Nat Pagle would be proud

Over the weekend, all I did was fish. Rysteranch started around 120 or so skill level and ended around 320. I think that most of the pain of fishing is derived from opportunity cost, as in, if I wasn't fishing, what could I be doing. Like many WoW players, I have plenty that I could be doing on mains and alts, but recently, my perspective of the game has been changing. I feel no pressure to level any of my toons and, instead, do whatever the heck I feel like doing. 8~P

I really like the eastern coast of Kalimdor for leveling fishing. After getting to 100 in the city, I head out to Ratchet and start fishing the Oily Blackmouth and Floating Debris pools. The fish, Stranglekelp, Rumsey Rum, and trunk contents all sell reasonably well, and for budding Alchemists, the fish and herbs are pure gold (Flowerdax was able to go from 80->100 alchemy from Oily Blackmouths alone).

These pools spawn all up and down the Barrens' coastline, from Ratchet to Northwatch Hold. South of Northwatch Hold, there are even a couple of Firefin Snapper pools that show up. So I travel up and down the coast, collecting fish and trunks (don't open them on the spot as they will fill up your inventory rather quickly) until I reach fishing skill ~200.

Then, I incorporate the coastline all the way to Theramore and start finding more pools of Firefin Snappers, as well as the previous pools. I use a bank alt, so whenever my inventory fills up, I send my bank alt all the trunks, fish, and herbs to sell. I usually can't wait to see what I've fished up, so I log onto my bank alt and have Christmas time!

It's a good idea to keep up this route until reaching 225 and the fishing quest. After the quest, depending on if you like using lures and +fishing equipment, you can head over to Tanaris. If you don't want to spend the money, continue fishing the same route you've been on until you hit 250, and then head over to Tanaris.

The reason for getting to Tanaris is the availability of 3 different alchemy fish (Oily Blackmouth, Firefin Snappers, and Stonescale Eels), Stranglekelp, and the best fished up trunks in the game (including Outlands). The mithril trunks can contain level 40ish green quality armor/weapons, cash, bolts of mageweave or runecloth, thick or rugged leather, and a variety of mana and health potions.

I have come back to Tanaris after hitting 300 because the loot is so good! Oh, the 300 fishing trainer is by the lake at the Cenarion Expedition outpost in Zangarmarsh. While the fish in Outlands can be cooked up for some great buffs, the trunks that are fished up are not as good as the ones in Tanaris. I've found mostly engineer stuff in the Outland trunks, so when DV is over 300 engineering, I may go fish up some free supplies....or not.