Fishing training
This guide outlines the best methods for training the Fishing skill.
Equipment
Fishing uses two types of items, divided into consumables and equipment. Consumables are used up at the rate of one item for each fish caught and are stackable, while the equipment is non-stackable and reusable.
- Net fishing: Small fishing net, not consumable.
- Bait fishing: Fishing rod and some fishing bait.
- Fly fishing: Fly fishing rod and feathers for bait.
- Harpooning: Harpoon (or just bare hands if you have completed Barbarian Training miniquest), not consumable. A Barb-tail harpoon is a wieldable alternative to the harpoon and saves an additional inventory space. The Dragon harpoon's special attack boosts fishing by 3 levels, and it can be used in conjunction with the Lightbearer to spam the special.
- Cage fishing: Lobster pot, not consumable.
- Barbarian fishing: Barbarian rod and usable baits: fishing baits, feathers, fish offcuts, roe, or caviar.
- Aerial Fishing: Cormorant and usable baits: king worms, fish chunks
You can also do Fishing Trawler minigame to get a set of Angler's outfit for an additional 2.5% more fishing experience gained per fish caught. But be warned that you may take many hours before getting the outfit.
Furthermore, for those players who are wanting to earn some money while fishing, you may want to acquire the Rada's blessing from the Kourend & Kebos diary. The easy, medium, hard, and elite diaries all give a 2%, 4%, 6%, and 8% chance (respectively) of catching two fish at once. However, the player will NOT receive any experience from the extra fish that is caught. Lastly, the blessing must be equipped while fishing for this to take effect.
Using the Fish barrel from Tempoross will allow you to store 28 raw fish, making time between trips to the bank longer.
Fastest experience
Levels 1–24/33: Questing
Early levels can be skipped by completing quests that give Fishing experience. Completing Sea Slug, Fishing Contest, and the Freeing Pirate Pete quest of Recipe for Disaster will grant a total of 10,612 experience, which will get the player up to level 27. All of these quests have few requirements and can be done at a low level, and completing them is a much better route for early Fishing levels than catching fish. Notably, the experience reward from Sea Slug is enough to get the player from level 1 to 24, and it is faster to complete the quest than catch low-level fish.
Completing Tai Bwo Wannai Trio and The Fremennik Trials will grant an additional 7,812 experience, which will get the player up to level 33, but they have higher requirements.
Levels 20–47/58: Fly fishing
3-tick fly fishing trout and salmon offers the fastest Fishing experience up to level 58 when using tick manipulation. Players will need a fly fishing rod and feathers to catch the fish. 3-tick fishing is done by using a herb on swamp tar (or other suitable items) and clicking on the fishing spot. When timed correctly, the player has a chance of receiving fish every three ticks instead of five. Drop the fish in between catches before clicking on the fishing spot.
Without tick manipulation this method is only recommended as a low-effort alternative past level 35, as Tempoross offers faster experience. At level 47, drift net fishing becomes better than 3-tick fly fishing if the player also needs to train Hunter.
Recommended fly fishing locations where the fishing spots have minimal movement or are useful otherwise:
- South-east of the southern gate to Prifddinas, where the fishing spots do not move. The area requires partial completion of Regicide to access. After fully completing Regicide, players can quickly get there by using an Iorwerth camp teleport scroll and running east through the dense forest.
- Shilo Village is the best location if banking the fish. The area requires completion of the Shilo Village quest to access.
- South-east of the Farming Guild.
- North of the Chaos Druid Tower near East Ardougne.
- Barbarian Village has a permanent fire nearby where players can cook and drop the fish.
Experience rates are shown in the table below. The rates assume the player is not wearing the angler's outfit. The AFK rates include the time spent dropping the fish, and the actual rates vary depending on how fast the fish are dropped. Using the spots south-east of Prifddinas will result in about 5% faster experience per hour.
level | XP/h (3-tick) | XP/h (AFK) |
---|---|---|
20 | 23,000 | 13,000 |
30 | 45,000 | 25,000 |
40 | 53,000 | 30,000 |
50 | 61,000 | 34,000 |
60 | 68,000 | 37,000 |
70 | 75,000 | 41,000 |
80 | 81,000 | 44,000 |
90 | 87,000 | 47,000 |
99 | 93,000 | 50,000 |
Levels 47–99: Drift net fishing
Drift net fishing is the most efficient way to train both Fishing and Hunter at the same time. However, it is not the fastest way to train Fishing on its own due to the split rates. The method offers higher Hunter experience rates than Fishing, so once Hunter no longer needs to be trained, switch to a method that offers faster Fishing experience.
Drift net fishing requires level 47 Fishing and level 44 Hunter (both unboostable), and completion of Bone Voyage to access Fossil Island underwater. For optimal rates, players will also need to wear a fishbowl helmet and a diving apparatus obtained from the Pirate Pete subquest of Recipe for Disaster, as well as flippers obtained from mogres. Wearing a merfolk trident, a trident of the seas, a trident of the swamp, or a dragon harpoon will increase the chance of successfully chasing the fish shoal into the nets. In addition, stamina potions (or some other form of run energy restoration) are needed for the fastest rates.
To do this method, speak to Ceto to enter the fishing area located in the northern part of the Fossil Island underwater. This costs 200 numulites per day, or 20,000 numulites for permanent access. Set up drift nets on the drift net anchors and click the fish shoals once to chase them into the nets. Prioritise fish shoals nearer to the drift nets. The nets will become full after 10 fish shoals caught, after which the player will need to set the drift nets up again. Players can store up to 2,000 drift nets at Annette by bringing her the nets in banknotes.
Players can optionally bank the fish caught for 5 numulites per full net. This will lower experience rates slightly, but will also offset the money spent on drift nets. The quality of fish obtained scales with the Fishing level, with raw lobsters starting to be caught at level 50.
Experience rates shown in the table below assume 1,150 fish shoal caught per hour. The experience per fish shoal scales until level 70 Fishing and Hunter, where 77 Fishing experience and 101.5 Hunter experience are gained per fish shoal. Expect slightly lower rates if banking the fish. With good practice, it is possible to catch up to 1,200–1,250 fish shoal per hour. Buying the drift nets on the Grand Exchange would cost Lua error: . per hour.
From level 44 to 99 Hunter, the player will gain 9,842,153 Fishing experience if starting at level 47 Fishing. This would require 12,944 drift nets, which would cost Lua error: ..
Levels 58–99: Barbarian Fishing
3-tick Barbarian Fishing becomes one of the fastest training methods at level 58. This method offers small amounts of passive Agility and Strength experience, which makes it one the most efficient ways to train Fishing, especially for players with low Agility and Strength levels.
Even though Barbarian Fishing becomes available at level 48, it is faster to do drift net fishing or 3-tick fly fishing until level 58, which allows the player to catch leaping salmon. If the player is not going to use any sort of tick manipulation, it is better to continue doing drift net fishing. However, even without tick manipulation this method still offers relatively fast experience at low effort, which can be useful for some players.
Players must complete a portion of Barbarian Training to be able to catch leaping fish. Having level 30 Agility and Strength is required for catching leaping salmon, and level 45 in both for leaping sturgeon. Players will also need suitable bait such as feathers and a barbarian rod obtained from Otto's Grotto. For tick manipulation players will also need certain items to create a 3-tick action, such as herb and tar or knife and teak/mahogany logs, and a knife should the player cut the fish.
The best spot for Barbarian Fishing is at the pond next to the Otto's Grotto. Players can quickly get there by using a games necklace or Grouping teleport to Barbarian Assault and running south-west.
The most basic method for 3-tick fishing is to drop the fish between catches. This can be done by starting the 3-tick cycle, dropping the fish using shift drop and clicking on the fishing spot. This requires accurate clicking and some practice to perform consistently, but it is more efficient than dropping a full inventory.
"Cut-eat" or "eat-cut" fishing (depending on the order) is a more advanced and slightly more click-intensive method. Having at least level 80 Cooking is recommended for 100% chance of successfully cutting leaping salmon and sturgeon if using this method. Cut-eat fishing is done by starting a 3-tick cycle with herb and tar, cutting the fish with a knife and eating the roe/caviar to tick manipulate. When you run out of roe/caviar to be eaten and fish to be cut, use herb and tar to continue the 3-tick cycle. The benefits of this method is that it provides some passive Cooking experience, it does not require players to drop fish (therefore Shift is unused), and it is slightly cheaper due to fish offcuts also being produced which are used as bait over feathers. However, it is less predictable due to randomness being involved, which may take time getting used to. It is also stricter with timing; if the cutting and eating is done too late, the cycle becomes offset.
Experience rates are shown in the table below. The experience rates assume the player is not wearing the angler's outfit. The AFK rates include the time spent dropping the fish, and the actual rates vary depending on how fast the fish are dropped. The Cooking rates from using the cut-eat method assumes level 99 Cooking; having level 80 Cooking would lower the rate by roughly 1,000 Cooking experience per hour. Using this method from level 58 to 99 would net the player approximately 1.2 million experience in both Agility and Strength.
Levels 71–99: 2-tick harpooning swordfish/tuna
2-tick harpooning swordfish and tuna in Piscarilius offers the fastest Fishing experience in the game. Tick manipulation must be used for this method, as without it the experience will be a lot slower and this method would not be worth doing over other methods. This method is comparable to 3-tick Barbarian Fishing in terms of overall efficiency when using the crystal harpoon, assuming the player has high Agility and Strength levels. Players who have a low Agility or Strength level benefit more from the passive Agility and Strength experience gained from Barbarian Fishing, so it may be better to train with Barbarian Fishing. However, 2-tick harpooning is the fastest method on average of obtaining the heron pet, which can be desirable for some players.
The fishing spots for 2-tick harpooning are located in the north-western part of Piscarilius, just west of the bank. Players can quickly get there by using the The fisher's flute teleport on the Kharedst's memoirs or Book of the dead and running north-west. To do this method, the player must be attacked by two rats attacking two ticks apart. After setting up the rats, the only clicking that must be done is clicking the fishing spot on the ticks that a hitsplat appears on the player character. Using the crystal harpoon is strongly recommended, as it has a higher catch rate compared to the dragon or infernal harpoon.
Experience rates are shown in the table below. The rates scale depending on the Fishing level and they can vary depending on the performance. At maximum efficiency, it is possible to gain up to 135,000–138,000 experience per hour at level 99 when using the crystal harpoon. Players who are using the infernal harpoon can expect to gain around 20,000–26,000 passive Cooking experience per hour, depending on the Fishing level.
You can also 2-tick harpoon by using an alternate account equipped with a 2-tick weapon to attack you.
level | XP/h | ||
---|---|---|---|
Normal | Dragon | Crystal | |
35 | 25,400 | N/A | N/A |
50 | 60,700 | N/A | N/A |
61 | 69,600 | 79,900 | N/A |
71 | 78,400 | 91,000 | 101,800 |
85 | 90,200 | 104,900 | 116,900 |
99 | 103,400 | 120,000 | 132,800 |
Other methods
Levels 35–99: Tempoross
Fighting the Tempoross offers relatively fast experience and it requires fairly low amount of effort compared to the tick manipulation methods.
- Not Cooking
Not cooking the harpoonfish means getting lower amounts of points/loot but significantly more Fishing experience. With a crystal harpoon and a Fishing level near 99, this is the fastest experience in the game if not using tick manipulation methods. With no crystal harpoon or if not near level 99 Fishing, drift net fishing will yield higher experience rates.
Level | XP/h | |||
---|---|---|---|---|
Regular[n 1] | Dragon | Infernal | Crystal | |
35 | 30,000 | N/A | N/A | N/A |
70 | 62,000 | 66,000 | N/A | 77,000 |
80 | 65,000 | 69,000 | 71,000 | 85,000 |
90 | 68,000 | 72,000 | 74,000 | 92,000 |
99 | 70,000 | 74,000 | 76,000 | 95,000[n 2] |
- ↑ The standard harpoon, the barb-tail harpoon, and Barbarian Fishing all have the same experience rates.
- ↑ Using another account to shorten the waiting time between games, up to 102,000 experience per hour is possible.
- Cooking
Cooking the harpoonfish means lower experience rate but significantly more points and, therefore, loot. It is recommended for iron players and pet hunters to use the infernal harpoon when they reach the level requirements.
Level | XP/h | |||
---|---|---|---|---|
Regular[n 1] | Dragon | Infernal | Crystal | |
35 | 22,000 | N/A | N/A | N/A |
70 | 52,000 | 54,000 | N/A | 58,000 |
80 | 56,000 | 58,000 | 60,000 | 62,000 |
90 | 60,000 | 62,000 | 64,000 | 66,000 |
99 | 64,000 | 66,000 | 68,000 | 70,000 |
- ↑ The standard harpoon, the barb-tail harpoon, and Barbarian Fishing all have the same experience rates.
Levels 40–76: Lobster
Catching lobsters at Catherby is an extremely low effort method of training Fishing and Cooking. Completion of Family Crest is recommended before using this method.
The benefits of catching lobsters at Catherby over other methods is that the range is 1–2 clicks from the fishing spots, which is 1 click from the bank, which is 2–3 clicks from the fishing spots; leading to a round trip of caught, cooked, and banked lobsters totaling at 7 clicks plus clicks due to fishing spot location changes. As the fishing spots are cage/harpoon, each location change saves one click over tuna/swordfish. Cooking lobsters also saves one click over tuna/swordfish as there is only one fish type, but loses one click at banking due to the lack of an equipable lobster pot.
The disadvantages of this method are the slow experience rates and higher burn rates due to the lack of the Hosidius range bonus. Usage of Cooking gauntlets is recommended to compensate.
With minimal attention and cooking, around 15k xp/hr can be expected at level 65 Fishing, as well as up to 19.5k xp/hr of cooking xp (depending on burn rate).
Levels 43–99: Aerial fishing
Aerial fishing is a viable alternative method to train both Fishing and Hunter. However, drift net fishing offers faster experience in both skills, so this method is only recommended for players who wish to obtain the angler's outfit or the unique rewards from Alry the Angler. Players may find other methods of obtaining the set to be faster or less click intensive but Aerial fishing kills two fish with one bird by providing decent experience while also working toward the angler's outfit.
Aerial fishing requires level 43 Fishing and level 35 Hunter. The fastest way to reach the island in the centre of Lake Molch is to use the fairy ring DJR, run south-west, and take the boat to the island.
Experience rates are shown in the table below. The rates assume 1,600 fish are caught per hour. If cutting the fish, players will also get some passive Cooking experience.
Level | XP/h | |||
---|---|---|---|---|
Total | ||||
43 | 35 | 18,400 | 26,400 | 44,800 |
56 | 51 | 20,088 | 28,088 | 48,976 |
73 | 68 | 32,856 | 42,659 | 75,515 |
91 | 87 | 51,649 | 68,188 | 119,837 |
99 | 99 | 62,593 | 82,311 | 144,904 |
Levels 62–99: Monkfish
Catching monkfish at the Piscatoris Fishing Colony offers relatively slow experience, but it requires low amount of effort. To catch monkfish, players must have completed Swan Song and have a small fishing net in their inventory.
Level | XP/h | GP/h |
---|---|---|
62 | 35,800 | 4,172 |
70 | 37,000 | 4,312 |
80 | 38,500 | 4,494 |
90 | 40,000 | 4,676 |
99 | 42,000 | 4,900 |
- Starting experience - 333,804
- Experience needed - 12,700,627
- Monkfish needed - 105,839
- Profit made (62–99): 1,481,746
Levels 65–99: Karambwan
Karambwan vessel (baited) | 100K | ||
Catching karambwan is a profitable low-effort alternative to the faster methods. This method requires completion of Tai Bwo Wannai Trio. Karambwan fishing spots do not move, which allows the player to catch an entire inventory of fish without interaction. When using the fish barrel, catching a full inventory takes around 3–5 minutes.
Karambwan are caught with a karambwan vessel and raw karambwanji. Raw karambwanji can be caught north-east of the fairy ring CKR using a small fishing net. The karambwan fishing spots are located just north of the fairy ring DKP.
When banking the fish, having a quick access to a bank and fairy rings is recommended. Good bank teleports include the Crafting Cape, Karamja gloves 3 or 4, or a ring of dueling. For fairy rings, use the quest point cape or the fairy ring in the player-owned house. If using the fairy ring in the player-owned house, players can alternatively bring a rune pouch and bank at Seers' Village (after the hard Kandarin Diary) or at the Grand Exchange (after the medium Varrock Diary). Players who do not have access to these options can simply use the fairy ring to bank at Zanaris and run back.
Players who have completed the elite Lumbridge & Draynor Diary can equip a dragon harpoon instead of a dramen staff and use its special attack to boost their Fishing level for slightly better catch rates.
Experience rates are shown in the table below. The rates assume using the fish barrel, not wearing the angler's outfit, and include banking time as well as some idle time. Expect around 10% lower rates if not using the fish barrel.
Levels 75–99: Swordfish/tuna
At level 75 Fishing (together with 85 Cooking), you can start using an infernal harpoon to fish swordfish and tuna in the Fishing Guild. The close proximity to a bank and the invisible +7 Fishing boost make this spot the best place for this method.
This method is noticeably more AFK than monkfish fishing, since the spots move less often and are closer to each other. Moreover, with the infernal harpoon, your inventory will fill up more slowly than with other harpoons. However, the profit is lower than monkfish fishing, since you must recharge the harpoon every 5,000 uses.
Players can gain around 35,000 experience per hour at level 75, and 42,000 experience per hour at level 99.
Levels 80–99: Infernal eel
At level 80 Fishing, you can start catching infernal eels within the city of Mor Ul Rek. A fire cape must be shown to a TzHaar-Ket guard to gain access to Mor Ul Rek. This does not consume the cape. Infernal eels can be smashed open using a hammer to extract ten to twenty Tokkul, one onyx bolt tip, or one to five lava scale shards. Per eel, the estimated profit is 1.89 coins (not counting the estimated value of Tokkul at 0). It is recommended to fish infernal eels in the south-easternmost area of the city, as the other two areas may have their fishing spots disappear more often.
Players can gain around 28,000 experience per hour at level 80, and 35,000 experience per hour at level 99.
- Starting experience - 1,986,068
- Experience needed - 11,048,363
- Infernal eel needed - 116,299
- Estimated profit made (without Tokkul): 219,805.11
- Estimated profit made (with Tokkul): 220,118.22
Levels 82–99: Minnows
Catching minnows offers relatively slow experience, but it provides decent profit. This can be done at Kylie Minnow's fishing platform in the Fishing Guild, which requires level 82 Fishing, a small fishing net, completion of the quest Fishing Contest, and having full angler's outfit to access. Minnows can be exchanged for noted raw sharks, which can be sold for profit.
Minnow fishing spots move clockwise every 15 seconds. In addition, a fishing spot will occasionally spawn flying fish instead of providing minnows; flying fish will eat 20 minnow directly from the player's inventory as long as they keep fishing there, forcing them to move to another spot. A flying fish will only appear after a fishing spot has changed and will continue to eat the player's minnows until the fishing spot changes position once again.
Experience and profit rates are shown in the table below. Wearing a Rada's blessing is recommended for extra profit, as it increases minnows per hour by 2% per tier of diary completed.
Levels 82–99: Anglerfish
At level 82 Fishing, you can start catching anglerfish in Port Piscarilius. In order to catch anglerfish, Sandworms are required. Sandworms can be purchased from Tynan's Fishing Supplies nearby or the Grand Exchange.
Players can gain around 15,000 experience per hour at level 82, and 23,000 experience per hour at level 99.
- Starting experience - 2,421,087
- Experience needed - 10,613,344
- Anglerfish needed - 88,445
- Profit made (82-99): 8,844,500
- If cooked: 0
Levels 85–99: Dark crabs
500 | 25000 | ||
Catching dark crabs inside the Resource Area becomes a viable low-effort option after completing the elite Wilderness Diary. The diary reward increases the catch rate for dark crabs significantly and provides the player free access to the Resource Area. The fishing spots inside the Resource Area also never move, which makes this method a very low-effort option. However, as the Resource Area is located in deep Wilderness, the player will encounter player killers.
The fish can be noted at Piles for 50 coins each. It is advised to bank the fish in Edgeville every so often to reduce the risk. To have a good chance of escaping player killers, wear cheap defensive gear while 3- or 4-iteming expensive armour pieces, and bring a few Saradomin brews food along with super restores. Players can optionally bring a lockpick and escape using the nearby magic axe hut. Equipping an imbued ring of wealth increases the chance of obtaining clue bottles.
Players who do not care about profit can simply drop the fish and risk nothing. Having spare Wilderness swords and the Edgeville respawn is recommended if doing this, as the player can expect to eventually die to a player killer.
Dark crabs can be 2-ticked by using the runite golems in the area. This increases fish caught per hour, but requires much more effort. Tick manipulation is only recommended for players who want good profit along with relatively fast experience, as 2-tick harpooning offers faster experience and does not involve dealing with player killers.
Players can gain around 40,000 experience per hour without tick manipulation, and 120,000–125,000 experience per hour when 2-ticking.
- Starting experience - 3,258,594
- Experience needed - 9,775,837
- Dark crabs needed - 75,199
- Profit made (85-99): 7,519,900
Levels 87–99: Sacred eel
At level 87 Fishing and partial completion of the Regicide quest, players can catch sacred eels at Zul-Andra giving 105 Fishing experience per sacred eel. With a Cooking level of 72, the fish can be dissected with a knife to extract Zulrah's scales. Dissecting the fish can give 3–9 scales and 109–127 Cooking experience. A player's Cooking level affects how many scales are received when they are dissected. With a Cooking level in the mid 80's, one can expect to average around 5 scales per fish and at a Cooking level of 96 gives around 7 scales per fish.
Players can gain around 21,000 Fishing experience per hour at level 90, increasing to around 23,000 experience per hour at level 99.
- Starting experience - 3,972,294
- Experience needed - 9,062,137
- Sacred eel needed - 86,307
- Zulrah's scales obtained (5 scales per fish): 431,535
- Expected profit made (5 scales per fish): 0
- Zulrah's scales obtained (7 scales per fish): 604,149
- Expected profit made (7 scales per fish): 0