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This topic documents changes to fishing introduced by patch 2.3. It is written Out Of Character. Last major update 16 November 2007, originally based on Public Test Realm. On this page:

Crescent-Tail Skullfish and Bloodfin Catfish

Two new fish have been added, Crescent-Tail Skullfish and Bloodfin Catfish. Both can be caught from Deadwind Pass or the waters within the dungeon Zul'Aman. Based on a sample of 929 catches in the open water of Deadwind Pass, the percentage of the total catch was:

I fished across all four time periods, but found no tangible variation by time of day. Petre confirms similar proportions for both Deadwind Pass and Zul'Aman in a post on the official forums.

Bloodfin Catfish can be cooked to make Broiled Bloodfin, which give a +20 Stamina and +20 Spirit buff - identical to cooked Spotted Feltail. Crescent-Tail Skullfish can be cooked to make Skullfish Soup, which is the first cooked fish to offer a (plus 20) buff to Spell Critical Strike Rating. It also adds 20 Spirit, and restores 7200 mana.

Lightning Eel are now also used in the cooking recipe for Stormchops. Note that catch rates are lower in Deadwind Pass and Zul'Aman than in other areas containing Lightning Eel.

These new recipes can be obtained by completing the new daily cooking quests. These start from Rokk, who stands on the northern side of Shattrath's Lower City. Quests are straightforward, for example collecting Mana Berries or cooking Clefthoof Meat. At least two of the quests (for Kaliri Stew and Demon Broiled Surprise) require a flying mount to complete. Rokk offers a Barrel of Fish or Crate of Meat as a reward. The new recipes are sometimes found within these containers. The recipes are bound to the owner, so cannot be traded.

Base Skill Changes

A few subtle changes have been made to the the minimum skill required to cast. Known changes are:

Fish may now be caught in Ironforge: As with other capitals, Raw Brilliant Smallfish, Raw Bristle Whisker Catfish and Raw Longjaw Mud Snapper.

Tracking Journal

Minimap with Find Fish ability active.

Drysc (Blizzard) originally announced, "Fishermen, and Fisherladies, will be able to track fishing nodes, similar to herbalism and mining. The ability will be learned from a journal you can find in fished-up crates."

The new "Find Fish" ability is taught by a Weather-Beaten Journal. The ability makes "nearby fishing nodes appear on the minimap" - just like tracking abilities for minerals and herbs. The journal binds when picked up, so cannot be traded (unless the original crate is traded and the journal remains unseen). A fishing skill of 100 is required to learn the ability. The picture shows the ability being used to highlight the location of nearby pools. The only pools the ability does not show are Schools of Tastyfish, found during the Stranglethorn Extravaganza (likely a bug).

The table below summarises the crate types Weather-Beaten Journals can be found in. Sample catch sizes are very low, so read the results with caution. Once you have a journal in your inventory, or have learnt the Find Fish ability, you will no longer be able to find journals within crates. However, you may still be able to catch journals, as described here. All the tests were done by destroying journals as soon as they were found.

Crates with Weather-Beaten Journal
CrateSample catchesPercentage of crates with Weather-Beaten Journal
Curious Crate3043%
Heavy Supply Crate4311%
Iron Bound Trunk2811%
Mithril Bound Trunk3821%
Watertight Trunk2825%

Thanks to Graargh for confirming Heavy Supply Crates as a source. Tightly Sealed Trunk very rarely contain journals (thanks Thayer). Coastal lock-boxes were not tested.

Curious Crates seem to give the best catch rate, with almost half of all crates containing a Weather-Beaten Journal. Curious Crates are caught from any pool in Outland - about 4% of the catch (this may have been increased slightly, since I got 7-8% on the test server, however the sample is very small so prone to error). No pools primarily contain Curious Crates, which means that if you specifically want a journal, it may be easier to fish the pools of wreckage in Azeroth containing Iron Bound, Mithril Bound or Watertight Trunks.

For those with little fishing skill, the easiest source of journals are Watertight Trunks, which are found in floating wreckage pools in Ashenvale, Hillsbrad Foothills, Stonetalon Mountains and Wetlands. All these areas requiring just 55 skill to cast, 150 to stop get-aways. Experienced fishermen and women should find a journal easily, while fishing pools for other fish - they aren't terribly rare!

Other Changes

Steam Pump Flotsam pools in Zangarmarsh now rarely contain a Strange Engine Part - "It reads 'Capissen 38' on the bottom". Each part starts a quest (level 55+ required). For Alliance, simply deliver the Strange Engine Part to K. Lee Smallfry in Telredor for 2g 20s (or 9g 79s at level 70). (Another subtle reference to Firefly/Serenity: "Don't ride in anything with a Capissen 38 engine, they fall right out of the sky." - a quote from Serenity's engineer, Kaylee. Smallfry is a tribute to Kaylee.)

Crates caught from pools in Azeroth now seem to have a much higher chance than before of containing uncommon (green) weapons or other items of equipment.

At least two new uncommon off-hand fish have been added: Old Crafty and Old Ironjaw (thanks Khezed). These are caught only in Orgrimmar and Ironforge respectively. The item gives a +5 Stamina bonus when equipped, which is exceptionally high for an item that can be caught at level 5. The fish bind to the angler when caught, so cannot be traded. The catch rate is very low - probably down below 0.2% (1 in 500).

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