WoW Classic Horde Fishing and Cooking Guide
When it comes to WoW Classic, fishing and cooking are two of the best extra jobs, especially for people who are on the Horde side. With these skills, raw fish can be turned into strong sources of health, buffs, and money for characters at any level. Because you have to be patient, a lot of players miss them, but the benefits are worth it. Fishing goes well with cooking in amazing ways, which makes it easy to support leveling, dungeon runs, and gold-making plans.
Why Fishing and Cooking Matter for Horde Adventurers
Cooking and fishing are important because they turn free time into work. The mixture helps make food that heals, improves stats, and increases the flow of gold to the Auction House. Many lower-level monsters drop low-quality things for gold, so a reliable cooking setup based on fish has been very helpful in keeping costs down. As you level up to Journeyman and Expert, these two secondary careers start to work well together.
As players level up, they often depend on food from vendors or random drops of loot, which doesn’t feel very exciting. Instead, catching fish in convenient places builds up a supply of materials that can be used to make foods that heal big amounts of health. You can get to level 300 in both fishing and cooking with this guide, so you won’t waste time or get lost.
Cooking and fishing are also useful skills for people who are going to battlegrounds, raids, or five-man dungeons. Being able to make buffs like Nightfin Soup or Poached Sunscale Salmon saves gold and makes the group more useful. Aside from being self-sufficient right away, this is one of the best ways to make sure of it.
| Skill Tier | Level Requirement | Skill Range | Trainer/Method |
|---|---|---|---|
| Apprentice | 5+ | 1–75 | Any major city trainer |
| Journeyman | 10+ | 75–150 | Any major city trainer |
| Expert | 20+ | 150–225 | Training books in specific locations |
| Artisan | 35+ | 225–300 | Quests in respective zones |
As the table shows, from the first cast to the Artisan ranks, fishing and cooking work well together. The main steps are getting recipes, fishing in areas that match your skill level, and cooking things that will make you money. Getting these goals met will give you a steady flow of money and buff items.
Early Steps: Level 1–75
You can practice fishing in newbie zones while working on low-level cooking recipes when you start at level 1. Beginning this early stage is the start of any Horde player’s career path. It starts in the capitals, where you can find trainers for both fishing and cooking, as well as basic things like the Fishing Pole and Bright Baubles.
Stonebull Lake in Mulgore is a great place to start. It’s popular with Tauren, but any Horde character ready to travel can get there. There are lots of groups of Raw Brilliant Smallfish and Longjaw Mud Snapper, which gives you a quick boost in skill points. If you want to fish until you have 75 skill points or at least 60 Raw Brilliant Smallfish, you should do so. For quick Cooking skill gains, the best strategy is to cook those fish right away. Apprentice Cooking gets you to level 75, which is the same level as the Fishing advancement. This makes sure that every meal made directly adds to leveling and can also be used as free food.
| Recipe Name | Purchase Location | Ingredients Needed |
|---|---|---|
| Brilliant Smallfish | Lizbeth Cromwell (Undercity) Sewa Mistrunner (Thunder Bluff) |
1 Raw Brilliant Smallfish |
| Longjaw Mud Snapper | Naal Mistrunner (Thunder Bluff) | 1 Raw Longjaw Mud Snapper |
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These early recipes give you the tools you need to improve your cooking skills while you practice casting for fish. As soon as you reach level 75 in both skills, you can train to become a Journeyman and move on to more lucrative waters. It’s important to always have a stack of Bright Baubles or another lure on hand. These lures increase the number of fish that are caught and lessen the pain of losing fish early on.
Journeyman Path: Level 75–150
When both Fishing and Cooking reach level 50 and the character’s general level reaches 10 or higher, they move up to the Journeyman tier. New recipes can be found at this stage, and it goes to the next great fishing spot in the Hillsbrad Foothills, which is just east of Tarren Mill. A lot of people like this spot because it always has Bristle Whisker Catfish.
The trip to Tarren Mill is a great chance to get better at it, and the river near the eastern side is known for having reliable catches. A good amount of fish will have been caught and prepared for cooking by the time Fishing hits level 150. It’s easy to get to level 150 in Cooking when you mix the extra Longjaw Mud Snapper with the fresh catfish. It’s also possible to fight other players in this area on some servers, since Hillsbrad Foothills is a disputed zone. It’s best to be aware of your surroundings, especially when you’re near great fishing spots along the riverbanks. If there is a fight, it is smart to store fish in the bank or finish cooking in a safer area.
- Visit trainers in big Horde towns to learn how to become a Journeyman Cook and Fisherman.
- You can fish along the river east of Tarren Mill in Hillsbrad Foothills.
- Get Bristle Whisker Catfish to raise your cooking level from 100 to 150.
- To keep the catch rate high, keep extra lures like Bright Baubles on hand.
It’s easy to move from low-level to mid-level cooking things if you follow these tips. Cooking skill gains stay the same, and since fishing and cooking can be done in the same place, time is saved.
Expert Path: Level 150–225
You need to read certain books and move a bit to reach Expert Fishing and Cooking. At level 20, you can buy the Expert Cookbook in Shadowprey Village (Desolace) and Expert Fishing – The Bass and You in Booty Bay. Before you go on the trip, you should have at least two gold pieces.
Once the training books are bought, the area around Stromgarde Keep in the Arathi Highlands is a great place to get 150–225 in fishing. There are a lot of Mithril Head Trout caught in this moat area, which is enough to raise Cooking well to 225. Alliance players could mess with PvP sites in this area, so it’s best to be careful. The amount of Mithril Head Trout available should be sufficient for 225 in Cooking after fishing the ditch to level 225. Checking the Auction House for more fish is a choice if needed, but most of the time, one session is enough.
| Item/Task | Location/Source | Approx. Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Expert Fishing Book | Old Man Hemming (Booty Bay) | 1g |
| Expert Cookbook | Wulan (Shadowprey Village) | 1g |
| Mithril Head Trout Recipe | Wulan or Kelsey Yance | Varies |
If you have these things, it will be easy to get to 225 in both skills. A lot of players find it useful to get a few other recipes in these areas. For now, though, trout is the main item for growth. In conclusion, this stage is a great way to get to the Artisan rank, which lets you use the final set of skills, which are 225–300.
Artisan Path: Level 225–300
To get to the Artisan level in Fishing and Cooking, you have to complete tasks given by certain NPCs. The Fishing quest can be given by Nat Pagle in Dustwallow Marsh, and the Cooking quest can be given by Dirge Quickcleave in Tanaris. Both need to be level 35, and you already need to be 225 at fishing and cooking.
The “Nat Pagle, Angler Extreme” quest tells players to catch four rare fish: the Feralas Ahi, the Sar’theris Striker, the Savage Coast Blue Sailfin, and the Misty Reed Mahi Mahi. You can find these fish in different areas, such as Feralas, Desolace, Stranglethorn Vale, and the Swamp of Sorrows. When you finish, you get Artisan Fishing.
For the “Clamlette Surprise” quest from Dirge Quickcleave, you need 12 Giant Eggs, 10 Zesty Clam Meat, and 20 Alterac Swiss. Most of the time, Rocs in Tanaris or Owlbeasts in the Hinterlands drop Giant Eggs. Snapjaw Turtles near Steamwheedle Port and Raventusk Village are where you can get Zesty Clam Meat. It’s easy to get the cheese from Innkeeper Pala in Thunder Bluff.
| Artisan Quest Requirements | Quest | Zone/NPC | Materials Needed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fishing | Nat Pagle, Angler Extreme | Nat Pagle (Dustwallow Marsh) | 4 Rare Fish from different zones |
| Cooking | Clamlette Surprise | Dirge Quickcleave (Tanaris) | 12 Giant Eggs, 10 Zesty Clam Meat, 20 Alterac Swiss |
The last part, from 225 to 300, is best done near Camp Mojache in Feralas. This is where you can catch a lot of useful fish, like Redgill, Nightfin, Sunscale Salmon, and Baked Salmon stuff. There are three people in Booty Bay, Steamwheedle Port, and Camp Mojache who can give you the recipes for these fish.
When you finish this part, your Fishing and Cooking skills will be at their highest level, and you’ll also be able to sell items on the Auction House for a profit. Items that are very popular, like Nightfin Soup, often sell for large amounts of gold, which can be used to buy pets or other upgrades.
Getting a Better Fishing Pole
If you want to catch fish in areas that are close to the highest skill levels, a fishing stick with more skill is a must. The Big Iron Fishing Pole and Nat Pagle’s Extreme Angler FC-5000 are two well-known rods for Horde players. For fishing in middle- to high-level water, both give a useful bonus to the skill.
Along Sar’theris Strand in Desolace, seafood traps drop the The Big Iron Fishing Pole. If you want to look through these traps, you should definitely use Elixir of Water Breathing. Because they drop at random, you’ll have to look for at least 30 minutes to find one. Alliance fishermen sometimes come to the area, so keep an eye out for possible PvP risks.
The quest from Katoom the Angler in Raventusk Village (Hinterlands) is another choice. Players get Nat Pagle’s Extreme Angler FC-5000 when they beat 15 Saltwater Snapjaws. Often, this quest can be finished faster than waiting for chance drops.
- The Big Iron Fishing Pole (+20 Fishing): In the shellfish traps at Sar’theris Strand in Desolace, you can find a Big Iron Fishing Pole that gives you 20 more fishing points.
- Nat Pagle’s Extreme Angler FC-5000 (+25 Fishing): This is the reward for Katoom the Angler’s quest in Raventusk Village.
Both poles are very useful for making sure that bigger fish are hooked quickly. Since the second rod gives you an extra 5 Fishing skill points over the first, many people go for that quest as soon as they reach level 44.
Final Thoughts on Horde Fishing and Cooking
If you get your Horde character to level 300 in both fishing and cooking, you can reliably make gold, make healing things, and get strong buffs. To become an Artisan, you must travel through Kalimdor and the Eastern Kingdoms, collect recipes, and complete the rare-fish task. It gets easier to level up and play with others with each step, and the character gets closer to having 300 skills.
Spending time on these side jobs will pay off big when the costs of mount training and advanced leveling come up. Also, catching your own fish, cooking delicious meals, and going into dungeons or raids with useful items gives you a sense of personal accomplishment. The way that Fishing and Cooking work together fits with the spirit of Vanilla WoW, which is all about being independent and interacting with other people.
A unique benefit comes from aiming for 300 in both Fishing and Cooking. This is especially true for people who like to take their time and do things the right way. You can make extra money by selling fish and cooked meals on the Auction House. The foods themselves are also good for you. To catch Longjaw Mud Snappers at Stonebull Lake and bake salmon below Camp Mojache, each step of the way contributes to a trip across Azeroth that is both enjoyable and memorable.
