Fishing may not be the first thing that comes to mind when you think about gold-making professions, but in fact, it’s a surprisingly relaxing and profitable way to earn a steady income. You don’t need to chase down rare spawns or compete with dozens of gatherers running the same routes. Honestly, the only thing easier might be to just buy WoW Classic gold!
Still not convinced that casting a line could actually fill your bags with gold? Then stick around as we walk you through everything you need to know to turn your fishing rod into a gold-making machine.
Getting Started with Fishing
Learn the Profession
Fishing is a secondary profession, meaning you can learn it alongside your primary ones. To get started, visit a Fishing Trainer in any major city:
- Alliance: Stormwind, Ironforge, Darnassus
- Horde: Orgrimmar, Thunder Bluff, Undercity
Equip Your Gear
Once you pick up the Fishing profession from a trainer, they’ll hand you your very first fishing pole. As your skill grows, you’ll need more advanced equipment that provides skill bonuses, like Strong Fishing Pole, Big Iron Fishing Pole, Nat Pagle’s Extreme Angler FC-5000, etc. Those and other rods can be obtained at Fishing Suppliers and regular vendors. Also, you can use various fishing lures to temporarily boost your skill even further.
Leveling Your Fishing Skill
Fishing skill ranges from 1 to 300, and leveling it is incredibly simple. All you have to do is just keep fishing. Technically, none of the pools are level-gated and you’re allowed to cast your line in any body of water in the world, but if your skill is too low for the zone you’re fishing in, you simply won’t catch anything and will just waste your time trying.
To avoid that, it’s best to level in areas appropriate for your current skill level. Starting zones like Elwynn Forest, Teldrassil, Dun Morogh, and Durotar are perfect for low-level fishing and getting a feel for the profession.
Once your skill starts climbing, usually somewhere around the 70 mark, you can begin branching out to slightly more competitive areas like The Barrens or Westfall. Around this point, you can also start fishing in or near capital cities.
As you move into the triple digits and your skill hits 100+, you can start heading into zones like Dustwallow Marsh, Ashenvale, Hillsbrad Foothills, Wetlands, or Stranglethorn Vale.
For the final stretch from 200s to 300, it’s time to venture into high-level zones like Tanaris, Feralas, and Winterspring. And if you’re looking to push past the soft 300 cap (you’ll need to use buffs from lures, fishing gear, and consumables to get there), there’s no better place to cast your line than the Bay of Storms in Azshara.
Profitable Fish and Where to Find Them
While you can technically sell anything you catch, some fish are way more in demand than others and will fetch a much better price at the Auction House.
Here are a few catches you should absolutely keep an eye out for:
Deviate Fish
One of the most iconic and profitable farms early on is Deviate Fish. You can catch it in The Barrens in the oasis pools around Wailing Caverns. If you consume this fish, it’ll give you random effects like shrinking you down, healing, putting you to sleep for 30 seconds, or triggering uncontrolled emotes. What really makes it valuable, though, is its use as an ingredient for Savory Deviate Delight, which transforms you into a pirate or a ninja (cool, right?).
Oily Blackmouth
This one can be caught in the coastal waters of almost any zone starting around level 10, but Westfall, Darkshore, and Silverpine Forest are especially good spots to target.
The fish is widely used by Alchemists to craft Blackmouth Oil, which is needed for several potions and also for an enchanting recipe. Since this ingredient is pretty popular, you’ll have better luck fishing during off-peak hours to avoid too much competition.
Stonescale Eel
This is a high-level catch that you can start successfully fishing only when your skill gets past 200. Stonescale Eel is found on the coasts of Tanaris, Azshara, and Feralas, and it’s best to use lures to improve your catch rate. This fish is used to make Stonescale Oil, which plays a major role in a bunch of high-end Alchemy recipes, including the famous Flask of the Titans.
Nightfin Snapper
Speaking of endgame fishing, Nightfin Snapper is another valuable catch. It can be found in a bunch of zones including Moonglade, Un’Goro Crater, Azshara, and Felwood, but you can only catch it during nighttime hours (server time).
The fish is cooked into Nightfin Soup, one of the best food buffs for regenerating health and mana. Because Nightfin is very useful and somewhat tricky to farm, you can usually sell it (or the soup) for a great price, especially on raid nights.
Firefin Snapper
This is another consistent moneymaker, used to produce Fire Oil, which is a key Alchemy component needed in several recipes. It can be fished up in Hillsbrad Foothills, Stonetalon Mountains, and Wetlands from Firefin Snapper Schools or from Oil Spills, with the former tending to have much better gains.
Winter Squid
Last but not least, there’s the seasonal Winter Squid. These creatures are most commonly found along the coastal waters of Azshara, Tanaris, and Feralas, but only between late September and the end of March.
The squid is the main ingredient for Grilled Squid, a cooked food that restores HP and provides a good Agility buff. Because it’s only available for part of the year, prices often spike out of season, so if you save some Winter Squid until summer, it’ll net you a really nice sum of gold.