Fishing is one of the most fulfilling professions to pick up in World of Warcraft.
It can reward you with everything from tasty food and useful items for raids, to Battle Pets and even cool mounts in some cases. It’s also a great one to pick up if you’re an achievement hunter, as there’s plenty of achievements to aim for when leveling Fishing.
Trying to max out Fishing can feel like a grind though, and this still rings true for Dragonflight. To help save you some time and effort, I’ve put together this guide on leveling up Fishing in World of Warcraft with tips on where to go, useful items, and important characters.
Here’s how to level up Fishing quickly in Dragonflight.
Where to Learn Dragonflight Fishing
To start, you’ll need to make sure that you learn Dragonflight Fishing before you set out on your leveling journey.
There is a Fishing trainer named Danielle Anglers near Wingrest Embassy in the Waking Shores. This is right by the place that you arrive at when you go to the Dragon Isles for the first time, so it’s very convenient.
There’s also a vendor named Waren Gearhart sat next to Danielle who sells key Fishing supplies. The items you can get from Waren are very handy and are worth checking out to help you boost your Fishing level quickly. They include:
- Bright Baubles. This requires a Classic Fishing level of 100, and it boosts your Fishing Skill by 7 for 10 minutes when used.
- Aquadynamic Fish Attractor. This also requires a Classic Fishing level of 100, and it boosts your Fishing Skill by 9 for 10 minutes when you use it.
- Nightcrawlers. This item requires a Fishing level of 50 before you can use it. When used, it boosts your Fishing Skill by 5 for 10 minutes.
- Strong Fishing Pole. This item requires a Fishing Skill level of 10 and it adds 5 to your Fishing Skill whenever you equip it.
- Shiny Bauble. This item adds 3 to your Fishing pole for 10 minutes whenever you equip it, and it can stack up to 20 times.
- Fishing Pole. This is the standard Fishing Pole that you’ll need to purchase if you’ve never tried Fishing in World of Warcraft before.
- Oversized Bobber. You purchase this item in stacks of 5. When it’s used, your Fishing bobber size increases for 30 minutes.
While it’s certainly possible to quickly level Fishing up without any extra items (this is how I did it for my first attempt) it may help you speed up the process even further to pick up some Skill boost items or Oversized Bobbers before you set out.
How to Level Up Fishing Quickly in Dragonflight
Unlike leveling other professions like Herbalism or Mining in World of Warcraft, there isn’t a specific route to take for Fishing leveling. There are specific steps that you’ll need to take in order to optimize your run, though.
Firstly, try to make sure you’re only fishing in schools of fish. This will help you pick up important items and better quality fish. I followed the rivers throughout the different Dragon Isles zones to find schools of fish and managed to level up quickly without a set location.
There’s a particular item that you’re going to want to keep an eye out for when you’re leveling up your Fishing in Dragonflight. This is the Weather-Beaten Journal, which you can fish up as you’re going around the Dragon Isles.
There are multiple sources that you can check out to find a Weather-Beaten Journal, including random world drops like Watertight Trunks or quest drops like a Pack of Fishing Supplies or a Bag of Shiny Things.
From my experience, they appear pretty quickly from just fishing in the fish pools around the Dragon Isles. In particular, keep an eye out for fish pools with pieces of floating wreckage or junk in them as this seems to affect the drop rate.
I managed to fish up a Weather-Beaten Journal after gaining about 10 or 11 Fishing Skill levels, so I would recommend trying to just manually fish one up for the first 1-15 levels and then tracking down a quest that rewards one if you have no luck.
It’s reported by some that Zangarmarsh also has a good drop rate for fishing up this item. If you can get there easily and don’t mind the detour, this is a good place to try and increase your odds of finding this item.
The reason why the Weather-Beaten Journal is such an important tool to have at your disposal is that it gives you the ability to track schools of fish on your mini-map, in the same way a Herbalist can track herb nodes as they travel.
This is immensely useful, as fishing in schools is a great way to get better rewards and find high quality materials while leveling up Fishing.
Once you’ve managed to get your hands on a Weather-Beaten Journal, click on it to learn the fish finding skill and then double check that it’s enabled on your mini-map.
I would recommend following the rivers throughout the Dragon Isles, searching for pools and making sure to keep track of which fish you’ve seen as well. The Dragon Isles Fishing journal can give you handy information about where to look for specialty fish, which can make the process even quicker for you.
There are other items which can help to streamline the Fishing leveling process as well.
One fish that you’ll notice almost immediately when you start to level your Fishing skill up is the Scalebelly Mackerel. When you get one of these fish, you can throw it back into the water to receive a Fishing Skill boost of 5 for 30 seconds. This can stack, providing up to 5 minutes of the buff which is very handy.
If you’re struggling to find any Scalebelly Mackerels, it is possible to purchase them in bulk on the Auction House too.
With a few Fishing Skill boosting items, a decent back-and-forth route following the rivers throughout the Dragon Isles, and the ability to track schools of fish, you’ll have your Fishing maxed out in no time at all.
You don’t even have to hunt down schools of fish, either. It’s possible to level up your Fishing while staying in the same place for the entire time but I’d recommend changing the scenery every now and then to get a variety of loot and materials, especially if you’re leveling up other professions that need materials like Cooking.
Make sure to keep an eye out for treasures while you’re leveling your Fishing, too. There’s the chance of fishing up rare quality items, treasures, or recipes to help you improve your other professions, too.
For example, I got a rare quality Alchemy recipe that requires a Dragon Isles Alchemy level of 50. At the time, my Alchemy was only roughly level 30 so there’s the chance of finding some great items with very minimal input required.
You can also fish up various Rusted Coins while leveling up Fishing, too. When you fish up your first one (I found mine at roughly level 70) it will give you a quest that takes you to The Great Swog so you can turn it in.
I would recommend holding on to the coins that you fish up, as there’s some great rewards in the more expensive bags that The Great Swog sells.
One Rusted/Bronze Coin gets you a Regurgitated Sac of Swog Treasures, which can contain things like ilvl 200 gear, various fish, and gemstones or other materials of middling quality.
If you save up 15 Bronze Coins, you’ll be able to exchange them for a Silver Coin.
You can then exchange a Silver Coin for a Weighted Sac of Swog Treasures, which can contain a Draconic Recipe in a Bottle, ilvl 280-290 gear, gemstones and crafting materials, fish, and Rainbow Pearls.
These are decent quality, but the next tier has even better rewards. You’ll need to save up 5 Silver Coins.
5 Silver Coins will get you an Immaculate Sac of Swog Treasures, which can contain fish and crafting materials, Darkmoon Faire cards (specifically ones that are exclusive to the Dragon Isles), schematics and recipes, gemstones, and a toy called the Aquatic Shades. The Aquatic Shades appear to be a guaranteed drop.
It can take a little while to farm up Silver and Gold Coins, but the rewards that you get from the more expensive Swog treasures are certainly worth the effort.
How to Unlock Extra Fishing Abilities
While it is certainly possible to just level up your Fishing Skill quickly using the standard method displayed above, it is worth noting that there is a faction in Dragonflight that contains extra fishing skills and rewards.
The Iskaara Tuskarr are one of the main factions in Dragonflight, and farming renown with them can help you gain even more Fishing abilities. The main abilities and rewards that you can get from farming Renown with them include;
- Fishing Nets. These are available at Renown level 5 and are useful items that can be left to periodically gather fish in a fixed location. An improvement to the Fishing Nets becomes available at renown level 13.
- Highlands Fishing ability. Unlocked at Renown level 6, this ability helps you find and obtain fish in the mountains and pools in high areas of the Dragon Isles.
- Iskaaran Harpoons. These Harpoons can fish up huge creatures from the water sources around the Dragon Isles, and they unlock at Renown level 7. An upgrade for this item unlocks at Renown level 18.
- Iskaaran Ice Axe. This item unlocks at Renown level 10 and it allows you to smash the ice on frozen lakes in the Dragon Isles, letting you gather up new fish.
- Polished Basalt Bracelet. This item unlocks at Renown level 15 and it lets you fish in the various lava lakes and pools found across the Dragon Isles.
Having these abilities unlocked won’t necessarily help you level up your Fishing skill faster, but they can offer you a wide variety of places to fish and provide you with more interesting materials and rewards.
If you’re looking to get the most out of your Fishing, I would recommend checking out the Iskaara Tuskarr and spending some time working on their Renown tasks. You can get other rewards like unique mounts and wicked transmog, too.
What to Do After Maxing Out Fishing
Once you’ve hit level 100 with Fishing, the main thing I’d suggest doing is taking stock of what reagents and materials you have left over. If you’re not leveling another profession that you need the materials for, head to the Auction House and sell them. Fish and other crafting materials can help you earn a lot of gold.
If you’re a completionist or achievement hunter, I’d recommend looking up the mounts and Battle Pets that you can get from Fishing. These aren’t Dragonflight exclusive, but if you’ve discovered that you enjoy the relaxing gameplay that Fishing offers then I’d suggest tracking some of these rare rewards down.
