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What is Fishing Skill?

Fishing with Bobber

Once you know how to fish, your current Fishing skill can be seen on the "Skill" tab of your personal ((character)) page. Fishing is listed under "Secondary Skills".

Like other professions, your skill in fishing is expressed as a number. Skill is 1 when you first train, but you can improve this.

You can cast a line anywhere with fishing skill 1. So why improve your fishing?

Higher skill will reduce the proportion of junk items you catch from open water.

Junk can be sold to vendors. But good anglers should not be reeling in dead trees! With higher fishing skill, you will be able to catch more valuable fish. Particularly in more difficult waters, such as Northrend. In Skill and Locations I will explain exactly how much more skill you need.

Patch 3.1 changed the role of skill: Now you do not require a certain skill just to cast. With skill 1 you can cast anywhere. Junk items replace fish that "got away". Fish that "got away" did not improve your skill, but junk items do improve skill. So you can also now skill-up anywhere. For detailed analysis, read The Role of Skill (Revised). Patch 3.3 removed junk catches from pools. You will always catch fish from pools, even at skill 1.

Gaining Personal Fishing Skill

You improve your personal fishing skill by successfully catching something.

The number of successful catches determines personal skill increases. It doesn't matter where or when or what you fish, so long as you catch something. Even if you catch junk items, your skill will rise.

At the start, each catch will increase your skill by one. As you become more advanced it will take more and more catches to advance another point. The table below shows the approximate number of successful catches required to increase your fishing skill by a point. The process is random: The number of catches per skill increase is not constant. Use the table as a guide only.

Catches Required to Gain a Point of Fishing Skill
Current Fishing SkillAverage Successful Catches per Skill Point Gain
FromTo
11151
1151352
1351603
1601904
1902155
2152956
2953159
31535510
35542511
42545012

About 2670 successful catches are required to train from fishing skill 1 to 450.

((These numbers change from patch to patch. If they have changed again, please let us know.))

Ranks

Each rank of Fishing has a maximum possible skill. To raise your skill beyond that maximum, you must train a higher rank.

For example: You first trained as an Apprentice, which allows you to raise your skill up to 75. To advance above 75, you must train Journeyman rank. Journeyman can only be trained once you have 50 skill.

So, once your personal fishing skill is close to the maximum, visit a Fishing Trainer to see if they can teach you a new rank. For a complete list of ranks by skill level, read about Ranks in the Training chapter.

Leveling 1-450 requires about 2670 successful catches. This will take about 11 hours (assuming 4 catches per minute). But I don't recommend you learn it all at once! For further information and strategies, see Training »
Personal training is important, but is not the only way to raise your effective fishing skill.

Learn More

Comments about Fishing Skill

Below are readers' comments about "Fishing Skill":

Fishing Pole Beatdown

  1. Ramini, April 2008:

    Hey, I've read on other places that your fishing skill is equal to your weapon skill with a fishing pole however I just started a semi-pacifist hunter (In that she's only allowed to attack with pet and fishing pole) and although my crit rating with a fishing pole equipped goes down when I level it doesn't go up again when I raise fishing skill.
    Fishing skill in the 40s now at level 9 so it should have a 5% crit chance but it's only around 2% was what i read false (It DID come from thottbott ^^) or does it only kick in at a certain level?

  2. Petre, April 2008:

    It's probable that the information you got is wrong, though I wouldn't know never having tried to play a 'semi'-pacifist character. I would assume that the information in your character frame is accurate however.

  3. Ramini, April 2008:

    Thanks, I'm just curious about how it works mainly. Was intending to make a pacifist character but I just found it far too hard to get past level 6 so I bought a fishing pole ^^
    I'm going to get the dwarven fishing pole later on and use that until 70 (its more of a themed character now I suppose) so I'll see if fishing pole skill might be the average of all your skills.

  1. Calabar, April 2008:

    I’d be interested in reading what you find out. I’ve read the same thing about one’s fishing skill equaling one’s weapon skill with a fishing pole, but I never knew if it was more than a rumor.

  2. Kahless, April 2008:

    If you equip a fishing pole, you'll notice your weapon skill is equal to your fishing skill.
    As to how it effects your crit rate I can't say.

    Edit: At least it used to be that way. Now the Melee tool-tip doesn't show your equipped weapon skill.
    I think they changed how weapon skill effects crit rate a patch or two ago.

    At skill 425 my crtit chance is shown as 7.11%
    WIth a +100 lure added crtit chance goes up to 11.11%
    Another +10 from Captain Rumsey's Lager takes it to 11.51%

  3. Ramini, April 2008:

    Hah! Never mind! The fishing skill is equal to weapon skill. I didn't notice that the character sheet defaults to ranged stats on a hunter. Level 12 hunter, leveled fishing 37->38 and melee crit went up 0.04 as expected.
    Going to go cap fishing now ^^

  4. Ramini, April 2008:

    Now I'm a level 12 hunter with 225 fishing skill and 10.95% melee crit chance!
    Goes up 3% with the +75 lures I'm using.
    If I could find the darkwood fishing pole as a weapon the crit would probably make me quite powerful as a twink.

  5. Kahless, April 2008:

    You may be upping your crit rate but remember a fishing pole doesn't qualify as a melee weapon so most special abilities don't work with it.
    All you can do is simple auto-attack.

  6. Petre, April 2008:

    some abilities can be used, but as you say no skills that require weapons. Fury warriors for example can use bloodthirst without a weapon since it does straight damage. I had fun a couple months back doing AB with my fishing pole as fury. Made some people angry, but I got some good footage for a video.

  7. Ramini, April 2008:

    I've only got Raptor strike at the moment as a hunter anyway for damaging. Of course I should be using a gun really but the humiliation of being beaten up with a fishing outfit is worth it.

  8. Longhunter, April 2008:

    not sure but i have killed the Birds in Skettis before in just my fishing outfit i am a Pally so the seals do help

  9. Jeba, June 2008:

    Hey guys. I felt like testing this myself just to make sure for some reason, hope you don't mind. ^^"

    I tested this on a Level 7 Shaman started at Fishing 1.

    Skill : Crit %
01    : 3.19%
02    : 3.23%
03    : 3.27%
04    : 3.31%
05    : 3.35%
06    : 3.39%
07    : 3.43%
08    : 3.47%
09    : 3.51%
10    : 3.55%

    Of course it behaved as expected, 0.04% per rank.

    I find this very neat.

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