Fishing Achievements and You: A Guide

[Annoying]

Welcome!
I had originally planned to put this in the Cata profession section I was moderating, but alas, times be changing.
Late is better than never, here we go!

Easy or Free (essentially):
The following achievements were easy enough to complete either through sheer simplicity or through perseverance and are considered by me to be "easy". This doesn't mean they are quick to do, only that they aren't complex to understand or obtain. Thus, not much explanation will be given, just a brief synopsis.

The Old Gnome and the Sea
Successfully fish from a school.
Rewards:
10
Synopsis: Easy as pie. You get this from fishing from any pool. Go on, do it. I dare you.

1000 Fish
Fish up 1000 items.
Rewards:
60
Synopsis: Easy in that it will happen on it's own, no strings attached.

Illustrious Grand Master Fisherman
Obtain 525 skill points in fishing.
Rewards:
60
Synopsis: Obtained relatively easily. Just fish until your eyes melt out of your brain and eventually you'll be done leveling it.

The Fishing Diplomat
Fish something up in Orgrimmar and Stormwind.
Rewards:
10
Synopsis: Simply head to Org and then Stormwind or vice versa and enjoy your achievement.

Moderately Difficult:
The following achievements require a bit of explanation or discussion in order to fully understand everything about them.
Old Man Barlowned
Complete each of Old Man Barlo's 5 fishing daily quests listed below.
Rewards:
10
Synopsis:
Complete the 5 following quests:
Crocolisks in the City
Felblood Fillet
Shrimpin' Ain't Easy
Bait Bandits
The One That Got Away
I recommend doing them more than once each. The bag's contents can be found here for Crocolisks in the City, and here for the rest.
Notable rewards are the 4 croc pets, the ultra-useful Weather-Beaten Fishing Hat, the Spun Truesilver Fishing Line (+3 fishing to rod), and Recipe: Captain Rumsey's Lager needed for cooking.
Also drops Weather-Beaten Journal, which is needed for Fish Don't Leave Footprints


Chasing Marcia
Complete each of Marcia Chase's 5 fishing daily quests listed below.
10
Synopsis:
Much like the previous achievement, complete the 5 following quests. I recommend them every day even after the achievement:
The Ghostfish
Dangerously Delicious
Disarmed!
Jewel Of The Sewers
Blood Is Thicker
Notable rewards are the Strand Crawler pet, the Weather-Beaten Fishing Hat, Bone Fishing Pole, Jeweled Fishing Pole, High Test Eternium Fishing Line (+5 fishing to rod!), and Recipe: Captain Rumsey's Lager.

Fish or Cut Bait
Complete each of the Stormwind/Orgrimmar fishing daily quests.
Rewards:
10
Synopsis:
Again, complete the 5 following quests. I recommend them daily, as they will level you up and offer amazing rewards:
Alliance:
Hitting a Walleye
Rock Lobster
Thunder Falls
Diggin' For Worms
Big Gulp

Horde:
Clammy Hands
A Staggering Effort
A Golden Opportunity
No Dumping Allowed
A Furious Catch
Notable rewards are the Strand Crawler pet and the Weather-Beaten Fishing Hat, as well as +1 skill to fishing for free.

Old Crafty
Fish up Old Crafty in Orgrimmar.
Rewards:
10
Synopsis: Due to Org's relatively easy fishing (if you're horde), this one is simple, but requires time and luck for the drop. Unless you're alliance, unto which it can be frustrating and tiring to complete.

Old Ironjaw
Fish up Old Ironjaw in Ironforge.
Rewards:
10
Synopsis: Much like the last one, this one is simple, but requires time and luck for the drop. Unless you're horde, unto which it can be frustrating and tiring to complete.

Outland Angler
Catch a fish in each of the specific nodes listed below.
Rewards:
10
Synopsis: Pretty simple, just time consuming. Fish from the following pools (click for info on finding them):
Brackish Mixed School
Mudfish School
Highland Mixed School
Bluefish School
School of Darter
Sporefish School

Northrend Angler
Catch a fish in each of the specific nodes listed below.
Rewards:
10
Synopsis: Pretty much the same as before with outland. Fish from the following pools (click for info on finding them):
Borean Man O' War School
Dragonfin Angelfish School
Glacial Salmon School
Imperial Manta Ray School
Musselback Sculpin School
Deep Sea Monsterbelly School
Fangtooth Herring School
Glassfin Minnow School
Moonglow Cuttlefish School
Nettlefish School

A Penny For Your Thoughts
Fish up the copper coins listed below from the Dalaran fountain.
10
Synopsis: Not difficult, just time consuming. Fish from the Dalaran fountaing (near the south bank) until you have every coin. Gold coins can be thrown back for a "better chance" at getting coins.

Silver in the City
Fish up the silver coins listed below from the Dalaran fountain.
Rewards:
10
Synopsis: Not difficult, just time consuming. Fish from the Dalaran fountaing (near the south bank) until you have every coin. Gold coins can be thrown back for a "better chance" at getting coins.

There's Gold In That There Fountain
Fish up the gold coins listed below from the Dalaran fountain.
Rewards:
10
Synopsis: Not difficult, just time consuming. Fish from the Dalaran fountaing (near the south bank) until you have every coin. Gold coins can be thrown back for a "better chance" at getting coins.

The Coin Master
Complete the coin fishing achievements listed below.
Rewards:
10, Item: Titanium Seal of Dalaran
Synopsis: This is what you get for finding all of the coins listed in the last 3 achievements. The Titanium Seal of Dalaran is pretty nifty, in that it gives you a sweet way to decide heads or tails if you're bored.

The Lurker Above
Fish up The Lurker Below in Serpentshrine Cavern.
Rewards:
10
Synopsis: Requires you to fish up the Lurker Below in Serpentshrine, located in Zangarmarsh, Outland. This will require a raid to get into, and probably help getting to. TLB is the 2nd boss, and hydross is skippable, however all trash is probably not skippable and you'll need a few friends to clear this for you.
Check here for info if you feel like defeating TLB after fishing him up.

The Scavenger
Successfully fish in each of the junk nodes listed below.
Rewards:
10
Synopsis: "junk" nodes are essentially rarespawn nodes that would normally be something else, but instead look like a pile of wood. These nodes have a significantly higher chance to drop the Weather-Beaten Journal, needed for the next achievement.
Steam Pump Flotsam - Zangarmarsh
Schooner Wreckage - Northern Stranglethorn, Ashenvale, Hillsbrad Foothills, Wetlands, Stonetalon Mountains
Floating Wreckage - Blasted Lands, Swamp of Sorrows, Tanaris, Thousand Needles, Eastern Plaguelands
Bloodsail Wreckage - Stranglethorn Vale
Waterlogged Wreckage - Arathi Highlands, Desolace, Dustwallow Marsh, Feralas, Hillsbrad Foothills, Western Plaguelands

Fish Don't Leave Footprints
Learn the ability to find fish.
Rewards:
10
Synopsis: Ahhh, good ol' tracking fish. Obtain the Weather-Beaten Journal in one of the following ways:
- Fishing from "junk" nodes as listed before.
- Completing outland daily fishing quests.


Extremely Difficult/Luck Based:
I Smell A Giant Rat
Fish up the Giant Sewer Rat from The Underbelly in Dalaran.
Rewards:
10
Synopsis: This is actually simple to obtain, however, I had logged roughly 10,000 casts into the sewers of Dalaran before obtaining this. If you're lucky, it won't take you that long, but be prepaired for a long grind.

Master Angler of Azeroth
Win the Booty Bay fishing contest or the Kalu'ak Fishing Derby.
Rewards:
20
Item: Arcanite Fishing Pole or Hook of the Master Angler (Booty Bay)
Item: Dread Pirate Ring or Boots of the Bay (Kalu'ak)
Synopsis: Ahh the famed Master Angler. This achievement is awarded a max of twice a week to anyone on your server. Those who win one of the two contests get this as well as the stated rewards. I recommend looking at the following guide if you're serious about getting this:
El's Extreme Anglin' - World of Warcraft Fishing Guide // Contests

Mr. Pinchy's Magical Crawdad Box
Fish your way to Mr. Pinchy's Magical Crawdad Box.
Rewards:
10
Synopsis: Oh Mr. Pinchy. So cute, SO FURIOUS. This takes some time, and a drop doesn't guarantee the pet, only a chance at the pet and achievement. Check out this guide for help and strategy obtaining Mr. Pinchy:
Catching Furious Crawdad and Mr. Pinchy

One That Didn't Get Away
Catch one of the rare fish in the list below.
Rewards:
10
Synopsis: Obtain one of many rare fish from numerous pools in Azeroth/Outland/Northrend. Gude here:
One That Didn't Get Away

The Limnologist
Catch 48 different freshwater fish.
Rewards:
10
Synopsis: Catch at least one of every single freshwater (inland) fish. Guide here:
The Limnologist

The Oceanographer
Catch 33 different saltwater fish.
Rewards:
10
Synopsis: Catch at least one of every single ocean (coastal) fish. Guide here:
The Oceanographer

Turtles All the Way Down
Fish up a Sea Turtle mount from any fishing pool in Northrend or Cataclysm zones.
Rewards:
10
Synopsis: The rare turtle mount, fished from northrend pools. This can take anywhere from 5 pools (if you're lucky like me) to thousands of pools. Get comfy, and get your lucky rabbit's foot ready!

The Meta:
Accomplished Angler
Complete the fishing achievements listed below.
Rewards:
10, Title: Salty <Name>
Synopsis: The salty title is obtained from this meta. It requires the following achievements:
Grand Master Fisherman
The Scavenger
Master Angler of Azeroth
One That Didn't Get Away
The Lurker Above
Northrend Angler
1000 Fish
The Old Gnome and the Sea
The Fishing Diplomat
Mr. Pinchy's Magical Crawdad Box
Old Man Barlowned
Outland Angler
Fish Don't Leave Footprints
The Coin Master

All of which are discussed previously.

APPENDIX:
Fishing Gear:
Every single fishing item can be found here:
http://www.elsanglin.com/fishing_gear.html
Poles:
Every Fishing pole can be found here:
http://www.elsanglin.com/poles.html
Lures:
A full list of lures can be found here:
http://www.elsanglin.com/lures.html

The best possible fishing set:
The following set obtains the highest +fishing obtainable, with a net (lured) fishing of 755 (705 without the Extremely hard to obtain Underbelly buff):
Rod: Arcanite Fishing Pole (+40)
Rod Enchant: High Test Eternium Fishing Line (+5)
Boots: Boots of the Bay (+15)
Glove Enchant: Enchant Gloves - Angler (+5)
Helm: Weather-Beaten Fishing Hat (+5)
Lure: Aquadynamic Fish Attractor, Heat-Treated Spinning Lure, Sharpened Fish Hook, or Glow Worm (+100)
Drink: Captain Rumsey's Lager (+10)
Optional Buff: Underbelly Elixir (Hungry Tuskarr) (+50)

Fishing Mechanics:
Previously, you couldn't even fish in an area if your skill wasn't high enough. This is no longer the case, and only a fishing skill of 1 is required to fish anywhere. This doesn't mean you have a good chance of catching anything useful, however. Certain breakpoints are still required to prevent "junk" from dropping instead of useful fish. See the following quote:

* The Cape of Stranglethorn (225 fishing skill to prevent junk - shown "Stranglethorn Vale" in the graph)
* Tanaris (300 fishing skill to prevent junk)
* The Frozen Sea (575 fishing skill to prevent junk)

See El's Analysis for more crazy in depth discussion.

Sources:
http://www.wowhead.com
http://www.elsanglin.com
My brain.

Credits:
Arkwhelm - Pointed out that "Turtles All the Way Down" is completable in Cata pools as well.

[Catdancing]

I disagree with

Illustrious Grand Master Fisherman
Obtain 525 skill points in fishing.
Rewards:
60
Synopsis: Obtained relatively easily. Just fish until your eyes melt out of your brain and eventually you'll be done leveling it.

only because by completing the daily fishing quest in org / stormwind you get +1 to fishing. So lvling fishing up became a lot less time consuming than before.

Other than that? great lvling guide. I specialy liked the links to where you can get the fish for some of the achivements . And I'd like to thank you for having taken the time and posting it for us

<edit to ask: can you please put it as a sticky? this way its always easy to find>

[Annoying]

It still takes quite a bit of time, but I put it in easy because of that and the fact that if you go for any other achievements, you're pretty much going to be at or near max by the time you get them all. I'll ask one of the moderators of this board if they want to sticky it or link it in a separate sticky.

[Healingsara]

Great guide. My only point would be:

The Lurker Above
Fish up The Lurker Below in Serpentshrine Cavern.
Rewards:
10
Synopsis: Requires you to fish up the Lurker Below in Serpentshrine, located in Zangarmarsh, Outland. This will require a raid to get into, and probably help getting to. TLB is the 2nd boss, and hydross is skippable, however all trash is probably not skippable and you'll need a few friends to clear this for you.

This is very easy to skip all trash and solo it (though you still need to be in a raid group to get in). Requires your water walking/levitate ability or elixir, jump off the edge and run to the spot across the water.

[Arkwhelm]

Turtles All the Way Down
Fish up a Sea Turtle mount from any fishing pool in Northrend
Rewards:
10
Synopsis: The rare turtle mount, fished from northrend pools. This can take anywhere from 5 pools (if you're lucky like me) to thousands of pools. Get comfy, and get your lucky rabbit's foot ready!

Also available from fishing pools in the new Cata areas.

[Sastank]

Great guide. My only point would be:



This is very easy to skip all trash and solo it (though you still need to be in a raid group to get in). Requires your water walking/levitate ability or elixir, jump off the edge and run to the spot across the water.

What about the fish in the water that will eat you alive and knock you down into the water? :O

[Healingsara]

What about the fish in the water that will eat you alive and knock you down into the water? :O

Oops, forgot to mention you'll need some slow fall ability as well (heaps of options here.) If you look at the wowhead achievement page this has been proven to work. http://www.wowhead.com/achievement=144#comments

[Allera]

nice guide, thank you

[Alski]

What about the fish in the water that will eat you alive and knock you down into the water? :O

if your 80+ you can just kill them all. If you in there at 70 you better be a druid :P

[Zheryn]

Turtles All the Way Down works with fishing pool outside of Northrend too btw, I got mine a few days ago from Uldum.

[etnye]

Turtles All the Way Down killing me... others done

[falconpawnch]

Very good post. Although easily understood, many people still require assistance with the achievements.

[Pfeff]

For Horde trying to catch Ironjaw...

If you go into that big forge lava thing in IF, there are a few spots where you can stand above the lava on the wall and fish in the lava. Alliance can only attack you if they jump into the lava pool of death

[Runesavan]

great guide thanks

[Kidder]

awsome guide thanks!

[Yrret]

Nice guide!

On the Luker...I jumped down in Cat form (Feline Grace) with water-walking potion already up and didn't aggro the fish...<shrug>

As for "One that didn't get away"?

@#$%$^@%$^#! It HATES me!! lol

[misaell21]

great guide! I've tried do all these achievements, but always stop at the middle.

[44thsavage]

What about the fish in the water that will eat you alive and knock you down into the water? :O

you dont even have to kill them, I soloed it at lvl 70, well there was a friend with me for the fun of it, the way I did it was skip the first trash by using an invis potion that I made with alchemy, and run to a place where you can step in the water without jumping off. then I casted waterwalking as I am a shaman, the fishes dont attack if your not IN the water. was a fun thing to do!

[Delaios]

Nice guide, but you can remove the "amazing rewards" from the Stormwind/Orgrimmar fishing dailies. Getting a few copper in cash, a junk item worth a few silver and a potion every now and then isn't exactly amazing. The only notable loot it has are fishing rods, the fishing hat and the Strandcrawler, all with a very low drop chance.
The quests are very nice for levelling fishing though.

[wrstark]

I hate farming for fishing achievements....