Fishing takes noticeably longer to level than Cooking, so it makes sense to progress both secondary professions at the same time. This route moves through zones where most of the fish you catch can either be cooked immediately or saved for the next Cooking bracket. Less extra farming, fewer Auction House purchases.
This WoW Forever Fishing and Cooking guide covers the complete Horde and Alliance route from 1 to 300, which recipes to buy before each stage, what fish should be saved, the Expert and Artisan unlocks, the Nat Pagle fishing quest, and the final Feralas section used to finish both professions.
You do not need much to get started: a fishing pole, a few lures, several vendor recipes, and whatever fish you catch along the route. Put a Shiny Bauble on your pole early. If a Fishing Supply vendor happens to have Aquadynamic Fish Attractor in stock, buy one or two and keep them for the higher-skill zones.
The Horde and Alliance paths differ during the early and middle stages. Later, both routes come together in Dustwallow Marsh, Tanaris, and finally Feralas.
Cooking fish too early can break the route and force extra fishing or Auction House purchases later. Several catches are deliberately saved for higher Cooking brackets.
| Item / Recipe | When You Need It | Where to Get It |
|---|---|---|
| Fishing Pole | Alliance starter route | Tharynn Bouden in Goldshire |
| Strong Fishing Pole | Horde starter route / Alliance at 75+ | Harn Longcast in Bloodhoof Village / Catherine Leland in Stormwind |
| Shiny Bauble | Early Fishing | Buy several from the same Fishing Supply vendor |
| Aquadynamic Fish Attractor | Higher Fishing zones | Optional early purchase if the vendor has it |
| Recipe: Brilliant Smallfish | Cooking 1-50 | Harn Longcast / Tharynn Bouden |
| Recipe: Longjaw Mud Snapper | Cooking 50-100 | Harn Longcast / Tharynn Bouden |
| Fishing | Zone | Cooking | Main Goal |
|---|---|---|---|
| Start - 75 | Starting zone | 0 - 1 | Catch mostly Raw Brilliant Smallfish; learn Journeyman Fishing. |
| 75 - 130 | Thunder Bluff / Stormwind | 1 - 100 | Cook Brilliant Smallfish, then Longjaw Mud Snapper. |
| 130 - 205 | Stonetalon Mountains / Mystral Lake | 100 - ~175 | Buy Expert books and cook Bristle Whisker Catfish. |
| 205 - 225 | Dustwallow Marsh | ~175 | Fish inland water until Artisan Fishing quest unlock. |
| 225 - 255 | Dustwallow Marsh | 175 - 225 | Complete Nat Pagle quest, then cook Mithril Head Trout. |
| 255 - 300 | Feralas | 225 - 300 | Finish with Redgill, Nightfin, Sunscale, and optional Baked Salmon. |
Start with the faction route below. At this stage, the job is simply to reach Fishing 75 and stock up on the first fish needed for Cooking.
| Step | Horde Route |
|---|---|
| 1 | Go to Bloodhoof Village in Mulgore and learn Cooking from Pyall Silentstride. |
| 2 | Buy Recipe: Brilliant Smallfish and Recipe: Longjaw Mud Snapper from Harn Longcast. |
| 3 | Buy a Strong Fishing Pole and Shiny Bauble. If 1-2 Aquadynamic Fish Attractor are available, buy them now and save them. |
| 4 | Learn Fishing from Uthan Stillwater. |
| 5 | Equip the pole, apply Shiny Bauble, and fish in Stonebull Lake until Fishing 75. Expect roughly 60 Raw Brilliant Smallfish plus some Raw Longjaw Mud Snapper. |
| 6 | Learn Journeyman Fishing from Uthan Stillwater. |
| Step | Alliance Route |
|---|---|
| 1 | Go to Goldshire and learn Cooking from Tomas inside the Lion's Pride Inn kitchen. |
| 2 | Buy Recipe: Brilliant Smallfish and Recipe: Longjaw Mud Snapper from Tharynn Bouden. |
| 3 | Buy a Fishing Pole and Shiny Bauble. If 1-2 Aquadynamic Fish Attractor are available, buy them and keep them for later. |
| 4 | Learn Fishing from Lee Brown at the lake east of Goldshire. |
| 5 | Fish in a lake near Goldshire until Fishing 75. Expect roughly 60 Raw Brilliant Smallfish plus some Raw Longjaw Mud Snapper. |
| 6 | Learn Journeyman Fishing from Lee Brown. |
From Fishing 75 to 130, Horde and Alliance follow different city routes, but both work toward the same goal: building enough fish for Cooking 1-100 while preparing the next recipe bracket. Use the faction section below, keep the fish listed for later Cooking steps, and avoid selling anything the route still needs.
Fish in the pond near the Thunder Bluff Auction House until Fishing 130. The route expects about 20 Raw Brilliant Smallfish, 60 Raw Longjaw Mud Snapper, and 30 Raw Bristle Whisker Catfish. Before leaving Thunder Bluff, buy Recipe: Bristle Whisker Catfish from Naal Mistrunner.
Find Catherine Leland and buy Recipe: Bristle Whisker Catfish along with a Strong Fishing Pole. Then buy 20 Alterac Swiss from Ben Trias and keep it for Artisan Cooking. Fish in the Stormwind canals until Fishing 130. Your catch should be similar to the Horde route.
| Cooking Skill | Recipe | What to Do |
|---|---|---|
| 1-50 | Recipe: Brilliant Smallfish | Cook your Raw Brilliant Smallfish until Cooking 50. |
| 50-100 | Recipe: Longjaw Mud Snapper | Learn Journeyman Cooking, then cook Raw Longjaw Mud Snapper until around 100. |
If Longjaw Mud Snapper does not take you all the way to 100, do not worry about forcing extra crafts. Continue with the route. You will catch more later.
Before moving into the next fishing zone, both factions should make a stop in Booty Bay.
| Step | Booty Bay |
|---|---|
| 1 | Buy Expert Fishing - The Bass and You from Old Man Heming and read it. Expert Fishing requires character level 20 and Fishing 125. |
| 2 | Buy Recipe: Mithril Head Trout and Recipe: Filet of Redgill from Kelsey Yance. |
Fly to Sun Rock Retreat and fish open water in Stonetalon Mountains until Fishing 205. The source route expects roughly 95 Raw Longjaw Mud Snapper and 145 Raw Bristle Whisker Catfish.
After that, fly to Shadowprey Village in Desolace. Buy the Expert Cookbook from Wulan. If you still do not have the 20 Alterac Swiss needed later, buy them from Innkeeper Sikewa now.
Fly to Astranaar, ride south-east to Mystral Lake, and buy the Expert Cookbook from Shandrina. Fish open water at Mystral Lake until Fishing 205. Expect roughly 95 Raw Longjaw Mud Snapper and 145 Raw Bristle Whisker Catfish.
It is completely fine if Bristle Whisker Catfish does not get you all the way to 175. More will be caught during the next part of the route.
Head to Dustwallow Marsh and fish in inland open water until Fishing 225. For this part, avoid the ocean.
At Fishing 225 and character level 35, find Nat Pagle in Tidefury Cove and accept Nat Pagle, Angler Extreme. Completing this quest unlocks Artisan Fishing.
| Quest Fish | Zone |
|---|---|
| Feralas Ahi | Feralas |
| Misty Reed Mahi Mahi | Swamp of Sorrows |
| Sar'theris Striker | Desolace |
| Savage Coast Blue Sailfin | Stranglethorn Vale |
The Artisan Fishing step is a major time sink if you arrive unprepared. The quest sends you through four zones, and missed lures or wrong fishing locations can add a lot of travel and failed casts.
Once Nat Pagle's quest is finished, return to Dustwallow Marsh and continue fishing inland water until Fishing 255.
At character level 35 and Cooking 225, fly to Gadgetzan and take Clamlette Surprise from Dirge Quikcleave. Finish the quest to unlock Artisan Cooking.
| Quest Material | Amount | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Giant Egg | 12 | Dropped by Rocs in Tanaris |
| Zesty Clam Meat | 10 | Dropped by Steeljaw Snappers in Tanaris |
| Alterac Swiss | 20 | Purchased earlier in Stormwind or Desolace |
While you are already in Tanaris, find Gikkix and buy Recipe: Nightfin Soup, Recipe: Poached Sunscale Salmon, and Recipe: Spotted Yellowtail.
| Step | Final Fishing Route |
|---|---|
| 1 | Fly to Camp Mojache (Horde) or Feathermoon Stronghold (Alliance). |
| 2 | Buy Recipe: Baked Salmon from Sheendra Tallgrass (Horde) or Vivianna (Alliance). |
| 3 | Fish inland water in Feralas until Fishing 300. The source route excludes Jademir Lake. |
| 4 | Use lures if fish are getting away. |
| Cooking Skill | What to Cook |
|---|---|
| 225-250 | Cook remaining Raw Mithril Head Trout, then learn Recipe: Filet of Redgill and cook your Raw Redgill. |
| 250-300 | Learn Recipe: Nightfin Soup and Recipe: Poached Sunscale Salmon, then cook your Raw Nightfin Snapper and Raw Sunscale Salmon. |
| 275+ optional | If you caught Raw Whitescale Salmon, learn Recipe: Baked Salmon and use it for additional skill-ups. |
If the fish collected along the route are not quite enough to reach Cooking 300, fish in Feralas a little longer or buy the missing fish from the Auction House.
Level both professions together and cook the fish caught on the route instead of farming separate Cooking materials. Start in your faction's early fishing zone, move through Thunder Bluff or Stormwind, unlock Expert Fishing and Cooking, complete both Artisan unlocks, then finish Fishing and Cooking in Feralas.
Buy a Fishing Pole or Strong Fishing Pole, several Shiny Bauble lures, Recipe: Brilliant Smallfish, and Recipe: Longjaw Mud Snapper.
Train Journeyman Fishing at Fishing 50 and character level 10. Horde players following this route can return to Uthan Stillwater in Bloodhoof Village, while Alliance players can use Lee Brown near Goldshire.
Journeyman Cooking is learned from a standard Cooking trainer at Cooking 50 and character level 10. On this route, Horde can use Pyall Silentstride in Bloodhoof Village, while Alliance can use Tomas in Goldshire.
At Fishing 125 and character level 20, buy Expert Fishing - The Bass and You from Old Man Heming in Booty Bay and read it.
At Cooking 125 and character level 20, use the Expert Cookbook. Horde buy it from Wulan in Shadowprey Village, Desolace; Alliance buy it from Shandrina near Mystral Lake, Ashenvale.
Reach character level 35 and Fishing 225, then complete Nat Pagle, Angler Extreme from Nat Pagle in Dustwallow Marsh. The quest requires four special fish from Feralas, Swamp of Sorrows, Desolace, and Stranglethorn Vale.
Reach character level 35 and Cooking 225, then complete Clamlette Surprise in Gadgetzan using 12 Giant Egg, 10 Zesty Clam Meat, and 20 Alterac Swiss.
Finish Fishing in inland water in Feralas. The route uses Camp Mojache for Horde and Feathermoon Stronghold for Alliance, and specifically avoids Jademir Lake.
Use remaining Raw Mithril Head Trout and Raw Redgill from 225-250. From 250 onward, use Raw Nightfin Snapper and Raw Sunscale Salmon. At 275, Raw Whitescale Salmon can be used with Baked Salmon if available.
