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Approach

To the casual fisherman or woman, there may seem to be a lot of variety in which fish can be caught in which zone. The pattern is actually very simple for open-water fishing. There is no need for a matrix that lists every fish and every zone.

Originally I studied the fishing entries in the Book of Thott in great detail. I summarised the fish catches recorded in each zone, splitting them into inland and coastal areas. I ignored "unreliable" data:

Later, Cataclysm catches were checked manually.

Pools have not been included in the gazetteer. Raw Sagefish and Raw Greater Sagefish catches have been ignored (these can only be caught from pools). Fortunately pools for Alchemy fish (Oily Blackmouth, Firefin Snapper, and Stonescale Eel) were (at the time of the original analysis) found in areas of sea where the fish can also be caught in open water.

I grouped zones where the same sets of fish were caught. These zone groups were used to create the gazetteers shown below.

Inland Fishing

The table below shows the zone groups that common types of freshwater (inland) fish can be caught in. "X" indicates the fish can be caught in zones within the zone group. The zones in each group are explained below the table.

Inland Fish by Zone Group
Fish/Zone Group123456
Lightning Eel----XX
Oily Blackmouth----X-
Plated Armorfish-----X
Raw Brilliant SmallfishXX----
Raw Bristle Whisker Catfish-XXX--
Raw Longjaw Mud SnapperXXX---
Raw Mithril Head Trout---XX-
Raw Nightfin Snapper----XX
Raw Redgill----XX
Raw Sunscale Salmon----XX
Raw Whitescale Salmon-----X

Zone groups contain the following zones:

Unnamed inland areas of Azuremyst Isle contain the zone's coastal fish. Deadwind Pass and Zul'Aman both contain Barbed Gill Trout, Bloodfin Catfish, Crescent-Tail Skullfish and Lightning Eel - not part of the standard zone group pattern.

Five other fish are found in certain zones only:

Coastal Fishing

The table below shows the zone groups that common types of saltwater (coastal) fish can be caught in. "X" indicates the fish can be caught in zones within the zone group.

Coastal Fish by Zone Group
Fish/Zone Group123456
Big-mouth Clam----XX
Darkclaw Lobster-----X
Firefin Snapper--XXX-
Large Raw Mightfish-----X
Oily Blackmouth-XXX--
Raw Glossy Mightfish----X-
Raw Rainbow Fin Albacore-XX---
Raw Rockscale Cod---XX-
Raw Slitherskin MackerelXX----
Raw Spotted Yellowtail---XXX
Raw Summer Bass----XX
Stonescale Eel----XX
Winter Squid----XX

Zone groups contain the following zones:

In addition, Darkshore Grouper can be caught off the coast of Darkshore.

Ocean Fishing

Seas occur in 2 different forms:

  1. As a sub-area within another zone: Normally the catch is precisely the same as coastal water elsewhere in the zone. This form is most common.
  2. As a separate zone: The catch is not related to nearby zones. This form applies to The Frozen Sea, and specific parts of The Forbidding Sea and The Great Sea.

Outland

Outland contains no ocean, only inland waters. All fishable open water in Outland contains Barbed Gill Trout in large quantities. This fish gives no buff when cooked, so for most anglers will be "vendor trash". The high proportion of Barbed Gill Trout should encourage anglers to fish from pools, which in most cases will give a better catch rate. Although there are lakes in Blade's Edge Mountains and many recently opened dungeons, at the time of writing those waters are not fishable.

Outland Fish
FishWhere to Catch
Barbed Gill TroutTerokkar Forest, Nagrand, Netherstorm, Zangarmarsh.
Felblood SnapperHellfire Peninsula (Pools of Aggonar), Nagrand (Forge Camp: Hate), Shadowmoon Valley.
Figluster's MudfishNagrand, Netherstorm.
Golden DarterTerokkar Forest.
Icefin BluefishNagrand, Netherstorm.
Spotted FeltailTerokkar Forest, Zangarmarsh.
Zangarian SporefishZangarmarsh.

Furious Crawdad cannot be caught in open water, only Highland Mixed School.

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