Why Fish Pools?
I recommend pool fishing. In the past Deviate Fish have sold well enough to make money fishing open water in one of the oases of the Northern Barrens. These fish are still valuable, but as the skill-cap has risen, so has the proportion of time spent leveling by catching these fish, and anglers have become more likely to flood the auction house with too many Deviate Fish! The first zone in which other Valuable Fish can be caught is The Jade Forest. This zone has a no-junk skill of 650: At 450 skill, half of all catches will be junk. Since only 40% of the non-junk catch will be guaranteed to sell well - 20% of the catch overall - open water fishing is far less effective that pool fishing at that skill level. So in practice, open water anglers need to have almost leveled their fishing skill before being able to fish efficiently in Pandaria.
Pool fishing will take approximately twice as long as Fishing 1-600 Fast, but has several advantages:
- Pools in Pandaria (and elsewhere) can be fished from skill 1 to 600. No need to "waste" time catching low-value fish.
- Pools can be fished without ever catching junk. Even at skill 1. Every catch catches something good.
- 95% of the catch from Pandaria's pools are a named fish used in cooking (or Alchemy). The remaining 5% are Sealed Crate (Pandaria), which contain various professions materials. Every catch is valuable.
- Every catch from Pandaria's pools can be sold at auction. Every catch is worth several gold.
You will have to keep moving between pools, so it will take longer to reach 600 skill than open water fishing. Level 90 is recommended, since flight greatly reduces the time taken to move between pools. At level 90 Pandarian flight is taught by trainers in the faction hubs in the Vale of Eternal Blossoms. Anglers below level 85 cannot (at least easily) visit Pandaria, nor move around zones safely.
Where to Fish
The method is simple: Fish pools from across Pandaria. Return to a fishing trainer each time you have enough skill to learn a new rank.
The table below lists Pandarian pools. Some fish are worth more than others. Raw fish are normally less valuable that cooked Buff Food, but will still sell because many cooked dishes use a mix of fish, meat and vegetables - and not every cook enjoys fishing. I recommend you fish a variety of different pools, because auctioning thousands of the same type of raw fish is hard: Fish won't sell immediately, and prices will fall. Avoid Spinefish School unless you know Spinefish sell well: These fish are only used by Alchemists.
Fish of the Day pools are even faster to fish, because they appear very close together and respawn quickly. Only one type of fish will be caught each day - there is no choice. The "Large"-named pools found at Fish of the Day migrations add a further variation: Each Large pool can be fished, typically for almost a hundred catches. Once the pool is empty a Krakkanon appears. This is a tough creature to kill, but soloable by most level 90 anglers. The Krakkanon has a chance to drop Nat's Fishing Journal, which can be used to instantly learn 50 points of fishing skill.
Learn a new rank from any fishing trainer between skills:
- 50-75: Journeyman.
- 125-150: Expert.
- 200-225: Artisan.
- 275-300: Master.
- 350-375: Grand Master.
- 425-450: Illustrious.
- 500-525: Zen Master.
Pandarian fishing trainers include Ben of the Booming Voice (fishing just east of Halfhill in Valley of the Four Winds), Master Lo (on the Peak of Serenity in Kun-Lai Summit), and Nat Pagle (at Anglers Wharf in Krasarang Wilds).
Learn More
- Valuable Fish - Details the most valuable fish, and how to catch them.
- Getting Started - Contains information for the beginner. If you've never picked up a fishing pole in your life, or have only just started fishing, this chapter is for you.
- Pools and Schools - Describes how to fish pools such as schools or floating debris, where to find pools, and how to efficiently fish them.
- Mists of Pandaria Catches - Describes Mists of Pandaria's fish catches, and where to catch them.
- Also in Training: Ranks, Developing Your Fishing Skill, Fishing 1-600 Fast, Cooking 1-600, and Fishing and Cooking 1-525.
