Verissi's Fishing Achievement Guide

[Waldonnis]

I'll only cover the fishing achievements that aren't obvious (I think we all know how to catch 1,000 fish) in this thread, but I'll happily add tips to achieving some of the others if needed. I've done all but a couple of them on beta and several on the live servers as well, so I've tried these techniques already myself and can confirm that they do work.

The Lurker Above

This achievement is completed when you fish up Lurker in Serpentshrine Cavern (Zangarmarsh, Coilfang Reservoir raid instance). Contrary to popular belief, this can be done completely by yourself and by any class, with three caveats: a) you will die, b) you will be saved to the instance (so if you have an SSC run later that week, be sure to go in first when that raid forms), and c) you need to be in a raid group with 10 other people at minimum to even gain entrance to the instance. Please be mindful of others and wait until you're outside of the instance before forming your group. Best tip that I can give is to group with others that also want the achievement, then just take turns going inside.

Getting to Lurker's "platform" is no easy task without clearing the trash mobs above and with the "fish that will kill you" in the water, but it can be done if you get a few important items.

Things you will need:

• Water walking elixirs - available from the fishing dailies, your local alchemist, or a friendly shaman.
  
• Something that lets you fall slowly - Parachute cloaks, Skyguard cloaks, the slow fall buff from Noggenfogger, even levitate or slow fall will work fine for this.
  • Note: Priests only need levitate to complete this (no need for the elixirs for them either).
    

The reason for the above items/abilities is that you need to safely land on top of the water and stay on top of the water while you run to Lurker's platform. If you go into the water, the fish will eat you quickly, so you want to avoid that at all costs.

Lurker's platform location is hard to describe, so I'll defer to other sources on that one (Wowwiki or BossKillers usually have excellent maps). Getting there with the above items/abilities is easy, however. Just use your water walking elixir/ability THEN slow fall down to the water using whatever ability or item available from the list above. Once you are at Lurker's platform, just fish from the Strange Pool until he shows his ugly mug

Deadliest Catch

Before attempting this, you need to do a couple of things before even trying to fish up the big hydra. First off, you need to have completed Nat Pagle's Measuring Tape (quest - starting point is the tackle box in Zul'Gurub). Once this has been completed, Nat Pagle (Dustwallow Marsh) will allow you to buy Mudskunk Lures from him for fishing up Gahz'ranka. You can bypass this by having someone who has completed this already purchase the lure for you (they are not soulbound, 1g cost).

Once you have the lure, simply form a raid group (one other person will do nicely), head into Zul'Gurub, and find some schools of Zulian Mudskunks (pools are named "Muddy Churning Waters"). You only need five mudskunks, but that will likely take 2-3 pools' worth of fishing and most pools will be located near fish and croc packs. Sadly, water walking doesn't work so well for this, but DOES work if you can avoid attracting attention from the fish. Please note that even at 70, the fish do have a decent-sized aggro radius, as do the crocs, but if you can keep the water walking going, you can fish from the pools without much problem. With five mudskunks in your inventory, simply go to Pagle's Point (northeast corner of the "river" in the centre; has tackle boxes and booze jugs laying around by the shore), equip your fishing pole, and use the mudskunk lure...then get out of dodge before Gahz whacks ya

Outland Angler

The pools are easy to find in Outland, but here's a short list:

• Brackish Mixed School - Zangarmarsh or Terokkar.
  
• Mudfish School - Nagrand
  
• Highland Mixed School - Terokkar (Skettis area or Lake Jorune)
  
• Bluefish School - Nagrand
  
• School of Darter - Terokkar (rivers)
  
• Sporefish School - Zangarmarsh
  

The Scavenger

Most of these are easy to find once you're in the right zone. There is an exception to this, but I'll go more into that below. There are often several zones that each of the wreckage types can be found in, but I'll list where I've reliably found them.

• Steam Pump Flotsam - Zangarmarsh (lakes with steam pumps - best is likely the biggest lake in the zone)
  
• Schooner Wreckage - Hillsbrad (southern coastal areas by the murlocs)
  
• Bloodsail Wreckage - Stranglethorn Vale (southern end of the zone...can sometimes be found in Booty Bay as well)
  
• Waterlogged Wreckage - Stonetalon Mountains (Windshear Crag lake or rivers leading from it)
  
• Floating Wreckage - This is the exception, since it can technically appear ANYWHERE that a fishing pool can be found. That being said, I have reliably found this off of the west coast of Feralas. If you do not spy one after one pass, fish all of the fish pools dry and you have a good chance that one will respawn as a Floating Wreckage.
  

Old Crafty

Can be fished up anywhere that you can fish in Orgrimmar (Valley of Honor or Valley of Spirits). May take a LOT of catches.

Old Ironjaw

Trickier to fish up as Horde, as he can only be caught in Ironforge, but it can be done. Best area that I've found to fish reasonably trouble-free in Ironforge is the Fornlorn Cavern area, since it only contains low-level profession trainers and is very lightly travelled. To get there, enter Ironforge from the front entrance and head left. You're likely to run into some guards and resistance along the way, so it may take a few deaths. Once you get there, however, stay towards the southern end of the lake and you should avoid the one guard that patrols by periodically (there's a small ledge under the water that you can stand on there). I also recommend using /lay once you get into your fishing spot to make yourself a bit harder to spot for Alliance that happen to be passing by. You can fishing while lying down, so it won't hinder your ability to do what you went there for. If you do get spotted and killed, run back and wait a few minutes to resurrect. Alliance players tend to have short attention spans and will leave within 5-10 minutes usually (being formerly Alliance, I can attest to this).

Fishing Diplomat

Fishing in Orgrimmar is easy, but Stormwind is considerably rougher. Getting into Stormwind can be done via the front entrance, but there are so many NPCs and guards along the way, it is often extremely painful to do so. The better way is to take the Deeprun Tram from Ironforge (head right once you enter Ironforge to get to the Tram entrance - it's a portal in Tinker Town area) right into Stormwind. If you stay in the tunnel a bit, your PvP flag will drop, but be aware that you will be re-flagged on entry to Stormwind. If you stick to the north side of town, you can usually avoid guards easily and just fish from any of the canals. New tip: You can also fish near the Stormwind Docks, which can be reached by swimming from Westfall for this achievement...and avoid Stormwind altogether. Credit to the fine folks at El's Extreme Anglin' for that tip.

Wrath of the Lich King Fishing Achievements

Northrend Angler

This will be available once Wrath goes live, but I'll list the zones here now so people have an idea.

• Borean Man O'War School - Borean Tundra (most often coastal waters, but may be found in inland waters in some cases)
  
• Deep Sea Monsterbelly School - Northern Sea (a special zone that includes all "way offshore" areas of Northrend). This type of school requires well over 500 fishing skill, so bring lures even once capped.
  
• Dragonfin Angelfish School - Dragonblight (river at the eastern end of the zone and Lake Indu'le)
  
• Fangtooth Herring School - Howling Fjord (inland waters and rivers)
  
• Glacial Salmon School - Grizzly Hills (rivers)
  
• Glassfin Minnow School - Crystalsong Forest (river in the southern/southwestern areas in the zone)
  
• Imperial Manta Ray School - Dragonblight (inland and coastal waters)
  
• Moonglow Cuttlefish - Northern Sea (see the note given above about this zone and fishing skill required)
  
• Musselback Sculpin School - Borean Tundra (inland waters and the lake near Warsong Hold, which is the most reliable spot)
  
• Nettlefish School - Sholazar Basin (rivers and lake in the centre of the zone)
  

I Smell A Giant Rat

The Giant Rat is a companion pet that can be fished up in an area of Dalaran called "The Underbelly". This area is the sewers area in Dalaran and can be gotten into from the openings located at the northeastern and southwestern corners of Dalaran proper.

A Penny For Your Thoughts/Silver in the City/There's Gold In That There Fountain/The Coin Master

All of these achievements can be completed by fishing out of the (very small and hard to cast in) fountain located in the southeastern corner of Dalaran. If you can't find it right away, ask a friendly Dalaran citizen where to find the fishing trainer - the fountain is right behind him.

If people want tips on the others that I haven't listed, I highly recommend visiting El's Extreme Anglin' website and forum, where most of us avid fishermen hang out regularly

Edited October 25, 2008 by Waldonnis