Fishing
Works animated fishing spots dotted around the map with five tool types, pulling 20 fish tiers from shrimp at level 1 to eels at 95.
Fishing is where your food comes from. Every catch is raw food that Cooking turns into healing, and healing is what pays for bosses, slayer and the Wilderness. It also feeds Cooking directly: a fish is worth exactly the same XP to cook as it was to catch, so the two skills climb together. Higher Fishing levels buy you better food rather than better gear, and clue scrolls surface in the water as well.
Level 1 to 120
You never stop clicking water, you just change fish and tool. Net shrimp to 5, bait rod sardines and herring to 15, net anchovies to 20, then fly rod trout and salmon to 35. From there it is harpoon and cage work: tuna, lobsters, bass, swordfish, monkfish, sturgeon and sharks. Always move to the highest tier you can reach. Big fish take longer per catch, but their XP climbs far faster than the timer does. Eels from 95 carry you to 120.
- Shrimp, sardines and herring 1 to 20
Start with a fishing net for shrimp (6 XP), swap to a bait rod at 5 for sardines (8 XP) and herring at 10 (12 XP), then back to the net at 15 for anchovies (17 XP). The Lumbridge river and swamp, Draynor, Catherby, the Barbarian Outpost and the Rellekka shore all carry these.
- Fly fishing trout and salmon 20 to 35
A fly rod catches trout at 20 for 22 XP and salmon at 30 for 32 XP. Fish the rivers at Taverley and Falador, Hemenster beside the Fishing Guild, the Tree Gnome Stronghold, Catherby or Shilo Village on Karamja.
- Tuna and lobsters 35 to 45
Harpoon tuna at 35 (37 XP) at Taverley, Hemenster and Piscatoris, then cage lobsters at 40 (44 XP) at Catherby, Hemenster, Musa Point on Karamja, the Corsair Cove coast, Jatizso and Rellekka. The cage is the one tool no shop stocks: craft it at Crafting 45 from a stone and a yew log, or buy one from another player.
- Bass, swordfish and tench 45 to 60
Three different tools in one band. Net bass at 45 (53 XP) at Catherby, Rellekka, Jatizso and the Fishing Guild, harpoon swordfish at 50 (62 XP) at Catherby, the Fishing Guild, Musa Point and Piscatoris, and bait rod tench at 55 (71 XP) off Entrana and at Burgh de Rott.
- Monkfish, karambwan and sturgeon 60 to 75
Cage monkfish at 60 (80 XP) off Entrana, at the Piscatoris Fishing Colony, Gwenith and Burgh de Rott. Net karambwan at 65 (89 XP) on the Karamja coast at Musa Point and Brimhaven, then harpoon sturgeon at 70 (100 XP) at the Fishing Guild and the Tree Gnome Stronghold.
- Sharks, turtles and eels 75 to 120
Sharks at 75 (111 XP) off Entrana, at Rellekka and in the Fishing Guild, sea turtles at 80 (122 XP) on the Karamja coast and in the guild, manta rays at 85 (135 XP) off Entrana, and dark crabs at 90 (148 XP), which want a net, at Taverley and in the Wilderness. Eels at 95 are worth 161 XP on a harpoon and are the last fish in the skill, so the run to 120 is one spot near Edgeville, Mort Myre or the Poison Waste.
Two places worth the trip
Rellekka's shore holds eight spots along one stretch of beach, laid out in tier order: shrimp, sardines, herring, anchovies, lobster, bass, swordfish and shark. You can train from 1 to 75 there and never leave the same length of sand.
The Fishing Guild and neighbouring Hemenster cover the other half of the skill. Trout, salmon, tuna and lobster on the Hemenster side, bass, swordfish, sturgeon, shark, sea turtle, manta ray and dark crab inside the guild, with a fishing shop standing on the spot. The guild opens at Fishing 50, and Hemenster is behind the Fishing Contest quest.
The fish that swims at you
While you are fishing, a fish will occasionally break away and swim towards you. Click it as it arrives and you get a quarter of that catch's XP again, and sometimes a second fish on top. Click too early or too late and you lose the bonus, nothing more.
What it unlocks elsewhere
Every raw fish is Cooking XP worth exactly what it gave you to catch, so a fishing trip doubles as a cooking trip once you find a fire.
Clue scrolls surface while you fish and scale with the fish, so deeper tiers hand out harder trails. The Fishing cape, at 99 or 120, stops fish escaping altogether and teleports you to the guild. The Fishing Contest quest asks only for Fishing 10 and pays 2500 XP.
Worth knowing
- The tool decides the fish. A spot that gives you nothing is a spot for a different net, rod, cage or harpoon.
- Walking away or teleporting cancels the cast, so settle in before you start.
- Catch time is set by the fish, not by your level, so stepping up a tier is always a gain even though each catch feels slower.
- A barb-tail harpoon, dropped by barb-tailed kebbits, lands slightly more catches than a plain one and needs the same level 35.
The full table
XP is shown wherever it is fixed.
