optionally equip a fishing pole , and , while facing the water , use Fishing Skill ( found in the general 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 a special . 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 Feralas that you caught behind the Inn in Goldshire when your skill is too low . Technical Information . It helps to have a bar add - on that has a casting bar that shows the actual seconds as a number , such as Bongos2 . It also helps to move the casting bar to the center of the screen right above the water line so it is easy to see with the bobber . You should 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 . Because you must right - click on the fishing bobber , care must be taken if you have the option " click - to - move " enabled . If you miss the bobber by just a little bit , your character will start running towards the water ( not to mention you will lose the fish ) . This can be especially troublesome if you are fishing off a dock because you will fall in and have to spend time swimming back to shore . It is recommended that " click - to - move " be disabled while fishing . Fishing pools . Fishing pool s are 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 , as gathering nodes , 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 . 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 . 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 ( * 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 . " Proficiencies and 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 " . However , each individual fish counts towards the numbered fish achievements ( i . e . , it ' s possible to get the achievement before you reach 50 skill level if you catch more than one fish at a time ) . 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 . For example , if your skill level is 250 , it would take you approximately 7 casts to gain 1 skill point . Partial fish new in Warlords of Draenor . Starting with the Warlords of Draenor expansion , nearly all Draenor fish can be gathered with Fishing skill of 1 , but the full fish will only drop if the character has the appropriate minimum skill to catch the fish . If the skill is below the minimum , a partial fish will drop that requires 20 to create the full fish . Partial fish will have the prefixes like " Small " preceding the names of the full fish to distinguish them as partial fish . Items that increase fishing skill . Some items that increase fishing skill are : Fishing poles . Fishing pole s replace the basic and provide a fishing skill bonus when wielded . 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 . Fishing lures . Fishing lure s are a consumables that create a temporary ( 10 minute ) enchantment . Prior to Patch 5 . 0 . 4 , it was applied to a fishing pole . 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 . Consumables . Consumable items provide a temporary fishing skill bonus when consumed by the character . The Underlight Angler . The Underlight Angler is an artifact fishing rod introduced in Legion . It is acquired through completion of the Bigger Fish to Fry achievement and requires the player to have a fishing skill of 800 and requires the player to be level 110 . The Underlight Angler is the only fishing pole that has an artifact power system similar to that of the artifact weapons with power being gained from fishing up rare fish and throwing them back into the water rather than from items . The main benefits of the Underlight Angler is the Undercurrent ability which allows you to teleport to a nearby fish pool , Underlight Blessing which allows the user to transform into a fish underwater , drastically increasing movement speed , Way of the Flounder which reduces enemy detection , and Surface Tension which allows for water walking . Maximum effective fishing skill . The maximum fishing skill is 755 , acquired with : 525 Skill + 100 ( Lure ) + 40 ( Arcanite Fishing Pole ) + 5 ( Eternium Line ) + 15 ( Boots ) + 5 ( Hat ) + 10 ( Captain Rumsey ' s Lager ) + 5 ( Glove Enchant ) + 50 ( Hungry Tuskarr ) It should be noted , however , that the maximum useful fishing skill is 575 , 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 in zones besides Cataclysm zone s and those in Pandaria which require 600 or more . 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 : Items you can fish up . The following general classes of items can be obtained through Fishing : 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 : Number 3 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 ( spell damage 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 , some classes offer some unique fishing - friendly abilities , so here we go :