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Grand Master Fishing

The Grand Master rank of Fishing skill now allows you to advance your fishing skill beyond 375 to 450. This rank is called "Grand Master". Grand Master fishing can be trained from fishing trainers in Northrend, specifically:

Grand Master fishing costs 15 gold to learn (reduced by up to 20% by reputation), and requires 350 fishing skill.

The number of catches required for each skill point is approximately 11 catches per skill point (375-450).

Death Knights only start with one secondary profession, First Aid (currently at 270/300). So expect Death Knights to develop their fishing skills from nothing, like everyone else.

Locations

Fish Basket

Many zones in Northrend can be fished. The table below summarises the skill required to fish without junk.

Zone Fishing Skill - Northrend
No-Junk SkillZones and Areas
475Borean Tundra, Dragonblight, Grizzly Hills, Howling Fjord and Zul'Drak
500Crystalsong Forest
525Dalaran, Sholazar Basin and Wintergrasp
550Hrothgar's Landing, Icecrown, Storm Peaks and Ulduar
575The Frozen Sea
650The Ruby Sanctum

The Frozen Sea is the deep sea that surrounds Northrend. It is not formally a zone. However it has different skill requirements and catches from nearby zones: It does not follow the old Azeroth pattern, where seas share the characteristics of the nearest zone. The Frozen Sea is also the toughest known area to fish in Northrend (with the highest no-junk skill).

Fishing in Dalaran? Read the full Dalaran Fishing guide.

Fish

There are plenty of fish available to catch. Read more about Wrath of the Lich King Fish.

For full details of what you can catch, read Wrath of the Lich King Fish.

Pool Changes

Many fish can be caught from pools. About 90% of the catch from a school is the named fish, so pools should be more efficient if you want to catch a single named fish. Read more about Wrath of the Lich King Pools.

For full details of new and changed schools, read Wrath of the Lich King Pools.

Equipment

Mastercraft Kalu'ak Fishing Pole

A new epic quality fishing pole has been added:

Mastercraft Kalu'ak Fishing Pole

Mastercraft Kalu'ak Fishing Pole can be purchased from quartermaster Tanaika (in the Tuskarr village of Kamagua, in the Howling Fjord) or Sairuk (in Moa'ki Harbor, Dragonblight). You must have Exalted reputation with the Kalu'ak faction. The pole costs about 100 gold (including reputation price reduction). Revered reputation can be reached by completing regular quests in the 3 zones where the Kalu'ak are based (Borean Tundra, Dragonblight and Howling Fjord). Daily quests can then be completed for 500 reputation each. Known daily quests are:

Each quest takes less than 5 minutes to complete. If you have finished all the regular quests (and reached Revered), it will take about 2 weeks to reach Exalted by doing daily quests (less with guild or race bonuses).

One further curiosity can be found in the spell list: "Summon Drostan's Fishing Chair - Right Click to set up a comfy fishing chair." Perhaps this is a seat for those of us who do not play cards?

Quests and Factions

Murloc Fishing

There are 2 known fishing-related quests. The quests copy the Azuremyst Isle quest, Red Snapper - Very Tasty! - neither quest uses fishing skill:

One fishing-related quest can be found at Redwood Trading Post, Grizzly Hills, "A Bear of an Appetite": Catch 6 Northern Salmon using a fishing net. The fish are caught from School of Northern Salmon, which are found along the eastern coast of the Grizzly Hills. These schools look like School of Red Snapper.

The Way to His Heart is a beautiful quest, which starts from Anuniaq in the Tuskarr village of Kamagua (Howling Fjord). You must complete the Scalawag Isle quests first (thanks BigFire). The quest uses at least 5 Tasty Reef Fish, which can be found in School of Tasty Reef Fish. These pools are in deep water off the south side of the Isle of Spears. These schools are not fished with a pole: Use Anuniaq's Net, provided. "The Way to His Heart" becomes a repeatable daily quest, which gives reputation with the Kalu'ak (Tuskarr).

The Tuskarr (Kalu'ak) best fit the role of a "fishing faction". But the Tuskarr are not the only faction that fish. The Murlocs of Northrend are very civilised. And they enjoy fishing too. With a pole, line and bobber. Just like the rest of us. RwlRwlRwlRwl...? Oh; I think I'm in love.

Know something new about fishing in Wrath of the Lich King? Please post on the forums »
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Comments about Wrath of the Lich King Fishing Changes

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

Epic fishing pole

  1. Melchizedek, September 2008:

    Firstly i want to say hi, this is my first time posting, although i've been a frequent visiter for some time, especially recently with all the WotLK info coming out.

    I;'ve just visited MMO-Champion and found soemthing of interest for my fellow fishers, it seems that the Kalu'ak faction has a an epic fishing pole as a reputation award for exhalted the link to it is here
    http://static.mmo-champion.com/mmoc/images/news/2008/september/8962/tk_4_01.jpg

    Keep up the good work.

  2. el, September 2008:

    Thanks Melchizedek.

    Like everyone else in Europe, I'm waiting to get online to see these. MMO-Champion is data mining, and not everything data mined actually appears in the game!

    The pole was known about for some time, and we could probably guess Tuskarr rep. I presume there is a rep grind of some kind - beta El reached Revered on quests, but I didn't see a way to go higher.

    If correct, the +30 skill looks like a good compromise: The contest still gives the best pole (at +35), but this is better than the +20/+25 from quests.

  3. Oberweiss, September 2008:

    Yeah, it was kind of silly that the +25 fishing pole was exclusive to Horde. I'm glad casual Alliance fishers aren't stuck using +20 poles.

  1. Gummo, September 2008:

    Is getting this pole likely to be added to the "Salty" title requirement?

  2. el, September 2008:

    There's no achievement directly involving the pole. There is "Tuskarrmageddon" for reaching exalted with Kalu'ak (no baby seals involved), but that's not related to any of the fishing achievements.

  3. Zahana, September 2008:

    I hope it's not part of the fishing achievements, since the "epic" fishing pole is still not as good for fishing as the one from the Extravaganza.

  4. Gummo, September 2008:

    It would also make sense that getting this pole would NOT be a fishing achievement nor part of getting the "Salty" title, because getting it doesn't really involve fishing (unless there are some mandatory fishing parts in unavoidable chain quests, which there might be).

  5. Hy, September 2008:

    Well, I'm pleased that it isn't better than the contest pole. I'm willing to overlook the "zomg shiny purplez!" aspect of it. Water breathing is nice, but one cannot fish while swimming.

  6. Gummo, September 2008:

    It's possible to fish while swimming, barely:
    1) mount up
    2) ride out just to deeper water
    3) immediately cast before you are auto-dismounted from the water

    You can end up treading water while still having your line out, because you were out of the water during the cast.

  7. Hy, September 2008:

    I've done that, but it hardly leaves one in danger of drowning.

  8. Oberweiss, September 2008:

    Gummo wrote:

    It's possible to fish while swimming, barely:
    1) mount up
    2) ride out just to deeper water
    3) immediately cast before you are auto-dismounted from the water
    You can end up treading water while still having your line out, because you were out of the water during the cast.

    Haha, I never knew that. Then again, I primarily fish on a tall female tauren, so I can't say I've ever needed to.

  9. Idoru, September 2008:

    el wrote:

    The pole was known about for some time, and we could probably guess Tuskarr rep. I presume there is a rep grind of some kind - beta El reached Revered on quests, but I didn't see a way to go higher.

    Doesn't the daily quest give reputation past revered?

    Only half-way through honored so far, so dying to know ... : )

  10. el, September 2008:

    Yes, Idoru - dailies give 500 rep each at revered. They were only added in the last week, and aren't all using the correct icons yet. So far I've found these available at revered:

    Please add any others you've spotted, with your reputation level at the time.

  11. Idoru, September 2008:

    Just hit Revered this morning, but while I was Honored, I could get Planning for the Future and The Way to His Heart

    Haven't been near Kaskala for a while though, so I have missed that quest.

    Btw, The Way to His Heart .... really cute quest : )

  12. Roddamv, March 2009:

    Mastercraft Kalu'ak Fishing Pole has an additional stat for Druids who fish:
    +1844 attack power.

  13. Reply to this topic »

Fishing Change in WotL

  1. Salley, September 2008:

    A few weeks back i read about that fishing wasnt much interactive and that it will change to make it more "fun".

    Personally i really like how it is now, its very relaxing and i can watch TV or read on internet while im doing it. If it becomes anything like the fishing (mini)games i played on console i doubt i'll keep on fishing and just idle in a city instead.

    Any news regarding this? Hate to see fishing being turned into a time your click then hammer a key thing :/

  2. Verissi, September 2008:

    So far, I haven't seen any change at all to the mechanics of fishing in beta. I rather enjoy it now as well, although aiming the casts could use some work (17 casts to hit a pool? /facepalm). Aside from the comment in that interview, I haven't noticed any planned changes in the beta forums either, but they're good at springing things on us these days :-)

  3. Salley, September 2008:

    ye aiming can be abit bad sometimes but having to point out where to cast everytime you recast fishing wouldnt be to great. Maybe just trow the line directly infront of your char, but that means adjusting your char's position alot...hmm casting at the moment maybe isnt to bad :) With fishing buddy its just a few double clicks and your cast doesnt have to land exactly inside the pool either.

    Anyways i hope they leave it like this, i cant see how they could change it without having to pay alot of attention to it, wich would make it pretty boring in return, i think.

  1. Verissi, September 2008:

    I think the only change I'd make regarding aiming is tightening the potential casting arc. I don't mind overshooting the pool distance-wise, or undershooting it, but casting at a 40-degree angle from my facing direction is a bit extreme :-P Other than that, I'm fine with fishing as it is now as well and hope the mechanics stay largely unchanged...or if they do improve it, that it's interactivity won't be overly intense.

  2. Salley, September 2008:

    Ye maybe that would work, but even now i barely have this problem with missing pools, usually only 2/3 recasts to land it right, wich is about right. Maybe they can just make it "lock" onto a pool and constantly make it land in there. Wouldnt mind either way :)

    As long as they keep away from digital fishing that i've seen in other games, wich was just a matter of timing, precision and mashing a button...not something i want from fishing tbh :)

  3. Zahana, September 2008:

    Proffesional fishers have pretty good placement of their lines. If I'm at 375 + fishing I should be able to hit a pool on the first attempt, not the 3rd or 4th. At some point shouldn't a high fishing skill mean that you should have some ability to choose the placement of your line?

  4. Reply to this topic »

Fishing in WotLK

  1. nonameform, July 2009:

    Looking back at how fishing skill had serious impact on your chance to catch something, I question why Blizzard has included BoP one hour lures that grant you +100 skill (Glow Worm). Sure they might be very useful for leveling your fishing, but when you're at 450 skill you might as well want to vendor them. At least I did so with some of my lures, but then I decided to save them, in case Blizzard makes them normal lures some time in the future and I will be able to sell them at AH/transfer them to my alts.

    In vanilla WoW days you had to have maximum fishing skill and had to use best fishing gear and lures available, so you could fish in Bay of Storms for money. In TBC you had to be well geared too to be able to catch fishes in Terokkar's lakes. Now in WotLK you need a maximum skill and a 75 lure to be able to catch all fishes you need for Fish Feast. Zones that require you to have more than 525 skill don't actually provide better fishes. How many of you actually made more than one Gigantic Feast?

    I only need to win STV Extravaganza now for my title (got as close as 39 fishes so far) and I'm wondering what I will do after that. Sure it might be fun for some people to win the contest twice for both the trinket and the pole, but I don't feel like doing it twice and making it harder for other people to get the title. Compared to the Undying title I have, Salty requires much more work and patience, as losing the contest several weeks in a row when you thought that you are about to win it, is really sad. Well, at least I can spend the rest of the contest time to fish for money and possible rare catches (got only one High Test Eternium Fishing Line so far, so saving it for an Arcanite Fishing Pole I hope to win someday).

    Overall fishing in WotLK seems uninteresting. Yes, I can make money by selling Fish Feast, as I have about 1k+ Northern Spices on my main char, but I want some excitement from the profession. I got all possible achievements, except for the one mentioned above and I want more. Maybe some really hard stuff like catching all those fishes, that got away. That would keep me busy for some time or catching 100k fishes, which isn't hard, but sure takes more time to get, than 1k for the title. I still have to see fishing rings and some of the rarer TBC fishing drops, such as crocs (make it an achievement too, come on), but all in all every time I think about fishing in WotLK, I get excited and then in a second I tell myself "Wait, there is nothing interesting to do actually."

    I'm not an angler, just a fisherman, a sissy by someone's standards as I didn't bother to level my fishing skill to maximum until WotLK arrived, but after that it became a way to pass time in game without mindless killing or farming reputation or whatever.

  2. nonameform, August 2009:

    I wonder what makes people fish in a school that's already being fished from? In the last few months I've met several people who preferred to fish from "my" school while there were other schools around. While I do understand that sort of behavior during Extravaganza (only before winner is announced), I don't understand what makes people think that it's OK to share a school with someone. If I see someone fishing in a school, I just leave it to them and move to the next one. If there are no schools, I just wait for a new spawn and go to it.

    For me fishing from "someone's" school is as disgraceful as collecting herb/ore while someone fights a mob near it. I've even seen people from my own faction doing that sort of things to me, which is a real shame. I think of them as of spoiled kids, who just believe that everything belongs to them and that it's OK to make other people do half of the job for you. I bet they belong to the same group of people who never tips.

    Today while farming mats for 60 fish feasts for my guild, I've met three people who just couldn't resist the urge to fish from the same schools as I did, even though there were schools 10-15 yards away from it. With all those new people getting into the fishing, I certainly find it less enjoyable to fish with every passing day. Even though my Badapples list consists mostly of people who ninja loot, play their class poorly or just plain stupid people, it grows longer because I've started adding people who didn't tip or did something disgraceful in my opinion. I just wish Blizzard never bothered to make any changes to fishing at all. Compared to TBC, I see people fishing much more now, which actually makes it less exciting for me. Might as well just go to fish in Azeroth for all the rare fishes, just to be less annoyed of how crowded some pools are.

  3. Hordriss, August 2009:

    Sad to say, I agree with the above poster - I'm also pretty much giving up on fishing in Northrend due to the sheer number of 'fishing griefers' (standing/mounting on bobbers, fishing from 'claimed' schools, etc.). I appreciate that Blizz want more people to fish, but for me, they're taken most of the fun out of it. And as for the ever-present gankers and gangs on mammoths at the Extravaganza... that's the only achievement missing from my title but even that isn't enough to motivate me to go back there.

  4. Reply to this topic »
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