Salt and Fresh Water: Almost

Like the rest of Azeroth, inland (fresh) water contains different fish to coastal (salt) water. Except that simple logic is broken, just as it was broken in the new zones added to Azeroth in The Burning Crusade: Coastal fish can only be caught from parts of the coast that have a specific name (or no inland fish, such as The Frozen Sea). Where the coast takes the name of the zone, inland fish will be caught instead.

There is an important change to deep-sea fishing. In old Azeroth, the sea has the same catch and skill level as the nearest zone. In Northrend, the surrounding The Frozen Sea has different catches and skill from all the nearby zones. Most of the sea causes rapid fatigue, but there are still plenty of Icebergs and ice shelves where an angler can safely stand and fish from The Frozen Sea.

Pygmified!

Pygmified!

Catches from inland open water (and coastal areas that give inland fish), and pools, in Northrend have a chance of giving a bonus fish alongside the main catch: Pygmy Suckerfish.

This fish is used by Alchemists to make Pygmy Oil. Each fish makes 1-2 oils. Drinking Pygmy Oil makes you a little smaller for 10 minutes. After drinking 6-10 oils in a row, you gain a buff described as "Pygmified!", which turns you into - you guessed it - a Pygmy for 10 minutes! The buff currently changes appearance, voice and emotes: You become just like a gnome. There are no obvious combat benefits yet, such as immunity to polymorph. For Druids, shapeshifting removes the Pygmified buff (thanks zolani). This may become an alternative to cooked Deviate Fish (Pygmy Suckerfish are probably easier to catch).

Glassfin Minnow (caught in Crystalsong Forest) allow alchemists to make Ethereal Oil (2 fish per oil). Ethereal Oil is used to make Elixir of Water Walking.

Northrend Common Catches

The table below shows the fish caught in Northrend (in addition to any Pygmy Suckerfish). Follow the fish-name link for more detailed information. All the catches shown can be found in open water, and most can now also be caught from pools.

Cooking recipes are shown where known. All cooked fish restores 22,500 health and 19,200 mana when eaten for 30 seconds, except Black Jelly, which gives twice as much health and mana over 1 minute. Very few cooked dishes previously restored mana. Some cooked fish also give buffs when eaten. Recipe sources marked "Trainer" can be trained from Northrend Cooking trainers, most at skill 350. Recipe sources marked "Epicurean's Award" require tokens from the new daily cooking quests in Dalaran (see the Dalaran Cooking Quests topic). Most can be learnt at cooking skill 400.

Northrend Cooked Catches
FishFoodBuffsDuration (min)Level (to eat)Recipe SourceCatching
Bonescale SnapperGrilled Bonescale--70Cooking trainers outside Pandaria.Where to catch »
Snapper Extreme40 Hit, 40 Stamina6070Recipe: Snapper Extreme [1]
Borean Man O' WarBlack Jelly--75Cooking trainers outside Pandaria.Where to catch »
Rockfin GrouperGigantic FeastBecome larger6070Recipe: Gigantic Feast [1]Where to catch »
Smoked Rockfin--70Cooking trainers outside Pandaria.
Imperial Manta RayBaked Manta Ray30 Haste, 40 Stamina6070Cooking trainers outside Pandaria.Where to catch »
Imperial Manta Steak40 Haste, 40 Stamina6070Recipe: Imperial Manta Steak [1]
Glacial SalmonFirecracker Salmon46 Spell Power, 40 Stamina6070Recipe: Firecracker Salmon [1]Where to catch »
Fish Feast80 Attack Power, 46 Spell Power, 40 Stamina6070Recipe: Fish Feast [2]
Small FeastBecome smaller6070Recipe: Small Feast [1]
Smoked Salmon35 Spell Power, 40 Stamina6070Cooking trainers outside Pandaria.
Fangtooth HerringHaunted HerringMakes you scared120-Recipe: Haunted Herring [3]Where to catch »
Pickled Fangtooth30 Spirit, 40 Stamina6070Cooking trainers outside Pandaria.
Spicy Fried Herring40 Spirit, 40 Stamina6070Recipe: Spicy Fried Herring [1]
Musselback SculpinFish Feast80 Attack Power, 46 Spell Power, 40 Stamina6070Recipe: Fish Feast [2]Where to catch »
Grilled Sculpin60 Attack Power, 40 Stamina6070Cooking trainers outside Pandaria.
Poached Northern Sculpin80 Attack Power, 40 Stamina6070Recipe: Poached Northern Sculpin [1]
Dragonfin AngelfishBlackened Dragonfin40 Agility, 40 Stamina6070Recipe: Blackened Dragonfin [1]Where to catch »
Dragonfin Filet40 Strength, 40 Stamina6070Recipe: Dragonfin Filet [1]
NettlefishFish Feast80 Attack Power, 46 Spell Power, 40 Stamina6070Recipe: Fish Feast [2]Where to catch »
Poached Nettlefish30 Critical, 40 Stamina6070Cooking trainers outside Pandaria.
Small FeastBecome smaller6070Recipe: Small Feast [1]
Spicy Blue Nettlefish40 Critical, 40 Stamina6070Recipe: Spicy Blue Nettlefish [1]
Barrelhead GobySauteed Goby--70Cooking trainers outside Pandaria.Where to catch »
Deep Sea MonsterbellyGigantic FeastBecome larger6070Recipe: Gigantic Feast [1]Where to catch »
Moonglow CuttlefishCuttlesteak40 Spirit, 40 Stamina6070Recipe: Cuttlesteak [1]Where to catch »
Darkwater ClamBad ClamsMake you angry120-Recipe: Bad Clams [3]Where to catch »
Dalaran Clam Chowder60 Attack Power, 35 Spell Power, 30 Stamina6070Cooking trainers outside Pandaria.
Giant Darkwater ClamBad ClamsMake you angry120-Recipe: Bad Clams [3]Where to catch »
Dalaran Clam Chowder60 Attack Power, 35 Spell Power, 30 Stamina6070Cooking trainers outside Pandaria.

In addition, several Northrend fish can be eaten raw:

Some other unusual rare catches can be found in Dalaran, including a minipet. Read the Dalaran Fishing guide for details.
Looking for information about the daily cooking quests and Epicurean's Awards? Read the Dalaran Cooking Quests topic.

Inland Open-Water Catch Rates

The next 2 sections give some approximate catch rates for inland open water.

Based on 925 sucessful casts into inland open water across Northrend, there is a 10% chance of catching a Pygmy Suckerfish alongside another catch.

There is a chance to catch Crystallized Water (Northrend's Mote of Water) and Reinforced Crate (which contain either 3-4 Borean Leather Scraps, 2-3 Cobalt Ore, or 2-3 Frostweave Cloth) from most Northrend open water (except Dalaran and Wintergrasp). Catch rates from open water are under 1%. These are not shown in the tables below.

The table below shows a sample of catches from inland open water in each zone. Dalaran is not yet shown - it was recently changed:

Northrend Inland Open Water Catch Rates (except Sholazar Basin)
ZoneBonescale SnapperDragonfin AngelfishFangtooth HerringGlacial SalmonGlassfin MinnowMusselback SculpinSample
Borean Tundra58%24%---18%105
Dragonblight54%25%---21%114
All Western56%24%---20%219
Crystalsong Forest74%---26%-118
All Central74%---26%-118
Grizzly Hills58%-20%22%--128
Howling Fjord52%-24%24%--108
All Eastern55%-22%23%--236

Sholazar Basin has completely different fish. Sampling 211 catches, 73% were Barrelhead Goby, and 27% Nettlefish.

Overall, where the inland open water of an area contains 3 types of fish, 55% of the catch will be Bonescale Snapper, with the other 2 fish split equally, about 22% each. Areas that contain only 2 types of fish are split approximately 70% to 30%. In all cases an extra 10% of Pygmy Suckerfish will be caught.

For Wintergrasp catch information, see 3.1 Changes.

Coastal/Sea Open-Water Catch Rates

Northrend Costal and Sea Open Water Catch Rates
ZoneBorean Man O' WarDarkwater ClamDeep Sea MonsterbellyImperial Manta RayMoonglow CuttlefishRockfin GrouperSample
Borean Tundra17%9%-23%-49%218
Dragonblight20%10%-21%-47%224
Grizzly Hills20%9%-14%-56%183
Howling Fjord19%11%-19%-46%224
All Northrend Coastal19%10%-20%-49%849
The Frozen Sea--20%-21%59%193

Crystallized Water and Reinforced Crate are also very rarely caught from open water (described above).

Old Azeroth

Stormwind Harbor's new coastal water now contains coastal fish, similar to Westfall.

Catches on the new coast of the Eastern Plaguelands are the same as those inland.

Northrend's waters contain many new schools of fish.

Learn More

Comments about Wrath of the Lich King Fish

Below are readers' comments about "Wrath of the Lich King Fish":

WOTLK Fishing is in!

  1. Thalen, August 2008:

    Very preliminary, but I discovered today that you can fish in the sewers in Dalaran, first place I've seen in there that didn't tell me there were no fish there.

    I've seen 3 fish so far (pygmy suckerfish, glassfin minnow, and bonescale snapper). They're all white text, so you can't eat these for health or anything, but they're probably cookable at some point.

    Looks like my leveling is on hold, I'm off to find more!

    (got quite a few 'fish got away' wearing just my arc pole and the hat/boots, but with the hat lure applied, I was getting pretty much 0 misses, and the fish were coming up 2 at a time).

  2. Thalen, August 2008:

    Quick update...it's not much Dalaran, I've been fishing up imperial Manta Rays, Borean Man 'O Wars, and Rockfin Groupers in Valiance Keep (between crippling waves of lag >.<)

  3. el, August 2008:

    You can find my observations here. I'd welcome additions, particularly on rare fish (there don't seem to be any yet) and pools (aside from quests, I've only found Nettlefish School, and even then, only a handful of spawn points). I suspect fishing is only about half done.

    Pygmy Suckerfish are usable by Alchemists to create Pygmy Oil (which essentially turns you into a gnome with a scary mask - probably exciting if you aren't a gnome already). Otherwise, I suspect we're going to have to wait for Cooking recipes to appear.

    The 2 obvious bugs at the moment are unnamed coastal areas containing inland fish (just like the TBC Azeroth zones) and some quirks in Dalaran, where if the bobber lands very close to a wall, the skill requirement is minimal and the catch includes Raw Brilliant Smallfish.

    (I'm still slightly bemused by the fact that all the main WoW news sites completely missed the introduction of fishing.)

  1. Thalen, August 2008:

    Thanks, missed that post. If I run across anything new I'll let you know :-)

  2. smoo, August 2008:

    mmo-champion.com does give some information about fishing, and the changes to fishing. Not every news site ignored it. :)

  3. el, August 2008:

    Smoo: Could you link to the precise information please? I watch that site quite carefully (Boubouille and I play the same "beta exploration" mini-game), but I've only seen recent references to the BlizzCast interview.

  4. smoo, August 2008:

    Maybe you expect more, but there was the part in the Interview - Jon LeCraft (Profession designer), and some information scattered(?) through the news over the last past days. :)

    But youre right, there was no major newspost regarding the fishing... :)

  5. GIGAR, August 2008:

    They should really add some fishing quest that gives XP for lover lvls D:
    It's boring as hell to lvl, fishing is just so much more fun :p

  6. el, August 2008:

    Some pools have been added into the latest build: It looks like pools have been added for the less common fish in each zone. So there are schools for Glassfin Minnow and Fangtooth Herring, but not the more common Bonescale Snapper - the same sort of approach used in Outland.

    Plus the trainer in Dalaran is offering Master (previously learnt from the book) and Grand Master (375-450) training (but nothing lower). Grand Master is reported broken on the test forums.

    Unfortunately the server seems to be struggling a little more than usual (and "usual" is pretty dire), both with crashes, disconnects, and a tendency to de-sync in a weird way, all of which makes spotting changes a painfully slow process.

  7. el, August 2008:

    Added everything I know so far to the Fish Finder - see pools. I will write it up in more detail later. Tentatively, all the pools have a 100% catch rate of the named fish.

    I get the feeling that these pools are not yet fully implemented or balanced.

  8. rakoth, August 2008:

    I assume the max fishing level will be 450. Do you have any idea how many catches per skill level will be need to reach it?

    I thought going from 6 to 10-11 at 300 was a big jump. Hopefully we don't need significantly more.

  9. el, August 2008:

    Just under 1,000 catches from 375 to 450, as described here.

    I should add: What I don't know yet is whether 300-375 has been made easier.

    Oh: And I couldn't find a Horde fishing trainer in Borean Tundra. I presume here is one - I've just missed it.

  10. Zhivago, August 2008:

    Not really just fishing, but as so many Fishers are Cookers, thought this post from World Of Raids with these new cooking recipes would be helpful:

    WotLK Cooking Recipes

  11. el, August 2008:

    Thanks Zhivago. I'd seen a similar list on MMO-Champion earlier yesterday.

    It transpires that there are quite a lot more recipes via the new daily cooking quests in Dalaran. It's a token system, where each daily rewards a single "Dalaran Cooking Award", and you then trade in the awards for recipes and reagents. There are 5 dailies available as I type, but like Jewelcrafting, I'm not sure how much choice there will be on live.

    I'll write this up in full "later", but to give some idea, here are the (unchecked) buffs from the fishing-related token recipes:

    80 Attack Power, 40 Stamina
    40 Critical Rating, 40 Stamina
    16 MP5, 40 Stamina
    46 Spell Power, 40 Stamina
    40 Haste Rating, 40 Stamina
    40 Hit Rating, 40 Stamina
    40 Spirit, 40 Stamina
    40 Agility, 40 Stamina
    40 Strength, 40 Stamina

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