I'm about to be 225 fishing at lvl 38 and I'm wondering the best way to lvl to 300.

A) Go fish the Barrens for deviate fish.
B) Go fish off the pier at Steamwheedle.
C) Fish pools as and when I find them while Lvling to 60.

Choice A: Advantage of gold, deviate fish go for a gold a pop on my server.
Choice A: Disadvantage, the other fish won't sell so well

Choice B: Advantage, I should get a wide range of fish stonescale, oilyblackmouth and firefin + fish to lvl cooking
Choice B: Disadvantage, Less gold than choice A

Choice C: Advantage, All the catches will be worth cash, chance of chests and odd bits. WOuldn't be a single grind
Choice C: Disadvantage, It would interupt my play time having to stop and start. No cooking fish :(

or your choice D:

Advice on the topic appreciated

 

 

 

My advice would be to consider what you want to get out of fishing and go for the route that lets you accomplish those goals.

The reason I levelled fishing was because I wanted the Mr Pinchy pet (I WILL have you one day, Mr Pinchy!). Since all you have to do to skillup fishing is catch fish, I got myself to 100 in SW then parked myself at the Forgotten Pools and started fishing up deviates. I don't really understand why they're so popular, but selling a few stacks brought in quite a bit of gold, and distributing the rest to guildies and friends made them quite happy. And I got my 375 fishing skill, so everyone was happy :)

 

 

 

My choice would be A until you hit level 50, then travel the coast of Tanaris from North of Steamwheedle to the southern edge of Lost Rigger Cove, hitting all the pools until you go to the outlands and get the book (or buy it on the AH). If you feel lucky while doing Tanaris, go to the southern edge of Southbreak beach, but you are certain to meet the L48 elite giants that roam there. After that, do both the Barrens and the Tanaris coast until you hit 375. You might even be able to max out fishing before you get to the outlands...

Throw away what won't up your cooking or is not a money fish - there are a lot of debris pools in Tanaris, and you want to have your bag space ready for the good stuff.

 

 

I recently leveled - in this order - a lvl 65 druid from 250 to 375, a lvl 61 mage from 1 to 310 and a lvl 36 hunter from 50 to around 175 (so far). Clearly I've discovered that I like to fish. I went through the same thing as the OP - trying to find the best way to level the skill. Here's what I did:

- For my druid I went to Tanaris, Feralas and Azshara and fished the pools until I was level 300. I then fished in Zangarmarsh until I was 375.

- For my mage I went to the Barrens as skill level 75 and fished until I was 200 or so. I then went to Tanaris and fished to level 300. I'm now fishing in Zangarmarsh because I'm also doing quests in HFP. I did not bother going to Azshara because the elemental water/global of water do not fetch as much as they used to. And it takes a lot of time to swim between the various spots where patches of elemental water are known to appear.

- For the hunter (my daughter's character), I've been fishing pools in Hillsbrad, in the stream by Southshore.

All three methods were very profitable. I probably made 200-300g each with my druid and mage from fishing, and 50g so far for my hunter.

In my experience fishing pools seems to be the most profitable way to go. I made a lot of money from the greens that you get in crates. And pools help you build your stacks of oily/firefin/stonescale quickly.

Tanaris is my favorite area because there are lots of pools. You do NOT need to go as far south as the elites. Keep in mind that my druid/mage are high enough that I did not have to worry about fighting mobs, and both have mounts which reduces travel time between pools.

Any of the three choices is fine. What sells well differs from server to server so check the AH and let that be a guide. Most importantly, do whatever method you find to be the most fun. Don't make fishing a chore.

Hope this helps.