WoW Classic Fishing Guide 1-300

Author: Furious
Date: December 1, 2018
Updated: November 30, 2023
Expansion: WoW Classic

Welcome to our fishing guide for WoW Classic! Of all the professions in the game, fishing is surely the most relaxing and laid-back of them all. All you need is a Fishing Pole and a level-appropriate body of water. Simply equip the pole, throw your line out, and wait for a bite – how much easier can it get?

Fishing is one of the three secondary professions, meaning that you can pick it up on any character regardless of your primary professions. The skill of fishing is great for collecting raw fish, most of which can be cooked for useful food. Some cooked fish can also provide combat bonuses, which makes the skill a good source of making gold at higher fishing levels.

Fishing will definitely take you a long time to max, which makes it nice to use as a break in between leveling your character. Where you can fish is dependent on your fishing level, so skilling it up so that it is on par with the zones you’ll be questing in will save you time later on. We’ll cover that and more in the rest of this guide, including the Booty Bay Fishing Competition and the unique rewards you can earn from fishing quests!

Starting Your Fishing Journey

Learning the fishing skill is very easy. You can visit the fishing trainer near your starting zone or a major city to pick up apprentice fishing. It’s a lot easier to just go to a major city and ask a guard to point you towards the fishing trainer. For Alliance this would include Darnassus, Ironforge, and Stormwind. Horde players can visit Orgrimmar, Thunder Bluff, or Undercity. There will be a list of all the fishing trainers later in the guide.

Wow Classic Fishing Darnshore

Once you’ve learned the skill for fishing, you should trade with the nearby fishing supplies vendor. You’ll at least need to buy a Fishing Pole to start with, but also consider buying some Shiny Baubles just to make your life a little easier. These will increase your fishing skill by 25 for 10 minutes.

After you have a fishing pole, equip it face a nearby body of water and use the Fishing ability to cast your line. Wait until your bobber jumps out of the water, and immediately right-click it to catch your fish. Try to time your click for when the bobber splashes a second time (as it’s hitting the water). If you aren’t quick enough, your catch will get away and you’ll need to try again.

Many zones in the game have a minimum fishing level requirement to cast in. You can use a lure to bypass this, but this isn’t recommended because these zones will make it more likely for fish to escape. At the same time, these zones also have a fishing level at which fish will not escape, which we will try to make the most of throughout the guide for quicker leveling.

Horde Guide 1-300

Assuming you have the right fishing level, you can fish in just about every zone in the game. There are multiple good areas to raise your fishing skill up to 300, but we’ll include some recommended zones to make life easier. Alternatively, there will also be a list of all zones and their fishing requirement mentioned later in the guide if you want some variety.

Apprentice Fishing (1-50)

You can fish in any starting zone for the first 50 levels. To make the rest of the guide easier, you should go to Orgrimmar and fish in the Valley of Honor. Use your Shiny Baubles to make this easier.

Once you reach at least 50 fishing, learn journeyman fishing from Lumak nearby. Trade with the fishing vendor next to him and pick up 5-10 Nightcrawlers to replace your baubles.

Journeyman Fishing (50-125)

Now head west to The Barrens and make your way to the Wailing Caverns dungeon found southwest of The Crossroads. Make your way through the area until you reach the entrance portal. Apply your Nightcrawlers and fish in the nearby pool.

Save any Deviate Fish you catch to sell for a nice profit on the auction house. Once you have at least 125 fishing, you’ll need to make your way to Booty Bay in Stranglethorn Vale. You can do this by heading east from The Crossroads to Ratchet and taking the boat to Booty Bay. On the lower level, go to The Happy Bobber fishing shop and trade with Old Man Heming.

Purchase Expert Fishing – The Bass and You from Old Man Heming for a gold. Head back to Booty Bay and find the fishing vendor, Zizzek. Purchase an Aquadynamic Fish Attractors if available, and a stack of Bright Baubles.

Expert Fishing (125-225)

Before you even start fishing, you should focus on getting a better pole. If you’re level 44 or higher, you should head to Revantusk Village in The Hinterlands to complete the quest: Snapjaws, Mon! This will reward you with Nat Pagle’s Extreme Angler FC-5000, one of the best fishing poles in the game.

You can access Revantusk Village by taking the zeppelin from Durotar to Tirisfal Glades. Now you have a long run south through Silverpine Forest, east through Hillsbrad Foothills, north through Arathi Highlands, and all the way east through The Hinterlands.

If you aren’t high enough level yet, you should head for Shadowprey Village in Desolace. You can access the zone by heading north from The Barrens, east through Ashenvale, then south through Stonetalon Mountains. Head for the southwest of the zone and jump into the water. Open all of the shellfish traps underwater until you find a Big Iron Fishing Pole.

Regardless of where you went first, your best option now is to go to Ashenvale found north of The Barrens. At 150 skill, no casts will escape, so this is the quickest option. Stay here until your fishing level is at least 205.

With at least 205 fishing, you should head to Dustwallow Marsh, found southeast of The Barrens. You’ll need to talk to an NPC in the zone later, so this will save you some time if you fish here now. Starting fishing in the inland waters (not the ocean) with your new pole and Bright Baubles until you cap out at 225 fishing.

Artisan Fishing (225-300)

Once you have 225 fishing skill, you’ll need to talk to Nat Pagle found southwest of Theramore Isle. Pick up the quest: Nat Pagle, Angler Extreme. Head to all 4 of the required zones and collect the special fish you need there.

The Feralas Ahi can be found southeast of Dire Maul. The Misty Reed Mahi Mahi can be catch southeast of Temple of Atal’Hakkar. For the Sar’theris Striker, go south of Shadowprey Village and fish in Sar’theris Strand. Finally, the Savage Coast Blue Sailfin can be found south of Grom’gol Base Camp at Savage Coast. Once finished, head back to Nat and learn artisan fishing as a reward.

Before you leave, fish next to Nat until you skill up to 226. Now you should keep fishing here all the way to 300 for the fastest leveling (fish won’t escape), or you can head to either Feralas or Tanaris for better fish (but slower leveling). (Or take a look at the zones between the 205-300 range found later in the guide). Use any lures you have and keep at it until you reach 300!

Alliance Guide 1-300

Here is a guide for alliance players that you can use to reach 300 in fishing. Below we have some recommended fishing zones that will aim to make the fishing journey as quick as possible. You can check out the full list of fishing zones below if you want some variety, but fishing in a higher level zone will mean that more fish get away.