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This Fishing and Cooking leveling guide will show you the easiest way to level Cooking and Fishing at the same time. Since leveling your fishing takes long time it's the best to level these professions together. If you only want to level Cooking, visit my Cooking leveling guide. Updated for WoW patch 5.0.4
 
If you are low on gold, I recommend you to try this Gold Making Guide, it can help you to make loads of gold.
If you are still leveling your character or you just started a new alt, I recommend you to use a leveling guide. You can level your character to level 85 in 5 days with this guide. Read this below! Important!
 
Since patch 5.2, it is recommended to just go to Pandaria and fish there if your character is level 85, and if not, you should wait until you reach 85. At Pandaria, you won't catch any junk, you will catch [Golden Carp] from skill 1, while at the older zones, you will catch a lot of junk or fish that worth almost nothing.
 
When your skill reaches around 500, you will also catch other valuable fish more often. If you use my Cooking leveling guide you will only need 42 Golden Carp to level Cooking up to 525, so the guide below is only good for people who don't have the Mist of Pandaria expansion, I would recommend to everyone else to wait until you reach 85 before starting to level cooking and fishing.
 
Fishing + Cooking 1 - 75
 
Before you start, you must buy the following 3 recipes! You can also check the Auction House for these recipes if you don't want to travel.
Go to Booty Bay, find Kelsey Yance(he is in the Old Port Authority) and buy these two recipes: [Recipe: Mithril Head Trout], [Recipe: Filet of Redgill].
You will also need to buy [Recipe: Baked Salmon]. Go to Feralas and find Vivianna - (Alliance) or Sheendra Tallgrass - (Horde).
If you won't level cooking to 450 in one day, scroll down to the daily cooking quests part at 450. You will have to complete a few daily quests if you want to level cooking to 525, and it will be faster to level cooking if you start doing the quests sooner.
 
 
Horde
 
 
Go to Thunder Bluff and learn both Cooking and Fishing then head over to Bloodhoof Village in Mulgore. Ask the guards for the trainer's location.
Find Harn Longcast, just click and the link the see his location. Buy the following two recipes from him:[Recipe: Brilliant Smallfish], [Recipe: Longjaw Mud Snapper] and you should also buy a Fishing Pole. Fish from Stonebull Lake until your fishing skill reaches 75. Catch about 30 [Raw Brilliant Smallfish] and 20 [Raw Longjaw Mud Snapper].
Learn Journeyman Fishing from Uthan Stillwater.
 
 
Alliance
 
 
Go to Goldshire in Elwynn Forest and learn Apprentice Cooking from Tomas, he is in the inn's kitchen. Find Tharynn Bouden in the centre of Goldshire, buy [Recipe: Brilliant Smallfish], [Recipe: Longjaw Mud Snapper] and a Fishing Pole.
Learn Apprentice Fishing from Lee Brown, he is by the lake east of Goldshire. Fish from any lake near Goldshire until your fishing skill reaches 75. Catch about 30 [Raw Brilliant Smallfish] and 20 [Raw Longjaw Mud Snapper].
Visit Lee Brown again and learn Journeyman Fishing.
 
 
75 - 165
 
 
 
 
Horde
 
 
Go back to Thunder Bluff and fish in the pond near Thunder Bluff's auction house until your skill reaches 165. Do not forget to visit your trainer between fishing skill 125 and 150. You should catch about 30 [Raw Brilliant Smallfish], 100 [Raw Longjaw Mud Snapper], and 40 [Raw Bristle Whisker Catfish].
Learn the recipe [Recipe: Brilliant Smallfish] and cook all your fish. This should take your cooking skill to 50. If you do not reach 50, fish a little longer. Go to the cooking trainer and learn the next rank of Cooking.
Learn [Recipe: Longjaw Mud Snapper], and cook all your Longjaw Mud Snapper. Your cooking skill should rise to above 100. If you do not reach 100, fish for more until you reach it.
Buy and learn [Recipe: Bristle Whisker Catfish] from Naal Mistrunner then cook all your Bristle Whisker Catfish.
Your cooking skill must reach at least 125. Learn the next rank of Cooking.
 
 
Alliance
 
 
Travel to Stormwind City and Fish in the canals of Stormwind until your skill reaches 165. Don't forget to visit your trainer Between fishing skill 125 and 150. You should catch about 30 [Raw Brilliant Smallfish], 100 [Raw Longjaw Mud Snapper], and 40 [Raw Bristle Whisker Catfish].
Learn the recipe [Recipe: Brilliant Smallfish] and cook all your fish. This should take your cooking skill to 50. If you do not reach 50, fish a little longer. Go to the cooking trainer and learn the next rank of Cooking.
Learn [Recipe: Longjaw Mud Snapper], and cook all your Longjaw Mud Snapper. Your cooking skill should rise to above 100. If you do not reach 100, fish for more until you reach it.
Buy and learn [Recipe: Bristle Whisker Catfish] from Leland then cook all your Bristle Whisker Catfish.
Your cooking skill must reach at least 125. Learn the next rank of Cooking.
 
 
165 - 225
 
 
Go to Western Plaguelands. Fish inland open water from fishing skill 165 to 225. You need to catch about 80 [Raw Bristle Whisker Catfish], and about 80 [Raw Mithril Head Trout].
Cook all the Bristle Whisker Catfish. Your cooking skill will rise close to 175. If you don't reach 175 cooking skill, catch more fish.
Learn the recipe for [Recipe: Mithril Head Trout], and cook Mithril Head Trout until your cooking skill reaches 225.
Go to Undercity/Ironforge and learn the next rank of Cooking and Fishing.
 
 
225 - 275
 
 
At the end of this section your fishing skill does not need to reach 275, only Cooking.
Travel to Eastern Plaguelands and fish in any inland open water, until you have caught 35 Raw Redgill, a few Raw Mithril Head Trout, and a combined total of 20-25 Raw Nightfin Snapper and/or Raw Sunscale Salmon.
Cook all remaining Mithril Head Trout. Then learn [Recipe: Filet of Redgill], and cook all your fish. Your cooking skill must reach at least 250.
Go to Undercity/Ironforge learn the next rank of Cooking and learn these two recipes from your trainer: [Poached Sunscale Salmon], [Nightfin Soup].
Cook all your Raw Sunscale Salmon and Raw Nightfin Snapper. Your cooking skill must reach 275.
 
 
275 - 300
 
 
Go to Blasted Lands. You can use the Blasted Lands portals in every major city, they are near the portal trainer.
Fish open water in The Tainted Forest until you have caught 25 [Raw Whitescale Salmon]. Learn [Recipe: Baked Salmon] and cook Baked Salmon until your cooking skill reaches 300. If your fishing skill is below 275, keep fishing until 275.
 
 
300 - 350
 
 
Ride through the huge Dark Portal in the centre of Blasted Lands and go to Cenarion Refuge, Zangarmarsh. Find Naka in the inn and learn Master Cooking then go to Juno Dufrain by the lake and learn Master Fishing.
Buy the following recipes:
Alliance:
Horde:
Go to Terrokar Forest and fish at this lake until until your fishing skill reaches 315. Click on the link to see the location. You should catch at least 15 [Golden Darter], 75 [Barbed Gill Trout], and 15 [Spotted Feltail].
Learn the recipe for Feltail Delight, and cook all the Feltail. Learn the recipe for Blackened Trout, and cook all your fish until your cooking skill reach 320.
Go to Shattrath, find Kylene in the inn on the north-east side of the Shattrath's Lower City. Learn Stewed Trout then cook all the remaining Barbed Gill Trout.
Learn the recipe for Golden Fish Sticks, and then cook Darter until your cooking skill is at least 350. You must reach at least 350 cooking skill. If not, keep fishing in Terokkar Forest.
 
 
350 - 450
 
 
Visit the nearest Cooking trainer, learn Grand Master Cooking and the following 3 recipes: [Baked Manta Ray], [Dalaran Clam Chowder], and [Smoked Rockfin].
Travel to Borean Tundra and fish open coastal water from fishing skill 315 to 375, you must fish a named area of coastal water. Simply if you start catching [Bonescale Snapper], you are in the wrong place!
You should catch at least 60 [Borean Man O' War], 30 [Darkwater Clam] (open these), 60 [Imperial Manta Ray], and about 100 [Rockfin Grouper].
Cook your catch in this order:
1. Rockfin Grouper as [Smoked Rockfin]2. Succulent Clam Meat as [Dalaran Clam Chowder]3. Imperial Manta Ray as [Baked Manta Ray]4. At cooking skill 400 find Orn Tenderhoof for Horde or Rollick MacKreel for Alliance and learn to create Black Jelly, then cook all your Borean Man O' War as [Black Jelly].
You must reach at least 415 cooking skill.
Train [Darkbrew Lager] from a cooking trainer. The reagents are sold by these vendors, don't buy them at the Auction House. Make Darkbrew Lager up to 435.
Return to the cooking trainer, and learn [Blackened Surprise]. The recipe requires [Toughened Flesh], which can be looted from many wild animals in Cataclysm-level zones or you can buy some at the auction house. The recipe will be orange all the way up to 450, so you will only need 15 Toughened Flesh.
Daily Cooking quests
From this point, every recipe will be purchased with [Epicurean's Award], which are obtained by completing the daily cooking quest given by Marogg (Horde) or Robby Flay (Alliance) in Orgrimmar and Stormwind (requires character level 10). Or complete the daily cooking quest given by Katherine Lee (Alliance) or Awilo Lon'gomba (Horde) in Dalaran. (requires character level 65). You can do both of these quests daily.
Once you have enough awards, you can visit Shazdar (Horde) or Bario Matalli (Alliance) and buy new recipes. One recipe usually cost 3 [Epicurean's Award].
 
 
450 - 525
 
 
Train Illustrious Cook from the cooking trainer and learn the next rank of Fishing if you didn't already.
You will need buy the following 3 recipes. The order does not really matter, you will need all of them to reach 525. You can also buy other recipes if you have a lot of Epicurean's Award, so you can cook your other fishes that you might catch.
[Recipe: Lightly Fried Lurker] or [Recipe: Lurker Lunch] (cooking skill 450)[Recipe: Pickled Guppy] (475).[Recipe: Delicious Sagefish Tail] or [Recipe: Severed Sagefish Head] (500).
Go to the Verrall River or lake in Twilight Highlands. Fish inland open water in the Twilight Highlands until you have caught at least 50 [Striped Lurker] and 25 [Highland Guppy]. Don't forget to visit your trainer between fishing skill 425 and 450.
Learn Delicious Sagefish Tail or Severed Sagefish Head. Travel across the Twilight Highlands to find coastal water and fish there. You will mostly catch [Deepsea Sagefish]. Catch a few fish and then cook them, the last few skill points will come very slowly, just keep fishing until your Cooking skill reaches 525.
525 fishing skill will take many more catches than 525 cooking. Once you have reached the maximum cooking skill, you can continue to raise your fishing skill anywhere, even in Orgrimmar or Stormwind.
 
I hope you liked this Fishing and Cooking leveling guide, gz to 525!

 

Fishing and Cooking Leveling Guide 1-525

 

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