Fishing for Food and Supplies

A safe recovery pause

Fishing adds no combat risk while you cast into safe water. Use the pause to recover, build supplies, and slow the route after a difficult pull.

What the pool provides

Cooking fuel from Deviate Fish in the Barrens, Oily Blackmouth and Firefin Snapper in Hillsbrad and Wetlands, then Nightfin Snapper and Stonescale Eel at 50+. Catch, cook, and recover.
Stonescale Eel and Winter Squid sell in the late game. Oily Blackmouth also sells to Alchemists making Swiftness Potions.
A recovery pause after a difficult pull. Five minutes with the rod gives you time to rebuild before moving on.

Fish after the difficult pull

Fish after a near miss, during crowded launch periods, or when supplies are thin. A safe pause is part of a productive Hardcore route.

Routes with water nearby

Hunter and Druid fit Fishing naturally. Hunter uses Cooking to feed the pet. Druid passes Ashenvale, Stranglethorn, and Feralas, each with valuable pools on the leveling route. Stop when the water is already on your path.

The value of the pause

The fish are useful. The regular recovery pause is the reason to keep the rod.

By class

Class angles from this page

Druid

Barrens, Stranglethorn, and Feralas are already Druid travel territory. Each has cookable fish without a risky detour. Stop by the water when health or mana is low, then leave with food for the next stretch.

Hunter

Barrens Deviate Fish is fun food. Nightfin Soup supplies +8 mana per five, and fish that matches the pet’s diet keeps it happy. Fishing feeds Cooking, Cooking feeds the pet, and the pet helps keep the next pull under control.