Introduction
The daily fishing quests provide a modest amount of gold and a chance to gain rare items - some that will help you fish, others that you'll just want to have. Daily fishing quests can often be completed in around 10 minutes.
Daily quests can be repeated once each day. There are 5 different daily fishing quests. Only one will be available each day: You will not get a choice.
All the daily fishing quests start and finish at Old Man Barlo, pictured right. He can be found on the west side of Silmyr Lake, which is just north-east of Shattrath City in Outland. Old Man Barlo is normally fishing.
The minimum level to take the quests is assumed to be 70: We know that a level 50 angler (with 375 fishing skill) cannot see the quests. In theory, all the quests could be completed solo by about level 60. There is no need for a flying mount.
There is no minimum fishing skill required to accept the daily fishing quests: Fishing skill 1 will allow at least the Crocolisks in the City quests to be accepted and completed. Not all catches are this easy. The skill required to catch each quest fish is listed below by quest. The most difficult catch requires an effective skill of 395 to cast, 490 to stop get-aways. Some other catches are far easier, requiring almost no fishing ability at all.
These quests require "quest only" items. If you are in a raid group you cannot gain them: Leave the group while fishing. For further information, read this discussion.
All quest fish are caught from open inland water - not pools of fish. With the exception of Shrimpin' Ain't Easy, all the quests require a single fish to be caught. The quest fish will, on average, bite on the 8th catch (based on a sample of 35 completed quests). However, the number of catches required ranges from 1 to 40: Terribly variable! (You can help by posting your observations here.)
Each of the 5 possible daily quests are described below.
Bait Bandits
- What to catch: Blackfin Darter.
- Where to catch it: Terokkar Forest (not all parts - read below).
- Skill required: 355 to cast, 450 to avoid get-aways.
Blackfin Darter can be caught from the open water between Tuurem, Firewing Point and Allerian Stronghold, including water within Allerian Stronghold. Although the quest description says "avoid the lakes", Blackfin Darter can also be caught from Blackwind Valley (the elevated waters around the Sha'tari Skyguard camp), Cenarion Thicket, and the small lake next to the east entrance to Shattrath City. The two locations closest to the quest-giver are Cenarion Thicket and the small lake next to the east entrance to Shattrath City. These are shown on the map, right.
Blackfin Darter cannot be caught from Silmyr Lake (that would be too easy) or the elevated lakes where Highland Mixed Schools are found - Blackwind Lake, Lake Ere'Noru and Lake Jorune (based on 100 unsuccessful catches).
The quest instructions also state:
"You have to pull your line at the last possible second, because they nibble at the bait before they take it."
As far as I can tell, when you reel in makes no difference to whether you catch Blackfin Darter: Just fish normally.
Crocolisks in the City
- What to catch: Baby Crocolisk.
- Where to catch it: Stormwind City, Orgrimmar ...and Ironforge.
- Skill required: 1 to cast, 75 to avoid get-aways.
The Baby Crocolisk can be caught in any part of Stormwind - even the Park or Valley of Heroes (entrance). Ironforge is not listed in the quest description - for more evidence, see this discussion.
It may seem a long way to travel to catch one fish. However, if your hearthstone is available, simply set it at your favourite inn in Shattrath, use the portals in the centre of Shattrath to travel straight to the capital, fish, and then use your hearthstone to return to Outland.
Felblood Fillet
- What to catch: Monstrous Felblood Snapper.
- Where to catch it: Hellfire Peninsula or Shadowmoon Valley.
- Skill required: 280 to cast in Hellfire Peninsula, 375 to stop get aways.
Only the Pools of Aggonar (shown on the map, right) can be fished in Hellfire Peninsula. Most of the lava and water in Shadowmoon Valley can be fished. Water on the boundary between Shadowmoon Valley and Terokkar Forest can also be fished for the Monstrous Felblood Snapper: Just make sure the bobber lands in water where the location is shown "Shadowmoon Valley" on the minimap. The closest location to the quest-giver is Hellfire Peninsula (Pools of Aggonar).
The "mammoth shark off the coast of Azshara" that Old Man Barlo refers to in the quest instructions does exist, although it cannot be caught by conventional fishing.
The One That Got Away
- What to catch: World's Largest Mudfish.
- Where to catch it: Nagrand (Lake Sunspring and Skysong Lake only).
- Skill required: 395 to cast, 490 to stop get aways.
The World's Largest Mudfish is only known to be caught from opn water in Lake Sunspring and Skysong Lake in Nagrand. Other lakes in Nagrand with slightly lower skill requirements do not seem to contain the fish, regardless of what the quest's instructions state.
The closest lake to the quest-giver is Skysong Lake (see map, right). Take care to ensure your bobber lands on water where the name of the location shows as "Skysong Lake" (next to the minimap). This is particularly important for Horde fishing from Garadar, since it is possible to visually be fishing in the correct lake, but technically still be fishing in "Nagrand" or "Garadar".
Shrimpin' Ain't Easy
- What to catch: Bloated Barbed Gill Trout, until you have 10 Giant Freshwater Shrimps.
- Where to catch it: Zangarmarsh.
- Skill required: 305 to cast, 400 to stop get aways (in the eastern lakes of Zangarmarsh).
Bloated Barbed Gill Trout can be caught from any open water in Zangarmarsh, however the southern side of Umbrafen Lake is both the closest to the quest-giver, and has the lowest skill requirement. Why try harder?
Bloated Barbed Gill Trout contain 1-2 Giant Freshwater Shrimps (plus Partially Digested Weeds), until you have 10 Giant Freshwater Shrimps in your inventory. If you catch many Bloated Barbed Gill Trout (and do not open them), you will only find Giant Freshwater Shrimps while you have less than 10 in your inventory. Bloated Barbed Gill Trout are soulbound and only stay fresh for 2 hours (like Speckled Tastyfish). This means that you cannot stock up on Bloated Barbed Gill Trout or Giant Freshwater Shrimps in preparation for a later quest.
Until you have 10 Giant Freshwater Shrimps in your inventory, all Barbed Gill Trout catches in Zangarmarsh are replaced by Bloated Barbed Gill Trout. 70% of the catch from open water in Zangarmarsh will be Bloated Barbed Gill Trout, with an equal change of 1 or 2 Giant Freshwater Shrimps from each fish. You should complete the quest within 10 catches.
It is possible to gain 11 shrimps while fishing, if you have 9 shrimps in your inventory and the final Barbed Gill Trout contains 2 shrimps. The spare shrimp can be saved till the next day the quest is offered.
Finding a lot of weeds, but no Giant Freshwater Shrimps? Read this discussion.
Rewards
The reward for all 5 daily fishing quests is a Bag of Fishing Treasures. This contains around 7g, a regular treasure, a minor or junk item, and rarely a "notable" treasure.
Notable Treasures
Notable treasures are far less common than other rewards: The majority of Bags of Fishing Treasures will not contain any of these items:
- Bucket Pets - Chuck's Bucket, Muckbreath's Bucket, Snarly's Bucket (illustrated right), and Toothy's Bucket.
- Baby crocolisk non-combat pets.
Tentatively: Bucket pets may only be gained after completing the quest "Crocolisks in the City", not from the other fishing dailies.
- Eye of the Sea
- Unique-equipped blue gem.
- Bonus: +15 stamina.
Eye of the Sea can be traded. The gem gives the same +15 stamina bonus as the Solid Empyrean Sapphire, which values it at several hundred gold on the auction house markets.
- Recipe: Captain Rumsey's Lager
- Recipe allows the cook to make Captain Rumsey's Lager, which when consumed, increases fishing skill by 10 for 3 minutes.
Captain Rumsey's Lager's skill bonus stacks with existing bonuses from lures and gear. That means the maximum possible effective fishing has risen from 527 to 537. The lager requires a Skin of Dwarven Stout and a Flagon of Mead to brew 5 drinks. The lager's raw materials are all purchased from vendors, at a cost of about 16s each. The recipe requires a cooking skill of 100 to learn, and binds when picked up. Tentatively: Like the cooking daily quest rewards, once the recipe is known you will not receive it again as a reward.
- Spun Truesilver Fishing Line
- Bonus to fishing skill: +3.
Spun Truesilver Fishing Line is used in the same way as High Test Eternium Fishing Line: Apply it to a fishing pole to permanently give that pole an extra +3 bonus to fishing skill. Spun Truesilver Fishing Line does not stack with High Test Eternium Fishing Line. Apply one or the other.
- The 2 Ring
- Bonuses: +22 Strength, +22 Agility, +22 Stamina, +22 Intellect, +22 Spirit.
- Requires level 70. Binds when equipped, so can be traded.
Epic quality and "vastly superior to The 1 Ring", The 2 Ring is one of the best rings available for hybrid classes (such as Druids and Shaman). The 2 Ring is exceptionally rare: The daily fishing quests had been completed thousands of times before ring was even discovered: Chances are you will never find The 2 Ring. The combination of exceptional rarity and exceptional desirability probably makes The 2 Ring the most valuable traded item in Azeroth.
- Weather-Beaten Fishing Hat (illustrated right)
- Bonus: +40 Stamina bonus, +40 Spirit bonus, +5 to fishing skill.
- Use: "Attach a lure to your equipped fishing pole, increasing Fishing by 75 for 10 minutes (10 minute cooldown)"
The Weather-Beaten Fishing Hat is effectively a reusable +75 lure.
Regular Treasures
There are two regular treasures, one of which seems to always be found in each Bag of Fishing Treasures:
- 1-3 Elixir of Water Walking
- Use: "Allows you to walk across water for 10 minutes."
- Classified as a Guardian Elixir. Requires level 35 to use.
When the gnomes complained about those pools in Nagrand that were too far from land to reach, this wasn't quite the solution we were expecting... Still, water walking is a surprisingly useful ability when fishing pools, since it often means not having to fight off the wildlife.
- 4-6 Sharpened Fish Hook
- +100 lure. Requires a fishing skill of 100+ to use. Lasts 10 minutes.
Other Treasures
If you do not already know the Find Fish (pool tracking) ability, it is possible to get a Weather-Beaten Journal as a reward.
Some of the other items are still of value, mostly to vendors. Minor/junk items include: Ancient Coin, Antique Silver Cufflinks, Beautiful Glass Eye, Broken Spyglass, Giant Shark Tooth, Gold Wedding Band, 1-3 Jaggal Pearl, Mariner's Log (Cedric's story), Mithril Shaving Razor, 1-4 Mote of Water, Noble's Monocle, Ornate Drinking Stein, Piece of Polished Driftwood, Razor Sharp Fillet Knife, Rusted Lock, 2-4 Salvaged Scrap Metal, Shadow Pearl, Silver Statuette.
Learn More
- Fishing changes in 2.4 - The Dailies - El's Anglin' forum discussion. Please post changes and discoveries here.
- 2.4 Changes - Patch 2.4's changes to fishing, including daily quests and Isle of Quel'Danas.
- Getting Started - Fancy some of that loot, but don't yet know how to fish? This chapter will get you started.
- Wowhead quest entries: Bait Bandits, Crocolisks in the City, Felblood Fillet, Shrimpin' Ain't Easy, and The One That Got Away.
- Snarly, the Baby Crocolisk - Oberweiss' video showing Snarly, the bucket pet.
- Fishing in 2.4: Daily quests and more - Daily quest summary by WoW Insider.
- PTR for Patch 2.4 is Open and Fishing daily quests - Observations on the daily quest by Stephenn.
- Banana Shoulders - Fishing - Daily quest information from Shia.
- Also in the Quests chapter: Artisan Fishing.
