WoW Fishing and Cooking Guide 1-450

This fishing and cooking guide will help you level all the way from 1-450 (updated for 3.2). It will tell you where to fish, what to cook, where to buy recipes, and provide other useful tips. If you are low on gold check out this Gold Guide for the best ways to make lots of gold.

Fishing and cooking are secondary skills that don't take up your two profession spots. You don't have to do fishing and cooking together but it's a good idea because it's easy to level up one another together. If you plan on using cooking a lot it's a good idea to have fishing because a lot of the recipes you will probably want to use require fish derived from fishing. On the other hand, if you are fishing you might as well take on cooking to do something with all the fish you are catching.

If you want to train fishing and cooking then the first step is to go to a major city (or other location with trainers) and train "Apprentice Cook" and "Apprentice Fishing".

Sections:
Fishing Tips
Cooking Tips
What to Do Before you Start Guide
Fishing and Cooking 1-450

Fishing Tips

In order to ensure you catch valuable fish you need to use lures and +fishing items to temporarily raise your fishing skill so that you have a higher fishing level.

Lures: It's extremely important to use lures throughout this guide. In fact there are many spots in this guide (and even in game after you reach 450) that cannot be efficiently fished without the use of a lure.

I recommend using the highest level lure that you can while you use this guide. Lures are commonly found at fishing supply vendors and other trade vendors. To use lures you simply right click one and left click your fishing pole to apply it. Below is a chart of lures.

+Fishing Gear: It's also a good idea to use any +fishing gear that you can while you are fishing; however, it's not a requirement. I recommend at least buying a "Strong Fishing Pole" which is equipable after you reach level 10 fishing skill and will increase you fishing by +5. This item is found at many fishing supply vendors.

Leveling: If you have never fished before you might find the following information useful. When you first start fishing you will skill up just about every single successful catch; however, the higher you skill up the more catches it will take to get a single skill up. By the end of the guide you need over ten successful catches just to gain one skill point.

How to Fish: To fish you must equip your fishing pole in your primary weapon spot and then click the "Fishing" button in your spellbook. You may pull the button over to one of your action bars to make it easier and of course you must cast into water.

Cooking Tips

Cooking is fairly simply and the only tip I used to have was to buy "Flint and Tinder" from a general goods vendor so that you could make campfires and cook your fish over the fires. However, with patch 3.1.0 Blizzard removed this requirement, so you don't even need the "Flint and Tinder" anymore! If you've never made a campfire don't worry, it's simple. Just click the "Basic Campfire" button in your spellbook and you have made fire.

What to Do Before you Start the Guide

Clear Your Inventory: You'll need a lot of bag space to hold fish, recipes, lures, spices, and other items so it's really important to free up a lot of bag space before you head out.

Buy Supplies: Here is a list of items that will be needed or come in handy for this guide. Please keep in mind that the amounts are just estimates and you may need more or less of certain items.

Buy Recipes

Here is a list of recipes and where you can buy them. Some recipes are sold by several vendors; however, I only listed the most practical ones for you to visit. Make sure you check the list to ensure that you are buying all the recipes that are available from a certain place. For example, there are several items that need to be bought in Booty Bay, make sure you buy them all before you leave.

Fishing and Cooking 1-450

Below you will find the 1-450 fishing guide. Good luck and remember that if you get sick of fishing (oh no!) and just want to buy cooking mats but need another way to make money besides fishing check out this Gold Guide.

Fishing 1-100 and Cooking 1-110

You will have to travel to a trainer to learn Journeyman Fishing and Journeyman Cook during this section of the guide (this can be done once you hit 50 or you can wait until you hit 75 for each skill).

Fishing 100-150 and Cooking 110-150

You could technically go straight ahead to Arathi Highlands and fish there if you have a lot of plus fishing since you will catch Raw Bristle Whisker Catfish there. However, without a lot of plus fishing you'll catch a lot of junk.

Fishing 150-225 and Cooking 150-255

Make sure you use a lure when casting here. Stay until you reach 225 fishing and 225 cooking. You might have more fish than it takes to level up to 225, if you do then keep them and save them for after you do the cooking quest and are able to level up past 225.

Cooking Quest at 225

Important: as of patch 3.1.0 you no longer have to do this quest in order to level your Cooking, can can still do it though and get the recipe "Clamlette Magnifique" if you choose to do so.

For this quest all of the quest items are obtainable before you actually receive the quest so just gather the items first and then go accept the quest and turn it in to save time. You will head to Tanaris and accept "Clamlette Surprise" from Dirge Quickcleave, located in the inn in Gadgetzan (you must be level 35 and have 225 cooking) and turn in your items and quest. You will have to collect 12 Giant Eggs, 10 Zesty Clam Meat, and 20 Alterac Swiss. Before you head out to farm these items you might want to check the Auction House for them first.

If you are Alliance buy the Alterac Swiss from Truk Wildbeard at Aerie Peak, The Hinterlands (main building with mailbox outside of it, take a right, you will be in a hallway and Truk is at the end of it in a room). If you are Horde buy the Alterac Swiss from Innkeeper Adegwa at Hammerfall, Arathi Highlands (in the inn).

To finish off the rest of the quest you will need to head to The Hinterlands (for both Horde and Alliance). Zesty Clam Meat is found within Big-mouth Clams that drop from the Saltwater Snapjaws (they are around levels 48-50). Giant Eggs can be looted off the the corpses of Owlbeasts (they are around levels 42-45).

The blue X shows where the Owlbeasts are located and the red Xs show where the Saltwater Snapjaws are located.

After you have collected the required number of items for the quest go to Dirge and accept and turn in the quest.

After you have successfully increased your skill cap to 300 use up the extra fish from before and you should be able to skill up to 255 (when the recipe turns gray). If not, no worries, the next area starts with fish that can be cooked at 225.

Fishing Quest at 225

Important: as of patch 3.1.0 you no longer have to do this quest in order to level your Fishing, can can still do it though and get a nice fishing pole if you choose to do so.

First you should venture to Dustwallow Marsh and get a fishing quest from Nat Pagle (directly west of the end dock at Theramore Isle, across the water). Once you get to Nat accept "Nat Pagle, Angler Extreme (you must be at least level 35 and have 225 fishing). You will have to fish for four different types of fish, once you are done return to Nat and you will receive a new fishing pole.

Feralas Ahi: Verdantis River, located in central Feralas
Misty Reed Mahi Mahi: Misty Reed Stand, located in the coast of Swamp of Sorrows
Sar'theris Striker: Located in the coast of Desolace
Savage Coast Blue Sailfin: The Savage Coast, located in the north coast of Stranglethorn Vale, from just south of Grom'gol Base Camp and north along the coastline until the zone ends

After you have finished the fishing quest and have successfully increased your skill cap to 300 go to Darrowmere Lake and fish until you reach 300 and cook the fish you have until you reach 295 (the recipe will turn gray).

Fishing 225-300 and Cooking 255 to 295

Depending on what time of day you are fishing here you will either catch Raw Sunscale Salmon or Raw Nightfin Snapper. Either will work to level up but the Nightfin will require Refreshing Spring Water to cook.

Fishing 300-350 and Cooking 295-325

For this area you will definitely want a lure and since this is a harder area to fish in I recommend that you only stay until you reach 300 cooking and then move on to Zangarmarsh as it is an easier zone to fish in. That being said, if you have a lot of plus fishing you can stay in Eastern Plaguelands and fish until 350 and cook until 325.

In this area it should be easier fishing than it was in Eastern Plaguelands as it is an easier zone to fish in for the current skill level you should have. Stay until you reach 325 cooking and 350 fishing.

Fishing 350-370 and Cooking 325-350

After you reach at least 350 fishing and 350 cooking you can head to Northrend and train at Vengeance Landing, Howling Fjord (for Horde) or Valgarde, Howling Fjord (for Alliance) or Dalaran (for Alliance and Horde). I suggest going to Dalaran because at 350 you should begin doing the Dalaran cooking dailies in order to earn Dalaran Cooking Awards to be able to purchase the final two recipes of the guide. While you can level up to 450 off of just one (Snapper Extreme) it will turn green and take a very long time to finish off. Visit your faction's cooking trainer in Dalaran to get the dailies and be sure to complete one each day to get the required 6 tokens to buy the recipes listed in the recipes list above. Also, be sure to train "Grilled Bonescale" and "Pickled Fangtooth" while at the trainers.

Fishing 370-430 and Cooking 350-425

For this section first make "Grilled Bonescale" and "Pickled Fangtooth". Next make "Snapper Extreme" from 415-425. Make sure to save the Glacial Salmon since you will use it in the next part of the guide. If you have problems fishing in Daggercap Bay because you are getting ganked then try to fish south a bit near a burning boat and glacier. Just be sure to fish in the inland waters and not the coast.

Fishing 430-450 and Cooking 425-450

For this section of the guide you will fish in Sholazar Basin for Nettlefish. These are found by simply fishing in the zone and there are also lots of schools of Nettlefish throughout the zone. Hopefully you have saved your Glacial Salmon since you will use it and Northern Spices, along with Rhino Meat to create Small Feasts to finish your cooking off at 450. I like to fish in River's Heart since there are lots of schools there but any inland water will work.